I said I would return here to the scene of the crime with weapons in hand. Mission accomplished. It was raining on Saturday. No hiking. On Sunday, I did not have much time to hike after church in the morning and Journey was with her mom, so it seemed like a perfect time to return to Lower American Canyon Creek Falls.
There was quite a bit less water in the creek. I thought there would be more because it had rained on Saturday. Not enough, I guess. I quickly made it down to the lower falls and continued on to Maine Bar. I wanted to go further but that is all I had time for. I returned to the lower falls and prepared for my descent down into the poison oak. My new strategy for combating the oak this year? I put on my rain pants before I get down into it and once back on the trail I carefully take them off. It worked. I did not get any itch and I did not even have to scrub down when I got back home. Next time I think I may also wear my rain jacket in case I rub against the stuff with my arms.
I did get a better photo of the lower falls, I think. It was a bit dicey to go any further down to the creek so I did not, though I probably could have if I really wanted to. I hiked back up to the car in the dusk, constantly thinking about the girl that was killed by a mountain lion on this very trail way back in 1994. I did not have Journey to protect me today. Ah well, I survived. It was a lovely quick little hike in Auburn State Recreation Area.
Just two months ago all our astute forecasters said there was a very high probability we would be having a weak La Nina this winter. Today, La Nina is nowhere to be found and now they are saying it is probably not coming at all this winter. We are stuck in an ENSO NEUTRAL state. How did they get this so wrong? It is bad news and it explains why we have not had much rain yet this December. I was quite excited for a weak La Nina which meant we would have a very good chance for another above average winter (same as in 2023). But now? Technically we are still around average thanks to that Bomb Cyclone in November but how will the rest of the winter fare? I guess we will just keep praying.
I did not have much time for hiking this past weekend so I just took Journey on an easy/moderate hike back to American Canyon Creek Falls. It is my go to early season local waterfall. Journey went to this one last year and I knew she would not be able to get down all the way to the bottom of it. I imagined I could just have her wait up top again while I went down to take a couple quick photos. She is usually very good and patient when I take photos. However, I did not do this. The creek was flowing pretty quick but worse than that all the rock was very wet and slick on both sides. It would have been extremely difficult for me to attempt to cross the creek at the waterfall. I decided to skip it and instead try to get down to the lower falls.
The problem: I was wearing shorts and did not have long pants. This was very stupid. There is a lot of poison oak at the lower falls. I did *not* want to be in the poison oak. What to do, what to do? Well, there was not any oak at the top so I went down with Journey as far as possible. At the bottom there was indeed a lot of it so I figured I would just take a photo from the hill side while Journey waited for me patiently. I am going to have to come back here again soon for a better photo (and with long pants). I’m not sure I will take Journey though. It’s probably not a good thing for her to be in a lot of poison oak. Ah, we’ll see. We hiked back up the trail. I love how Journey runs up the trail ahead of me and then stops and waits for me to catch up. She is so good and smart. We arrived back to the car at sunset. It was a lovely little hike in Auburn State Recreation Area.
On Black Friday (after my morning hike) I had to drive my daughter back to her university in the Bay Area. I hate driving to the Bay Area because the traffic is always bad. I despise traffic. I would rather sit at a Starbucks for two hours (waiting for traffic to subside) than sit in traffic for two hours. It was pretty good on the way there and we made good time but I could see that it was horrid going back the other way. There is no way I was going to drive in that mess to go back home. I would take Journey on a hike instead and then drive back in the evening.
It had only been five days since the Bomb Cyclone but I was sure that all the waterfalls in the Bay Area would be back to just a trickle. The only one I thought might still be good is Cataract Falls which is the perhaps the biggest creek in the area. The problem is that Google Maps was saying the lower road was still closed. That meant I had to drive all the way around to the top of the waterfall and hike down from there. That is a lot of extra driving but I thought I had time for it. I did not realize, however, that they lock the gates on the upper road at sunset. That meant I did not have very much time after all. I figured I would just hike down as far as I could and then whip back up to the car before sunset.
