THE QUICK MELT

The snow is melting! The waterfalls are flowing! Of course, the trouble is there is not very much snow to melt this year, less than 20 percent of average, possibly the worst year ever! So in other words, the waterfalls will certainly not be flowing for long this spring. Get up and at ’em now, folks!

I’ve had this one on my list for awhile, but I’ve always dismissed it because it seemed like such a long drive and such a long hike. Well, there is no time like the present, and I decided to go for it.

It is a very very long drive out to the trailhead for Picayune Valley, which is past French Meadows Reservoir (which, by the way, was only about a quarter full – really awful). Before I got there though, I discovered that my maps did not get loaded into my GPS. Ugh! If you remember, this happened before when I went to Middle Big Kimshew Falls. Well I realized at that time, the reason was that my memory card died. So I got a new memory card, and all was quite well after that. This time I am not sure what happened, though the problem seems a bit different. It might be my GPS that is dying now. I sure hope not because I really love my GPS. Anyway, no maps means great difficulty in knowing where to go. The waterfall is along a well maintained trail, though, and I was pretty sure I could get to the falls, “if” I could find the trailhead. That was a big “if”. If the trailhead was signed, then it would be no issue, but I did not know if it was signed, and if it was not, then I would be utterly lost. So good news, the trailhead was signed. All is well, and I began my hike.

Right at the trailhead is a creek crossing. Without a map, I was not sure if this was the river or not. The trail is supposed to follow along the river and I should not cross it here, but it did not look like the river. Yet it was sure flowing like a river! In fact, it was Talbot Creek, which I did need to cross, and it was flowing strong. Too strong to rock hop across, so I had to shed my boots and wade across. Well that is good news and it would mean the waterfalls would be really good as well, but I was already quite late starting, and I was concerned because Picayune Valley Falls would be in the sun early, and it was a 4.5 mile hike to get there. So I booted it. As fast as I could hike. About 3 miles in, there is a crossing of the Middle Fork American River, and it would have stronger flow then Talbot Creek of course, and I had been worried that I would not be able to cross it at all. Yet it was strange because I could just rock hop across the river. That is because there were some huge rocks in the river that I could get across on. No need to get the feet wet again.

When I finally arrived at the falls, I found it still in shade. I was very tired from the fast paced hike, but I made it! I worked my way down to the bottom of the falls, and it was absolutely gorgeous! Picayune Valley Falls is 41 ft. high, consisting of multiple segments. So very pretty, and I am glad I finally made it out here. It is certainly worth the long drive and hike! I was stuck with the single viewpoint shown here, the creek was flowing too strong to cross, and I could not get closer because the rocks were complete ice. It was a beautiful “spring” day in the Sierra.

3 Comments

3 Responses to “THE QUICK MELT”

  1. Robin S. Kent Says:

    Glad you were to get there without the GPS. That’s a really nice waterfall image. Thanks!

  2. Darlene Says:

    Wow, such a beautiful shot. Well worth all you had to do to get there. Hoping for lots of rain and snow before Summer sets in here.

  3. Leon Says:

    Thanks Robin and Darlene!

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