La Nina has arrived. A weak La Nina. The exact same conditions that we had in 2023. Remember that huge record breaking winter? You may be wondering (like I am) if we will have a 23 peat. A repeat of that 2023 winter. Or at least an above average winter. It would be pretty nice. But where is all the rain anyway? We just had our first winter storm this weekend but it was a small one. Well let’s remember 2023: We had nothing in October that year either. We had some rain in November but not a huge amount. It was not until December when the flood gates opened. So in other words let’s just wait a bit longer and see what happens. And pray for a good winter.
Waiting is not so easy though. I have a lot of ideas this winter for hikes with Journey but we need a lot of rain first. Where could I take her right now though? Lower Cherokee Creek Falls was my idea. That is a big creek and I thought it should be all right.
We arrived at the trailhead at sunrise. There was fog along the North Yuba River which was pretty interesting as we hiked along. It is a flat and easy walk until you get to Cherokee Creek. Perfect for Journey. She was off leash the entire hike. She would trot on ahead and then stop and wait for me to catch up. Repeat ad infinitum. She was perfect.
Once we got to Cherokee Creek I put her on leash for this section up to the waterfall. There are steep drop-offs, many logs to maneuver and jump over, and the trail is washed out in a couple places. I had to lift her up and over some very tricky and difficult spots. I knew it would be like this but it was perhaps more difficult than I remembered, especially one particular section where there was a landslide. It is great that she does not mind me lifting her up and over these difficult spots. Our previous dog Kaya would not let me do that. Kaya would have insisted on finding her own way around the landslide (and she would have). Anyway, Journey and I got past it and we made it to the waterfall!
Lower Cherokee Creek Falls is a lovely 23 ft. drop. It was not flowing great but it was not horrible either. After I took photos we had a nice snack (Journey did anyway). Then we hiked back past the landslide to the nice flat trail where she could be off leash again, and then back to the car and home. It was a wonderful morning in Tahoe National Forest.
I was up early again and on the trail by 6AM in the dark. I had 13 miles back to Road’s End, all downhill of course.
Along the way I would see the waterfalls on Bubbs Creek. I received a couple surprises as well. The first waterfall is right along the trail and it is the one everyone sees. Lovely Bubbs Creek Falls, 48 ft. high (shown here). From my research I had marked off a second waterfall. It was a nice one as well, about 35 ft. high. But in between I found two other waterfalls that were complete surprises to me. A 40 footer and a 107 footer! I don’t know how missed these in my research, especially the 107 footer. Go just a little bit off the main trail and what amazing things you can find. Almost all the waterfalls I saw on this 5 day adventure I would never have seen if I stayed on the trail the entire time.
I made good time hiking down the trail. For the first time on this 5 day trek I got blisters on my feet and it was due to the big rock steps I had to continually jump down. Dang it. I met the gnats at about 7500 ft. in elevation and they were very happy to see me again. Dang it. I almost stepped on another rattlesnake. Dang it. I got back to the car at 2PM, one and a half hours ahead of schedule. Back to Fresno for a pizza stop and then drove home.
Day 5 of Rae Lakes loop complete. It was an incredible journey in magnificent Kings Canyon National Park.
I slept fairly well but it was a cold night (40 degrees) at Middle Rae Lake and I needed to have all my layers on in my sleeping bag. It was a very beautiful morning. Such a magnificent place in God’s creation. I took my time and enjoyed the beauty but I was on the trail by 8AM. I had to get over that pass and it was going to be a doozy.
My legs felt good this morning. The previous afternoon of rest at Rae Lakes was exactly what I needed. It was still a very difficult hike.
Glen Pass is at 11,926 ft. It is the highest I have ever been on foot so far. Top of the world. Top gun. I know you Mt. Whitney hikers are thinking, that is so lame! Yeah I know, but there are no waterfalls on the top of Mt. Whitney so why would I ever go up there? Seriously though, I am sure I will climb Whitney some day and there are a couple waterfalls on the way to the top of it so give me this small victory. It was a victory. Everyone else I saw today felt the same. Glen Pass is a tough climb! And what a view! The scenery was absolutely magnificent.
It so happened that my French friend came up to the top just a few minutes behind me. He should have been a full day ahead of me but he spent an extra day exploring the Rae Lakes basin. We took photos of each other and rested and enjoyed the views. He went down on ahead but I saw him a couple times later in the day yet again.
In the evening I went up to see Upper Bubbs Creek Falls. Yet again, even though it is not difficult to see, no one goes to see this waterfall and I have never seen any photos of it before. Yet this was the highlight of the trip for me. By far this is the prettiest waterfall on the Rae Lakes loop. It is an absolutely stunning 61 ft. cascade. What makes it so special is not the waterfall itself but East Vidette Peak (12,356 ft.) looming over it. The setting is just out of this world.
