On the way out of the Gaviota Peak parking lot, we thought we should make a short detour to visit nearby Nojoqui Falls, an 80-foot waterfall that looked impressive enough to warrant the short 0.6 mile hike to see it. We found the trailhead easily enough, located a couple of miles east of Hwy 101 in Nojoqui County Park, a pretty setting on the north side of a tall ridge with sunny grass fields and shady oak groves. A small herd of mule deer were grazing in the grass as we entered the park, and we followed signs to the waterfall trailhead. More signs advertised the short 10-minute walk to the falls, as well as the now-familiar mountain lion warning that had Jane a little perturbed. We started south up the gentle trail through a very shady and cool canyon – in fact, the camera flash went off on nearly every picture we took. The path continued gently uphill through the canyon, up wide stone steps and over several bridges across Nojoqui Creek. We could hear the falls and eventually caught sight of them through the trees, and despite the low water flow, they were quite spectacular. If the canyon below Gaviota Peak had reminded us of a tropical Hawaiian valley, then this waterfall would have fit right in with that vision. Nearly vertical, the water drops in several wispy cascades down the face of the rock, which is covered in various strains of moss, collecting in a small pool at the bottom. Another couple was there ahead of us, and we all remarked how the camera did not do the scene justice – we experimented with various camera angles and perspectives, Jane eventually lying on her back to shoot the fall backwards looking up. It’s probably safe to say that the falls are best experienced in person, though some of the pictures turned out quite nice. After a few more minutes, we meandered back to the car, measuring just under 3/4 of a mile for the round trip. We were disappointed to find the deer gone by the time we got back out to the main road, but we were happy to have added this little excursion to finish off a beautiful day.