The Hidden Waterfall

Doug and his family take a hike to find a hidden waterfall at Mt. Shasta and get lost in the forest. Plus two bonus stories and an important announcement at the end. 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Dougie Wuggy Story Hour. Coming today from Thornhill Elementary School in Oakland, California. And what is your school mascot? Let's give it up for the Thornhill Thunderbird. Well, we have kind of a small group today, and they kind of wanted to introduce themselves, so I'm gonna let them say hi to you.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

I am John. Hi. Hi, my name is Riley. Carmelita Coach. I'm nine and third grade. Hi, I'm Meyer Charles Himmelstein. And I am eight and so good. I remember.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

And I am Doug Cole and I'm not gonna say my age, but hey, I have a pretty interesting story I want to tell you about. You want to hear it? Yeah, that's the whole idea, Doug. Okay. So um we used to vacation when my kids were younger uh to Mount Shasta. And have any of you ever been to Mount Shasta? It's the tallest mountain in California. Wow. And it's very cool, it's very beautiful, and it's kind of magical. And a lot of the people who live there think it has like mystical powers. There's some people who actually think they're like aliens that like live inside the mountain. But what are you going to call? Well, people I'm not sure I believe that, but anyway. It is a cool place. And we used to go camping there. Um, oh, it we went at least seven or eight times. And uh the last time we went, my daughter Julia was maybe around five or six. Andre was like 15, 16, and we had our dog, Pele, with us, and it was the last day before we were gonna leave, and we were in the in the the campground has a little store, a general store. Oh cool. You know, how like a lot of campgrounds have like a little store. You can get little treats and whatever, ice cream and sandwiches and stuff. Okay, and um then the lady who we knew a little bit, she said, This is your last day here. Have you ever been to the the secret waterfall? I'm like, secret waterfall? I we've been to the big waterfall, and she's like, no, no, not the big waterfall. There is a smaller waterfall that people don't really know about because it's kind of deep into the forest, and it's kind of a hidden waterfall. But here's a map, and if you just follow the trail, you can get to the waterfall. Uh and my daughter's like, yeah, let's go to the hidden waterfall. And I'm like, Well, I'm not sure we have time because we were planning to go somewhere else that day. I said, but maybe if we get back in time, we can do it. Because it doesn't get dark till about eight. So I think we got back from wherever we were going around five, and I was like, okay, let's do it. So we get the map, and I didn't bring a flashlight because I figured we'd be back in plenty of time. We traveled through the forest, and then the one trail all of a sudden turns into three trails. It's like, you know what a fork in the road is, right? That expression. Well, this was like the main trail and then two side trails. And I look at the map, I'm like, okay, this does not show on the map. I don't know, do we keep going straight? Do we go left? Or we do we go right? And then my wife was like, Well, I think we should just stay on the main trail. So we just stay on the main trail for about another 20 minutes. By that time we had been walking for about 45 minutes, and I was like, you know, we should have been there by now. She said it was like a 30-minute walk, and we've been walking for a lot longer. And then I was like, you know, maybe we should try a different trail. So we go back, we try the trail on the left, we walk on that for about 20 minutes, half an hour, no sign of a waterfall. We go back, we tried the third trail, no sign of a waterfall, and by that time it was starting to get dark. We were kind of lost. Like, I really got confused. Like there were all these little mini trails, and my wife's like, no, go, we came from there, and Andre's like, no, we came from there, and we were kind of like almost going in circles. And it was like seven, and it was starting to get dark, and I was starting to get a little bit like we gotta get out of here. We gotta get back before it gets dark. I don't have a flashlight. And then it's about 7:30, it's really getting dark, and then we hear a kind of creepy sound. We heard the sound of a coyote. It's like, you know how coyotes, one will start and then a second one will join in. Here, let's try it. It was kind of like that. And my daughter got really creeped out, and she said, Daddy, hold me. So I pick up my daughter, and I put her on my, I started giving her a piggyback ride because she was so tired. We're trying to find our way back to the parking lot, and then we hear some kind of animal running through the bushes. And I thought, oh gosh, the coyote's coming after us. I grab my daughter, my wife grabs the dog, my son, Andre, grabs, he had a he had a walking stick. He grabs the walking stick, ready to like defend the family against the crazy coyote. And he's like standing like, I'll protect you. And the dog is freaking out. The dog's like, the dog's like, and then this creat this animal comes running towards us, and it was a golden retriever. Yes, yes, it was a golden retriever. And and it just comes up to us and just like, just like the friendliest dog ever, just like, you know, like, hi.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

And I said, relax, you guys, it's just a dog. And then its owners were right behind. And they were just, and they said, Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. I said, No, don't be sorry. I'm so glad to see you. We're kind of lost. Are you heading back to the parking lot? And they're like, Oh, yeah, just follow us. And so we walked, we make it back just as it's getting dark, and I was like, so happy that that couple came because otherwise, we would have been spent the night in the forest, in the cold, with a five-year-old, a dog, and yeah, that would have been a very, very scary, unpleasant night. And we never went back to Mount Chester. I don't know if we ever go back, if we can find the secret waterfall, but that's how that story ends. But I have another coyote story. Do you want to hear it?