My campsite was in upper Vidette Meadow along Bubbs Creek. This time I had a perfect campsite with no one else around. It was perfectly quiet all night long.
I got about 5 hours sleep. I woke up at 5AM and was on the trail by 6AM. My plan was to see the two waterfalls on South Fork Woods Creek and Baxter Creek as well.
This is another perfect example of how my itinerary differs from everyone else. No one hiking the Rae Lakes loop sees these waterfalls because they are not visible from the trail. They are not difficult but you have to know where they are. Both the waterfalls are quite nice and definitely worth going off the beaten path to see them. The first one shown here is 50 ft. high. It is quite interesting how it splits around a big rock. It would have been difficult and I did not have enough time to explore the other side.
I was not entirely sure if I wanted to go all the way over Glen Pass and on to Vidette Meadow this day or just camp at Middle Rae Lake. If I could do the hike in one less day then I would have an extra day at home to recover before going to work on Monday morning. However, I just could not do it. My legs were dead tired before I reached the Rae Lakes. There is no way I could do another 1400 ft. up to Glen Pass. Was it the high elevation? Was it that I am out of shape? Frankly I think it was all the rock steps on the trail, which made the hike so much more difficult.
But then again, if I had gone over the pass I would have been caught in a thunderstorm. I did not bring my rain jacket. It was a stupid decision perhaps but it was not supposed to rain all week and I was trying to save weight. I was already at 39 pounds when I began the hike. I checked the weather report when I arrived at the lake. Zero percent chance of rain. Really? What are all these thunder clouds over the lake? I already felt some rain drops starting. I set up my tent quickly and got everything inside. Good thing. It rained most of the afternoon. Now I know what zero percent really means. Thank you weather forecasters for clarifying. It did eventually clear up and we had a lovely sunset.
Middle Rae Lake is an incredibly beautiful lake. It is a very popular spot along the Rae Lakes loop. There were other people camping here but it is a very huge camping area and I could not see anyone from where I was situated. There was a large group camping somewhat nearby, however, and even though I could not see them I could still hear them talking loudly as I was trying to sleep. Argh again.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcast (my Kings Canyon trip) to bring you a special report of the Aurora Borealis.
October 10, 2024. The internet world was going nuts because of the anticipated aurora to happen this night. A twice in a lifetime event. The first was exactly five months earlier on May 10 and I messed that one up royally. I did not hear about the aurora until it was too late and I already had made plans for that weekend which I did not want to change. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized I should have changed my plan. After seeing a few photos of waterfalls under the aurora I determined that is what I need to do. If that event ever happens again. I don’t really care about night photography or the aurora but photographing a waterfall with an aurora, well that is different. That is what the Madman needs to do.
I am not a night owl. I get up very early for work every day and because of this I go to bed very early. That is the way I like it. I do not like staying up late for concerts or parties or whatever. Night photography? Forget it. Even on this day, I did not really want to go out. I wanted to stay home, watch TV, and read. I still had to get up early for work on Friday. I forced myself to get in the car after work and drive up the hill.
My idea? Photograph Horsetail Falls under the Northern Lights. If it was May I would have had many more options, but in October Horsetail Falls is really the only waterfall in my area flowing decent and also facing the right direction (ie. North).
I arrived at the trailhead and hiked up to the falls. It is about a 45 minute hike. No one else had my idea of photographing the waterfall under the Aurora. I had wondered about that. Would I be the only one up there in the dark? It was just me and the wolves and bears. (as an aside I had just read about wolf sightings near Lake Tahoe, very close to where I was – would I see any tonight?). My vision for this night was to photograph a different section of the falls but that section was not flowing too well so instead I went down to the lower section. It was about a half hour before sunset. I set up my camera. I waited.
At 7PM it was dark but there was no Aurora yet. I was beginning to wonder if this was going to work at all. This would be a big colossal waste of time. The color was not going to show up. I prayed. About 5 minutes later I saw my first glimpse of the lights. I started to get ecstatic. I had never seen the Aurora Borealis before tonight. Thank you Lord. This was going to be perfect with the colors directly above the waterfall, just as I had envisioned. For the next 30 minutes I photographed the waterfall and Aurora. After 30 minutes, the color was not getting any stronger so I called it quits and packed up. I heard some of my photographer friends stayed out until midnight. Geez, I thought I was doing great staying out to 7:30PM. For me, the non night owl, it certainly was great. I hiked back to the car in the dark. Obviously, once again I was the last one off the mountain. No Mountain Jesus sighting today. (ha ha). No wolf sightings either. I drove home and was not too late getting into bed. It was an absolutely fantastic evening seeing the Northern Lights in Eldorado National Forest.
