Leon Turnbull Photography

Here’s another new one for ya folks, that’s two new ones in a row, and I must say I really really liked this waterfall, but it is pretty darn tough to get to. This is Upper Burnett Canyon Falls, and it is a sweet one, 83 feet high. A real beauty. It would be even more amazing at high flows, though I am not sure it would be possible to get there earlier in the year.

I have never attempted to get to this waterfall before, though I have known about it for at least a couple years. It has been listed on my website for that long, so if you are a subscriber to my website, then you would know about it as well, and perhaps you could have even made it here on your own before I got here. I know at least one friend of waterfallswest has done just that, earlier this year, but I am not sure the route that he took to get here. Probably not the same as myself, I guess I like things a bit on the spicy side.

I initially tried to come down a short route, more direct, to the waterfall, but then I came to the cliffy section, and it was just a bit too steep for comfort. Did I say the terrain in this drainage is crazy treacherous? Perhaps I could have made it down, but I chose to go back up and make my way over to Wilmont Canyon and down to Burnett Creek from there. It was steep there as well, but at least it was not cliffy, and I was able to make it all the way down. I did manage to squash a slug with my hand in the process. Not intentionally of course! That would be gross! However, I slipped and in order to catch myself I put my hand down quickly without looking where I was putting it. Right on top of Mr. Banana Slug. Sorry about that friend. Or unfriend. I’m just glad it was not a rattlesnake.

Anyway, once down at the creek, I had to make my way upstream to the waterfall. That could be very difficult. I soon came to a small waterfall, about 20 ft. high or so, with no way to continue except to climb back up the cliffs again in order to get up above this waterfall and then once again, back down to the creek. It was a bit too steep to get back down to the creek, however, but with my rope I made it down safely. Right through a truckload of poison oak. I was not expecting any oak down here. The elevation was 4000 ft. and poison oak does not usually grow above that elevation. However, there was certainly a bunch of it down around the creek level, and unfortunately no way to avoid the stuff. Ugh! Well no time to fret. I continued up to the waterfall. And it was a roaring success. I was extremely pleased to get here, but it took a lot longer than I thought it would. I had no time to make my way downstream and try to find any other waterfalls, which was my original intention. That will have to be saved for another day.

There are actually quite a few very elusive waterfalls in this drainage of the North Fork of the North Fork of the American River (NFNFAR for short), including an even bigger one on this same creek as well. I have not been to many of these waterfalls in this area: the cliffs in here are rather, shall we say, sheer, and the terrain is, shall we say, treacherous. That is the understatement of the year. But I will certainly keep trying.

I did not go back up Wilmont Canyon but instead took a different route back up the mountain, climbing the cliffs on the other side of the creek. It was actually a much better route. But it was still steep. The mosquitoes were out in force too. I could not stop to rest anywhere on the hike back because as soon as I stopped, I would be attacked. Big Ugh. But it was certainly a great day in the NFNFAR canyon.