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Yes, yes, yes, of course.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

All right. So, um, speaking of coyotes, I live in Walnut Creek now, and there are a ton of coyotes, and we hear them at night. Let's do that coyote howl again. And they're pretty creepy. It's kind of cool and creepy at the same time. And sometimes we see them, uh, I see them like have you ever seen how fast they run? Oh, they are very fast. And um our neighbor has had a cat. And I say the word had a cat. She, it was an indoor-outdoor cat. She would just let it roam around and it had a little cat door that it would come in and out of. And one night the cat did not come back. And the next night the cat did not come back. And the third night, the cat did not come back. And then after a week, I asked Betty, our neighbor, I said, So, did you ever find your cat? She said, No, we're pretty sure it got attacked by coyotes. And I was like, Oh, I'm so sorry. She said, nah, uh, she said, I'm really sad. I said, Oh, that's terrible. And they never did find the cat. So I think it it probably was attacked by coyotes. But it made me a little nervous because I have a little dog. And so I always kept the dog on, you know, my dog Pele. That's the same dog that was lost with us in the forest. He passed away last year. That was kind of sad. But he was old. He was like 16, and you know, he had a good life. But he was getting old and sick, so anyway, that's a whole different story. But it is sad to lose a pet. They're part of the family. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

I had it happen.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yeah, it's very sad. And it took my kids a long time to recover, especially my daughter. She was really sad about. I mean, we all were, to be honest. It was like my daughter's little brother, you know, because she grew up with that dog ever since she was a baby. Um, no, not a baby. She was like five, I think. So, um, on with the story. So I took Pele out to, you know, go to the bathroom one night. And then I hear a and then another one. Uh and then again, I have my coyote chor kid chorus here. And um then I hear this sound like this. It sounded like an animal hissing. And I was like, and I was like, okay. And then about 10 seconds later, I hear it again. And I was like, oh gosh, coyote attack. I picked the dog up, and I was, we live in this courtyard, and I start in and I start running back to my front door with the dog, and all of a sudden, all the sprinklers come on. The sound I was hearing was not a coyote, it was the sound of the sprinklers coming on. Because the sprinklers go when they start up. There I am holding the dog, and I get completely drenched by the sprinklers. The dog is drenched, I'm drenched, I come in the door and I'm like dripping water, pele is all like dripping water, and my wife's like, What the heck? And I said, We got caught in the sprinklers, and then the dog, you know how dogs shake off the water? Gets my wife all wet. She's like, Black, get this dog up this dirty dog away. She gets all wet, and but it was really funny. But I have one more story to add to this episode. Do you want to hear it? Yeah, it's not about coyotes, but it is about a cat and a dog.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Is it scary?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

No, it's funny. So my dog, Pele, uh, is very very peaceful, very peaceful, very sweet, but he gets aggressive around cats. One day we were in the car, and I parked the car, the window was open because it was a hot day, I didn't have the AC on. And my dog is in the drive in the passenger seat, and he sees a cat on the street. He jumps out of the window, starts chasing the cat up the stairs to this house, corners the cat, and Seth's going, and the cat turns around and goes like You know how cats get all aggressive and they hiss at you? And my dog's like, ha ha ha ha ha! Runs down the stairs, jumps back in the car, sits on my lap, like, save me, daddy, save me, save me, daddy. And I look at him and I'm like, You learned your lesson there, mister. Don't mess with the cats. And you know what? He never messed with cats after that. It's like part of his brain, like imprinted, like, do not mess with cats, do not chase cats, do not get aggressive with cats. And he never chased cats after that. He was scared of them. You know, dogs are smart, they can learn, right? You know? Yeah. So that is our little animal episode for today. Say goodbye, everybody. Okay, that's it from the Dougie Wuggy Story Hour of Thornhill School. See you next time over and out. Bye, everybody. And don't forget, we're having a free show on Sunday, May 3rd at Golden Gate Academy, 3800 Mountain Boulevard in Oakland, 2 to 3 30. I'm gonna tell stories. Uh Andre's gonna do a hip-hop performance, and his friend is gonna be performing with him, doing a hip-hop song. We might have some singers there and some drummers, and it's gonna be really cool. So it's a free show for families, and uh anybody can come. And if you've been listening to my podcast and have never met me, there'd be a chance you can you can meet me and and Andre, who's in a lot of my stories. And uh yeah, check it out. All right, bye, everybody. Bye over and out.