There were only about 10 cars or so at the trailhead, however there were a ton of people on the trail. Where were they all parked? I passed well over 50 groups for sure. Journey had to be on leash for the entire hike. She still very much enjoyed it though.
I made it down to the big waterfall (shown here) and stopped. I would have to boot it back up the trail and did not have time to photograph any of the other cascades (except one other). That did not really bother me because the creek was not flowing very well anyway. I want to come back here when it is flowing much better. For sure I will do that when I can drive to the bottom and also first thing in the morning (when there aren’t very many people). I learned that much today. I also learned not to trust Google or Apple Maps. On the way back up I passed a ranger who told me the lower road was indeed open after all. That explains where all the people came from. Ugh. At least Journey had a good hike but she was quite tired afterwards. I got her a hamburger because she was such a good girl. The drive back home was not too horrible. It was a quick but lovely hike in Marin County.
Journey is not a morning person (dog). Just like her momma, she loves to sleep in. I am a morning person though and if I am hiking I need to get up at the break of dawn (or earlier). That means Journey needs to get up also (if she is coming with me). Once we get to the trailhead she is excited but getting out of bed is the problem. She does not want to get up! This was the situation we found ourselves in on Black Friday.
It probably didn’t help much that it was very cold. About 33 degrees. Brrr… We arrived at the trailhead. Now Journey was excited. Let’s get on that trail and get warmed up.
The plan was to go to Whiskeytown Falls. Journey has never been to it so this is another one I am re-visiting so I can take her to all these beautiful waterfalls. We saw no one at all there and back so she got to be off-leash for the entire hike. A bit surprising but I guess everyone was out shopping or something. Whiskeytown Falls was the hike where my previous dog Kaya almost went over the waterfall. I was not paying attention to her while I was photographing it and she slipped in the stream and almost went over (thankfully she caught herself just in time). I was paying attention to Journey this time as I photographed the waterfall but there is a railing there now so it would have been hard for her to do the same thing. I’m pretty sure there was no railing when I brought Kaya here. Journey just waited very patiently for me. She is such a great dog.
The upper tier of Whiskeytown Falls is now very ugly and un-photogenic. There is a huge awful branch blocking the waterfall and it is not adding any character to it. Someone needs to cut that thing. Perhaps God will take care of it eventually but it could be a few years. The lower tier is a bit better. I let Journey wander around as I photographed it and I was not paying much attention to her but there was no waterfall she could fall down if she slipped in the creek. We finished photographing and hiked back to the car. It was a cold brisk morning at Whiskeytown Falls.
Thanksgiving Day. Just five days after the Bomb Cyclone. I returned to North Table Mountain on my way up north to visit family. Without Journey this time. One, she was with her momma. And two, I had hoped to find a way to the bottom of Flag Falls which I knew would be very difficult (if even possible).
The water was much reduced from five days prior. Much more so than I anticipated. Over ten inches of rain here but flows are already back to below normal and now we are in an extended dry period. I pray it gets much better in the last half of December. I did not have much time but I always find it impossible to bypass Ravine Falls and Phantom Falls without taking photos. I do think I got a different composition of Ravine Falls this time so that makes a quick stop more than worthwhile.
I continued past Phantom Falls. I did not notice the dead cow right at the stream crossing above the waterfall. How could I not notice this!?!? I was clearly not paying attention. I thought it was a log I was walking over, not a leg. I must have come within inches of stepping on it. On the way back I definitely did notice it. Its rib cage had been ripped open by a mountain lion or coyote. There was no smell so it must have died (been killed) very recently. On the far side of Phantom Falls I always see plenty of cow bones and today was no exception (in addition to the dead one along the stream).
I arrived at Flag Falls. I took photos from the viewpoint and thought about my options. I realized that it would take at least an hour to get down to the bottom of it, if it was even possible. I only had about 15 minutes before the sun was on the waterfall. Not worth the effort. I will have to come back another day. I retreated past the dead cow and back to Ravine and Ravine Twin Falls and took more photos there. Then I continued north to see my family for Thanksgiving. So long, Table Mountain, and thanks. Until next time.
