Leon Turnbull Photography

Usually I like to go hiking every Saturday morning even if it is just a short hike close to home. But sometimes you just need to sleep in. I am sick with a bad cold this weekend, and sure did not feel like getting out to hike. My family is out of town for most of the weekend, so I am all by my lonesome (with the dog and the two meddlesome cats). The longest I went outside on Saturday was to take the garbage out. On Sunday morning, I had to get up at 6am to let Kaya dog outside. Then I went back to bed until 7:30am. When I got up again, I saw that the door was wide open. Bodie cat knows how to open it if it is not completely closed (smart cat). The two cats were both outside (they are indoor cats). Fortunately they did not go very far but I guess they had a good adventure with Kaya this morning. Sigh.

So I spent a lot of the day Saturday (besides watching hockey), studying my topo maps to find potential new waterfalls. I like doing this. Call me crazy. But I did find a few new possibilities close to home that I want to go check out. Possibly a couple real nice surprises too. I just need to wait for some rain now. It has been two months of no rain. We had just a small piddly little storm last week that did not even give us a foot of snow, and I don’t see anything now in the long range forecast into March. Double sigh.

This shot is from early January at Bear Ranch Creek Falls. I am surprised I had not posted this one before now. There is only possible spot to shoot this falls, and only one composition available. I have tried to look for other comps. This is it. Enjoy.

There is a path from the road at Devils Falls going down to the bottom where the creek dumps into Shirttail Creek. There you will find this pretty little thing. It is a two tiered waterfall, and I did not measure it but I do not think it is 20 ft. high. I only photographed the lower tier, being as I thought it the most prettiest. I do think it might be more interesting at higher flows with both tiers together, if that is, you could find a good view point of both tiers together. Could be tricky.

You might think it funny that I had never been down here before, since I have been to Devils Falls many many many times. I always thought it did not look all that interesting when I peered over the edge from the road before. This time, I was sufficiently bored enough so I decided to go down (just for the heck of it). I think I was right about it not being too interesting down at the bottom, in the sense that the waterfall was not very big. But on the other hand, even small waterfalls can be pretty, and this one certainly was.

There is finally some rain in the forecast next week. It has been a long time coming. Much too long. It has felt like summer lately, and it is totally killing me! I even noticed some wildflowers starting to bloom. Really?? If you are one of those people that like this weather, then ummm, don’t talk to me. Unfortunately I don’t see any big storms coming, only small ones. We need big storms please. Ah well it is better than what we have had thus far this year: nothing on a stick (as my wife always likes to say to me – usually in reference to what is for dinner).

This weekend I first went to Upper Chamberlain Creek Falls, wanting to get a good shot of it from up close. When I was there last year, there was so much flow I could not get a good angle to photograph it. This time, it was barely flowing at all, and I was quite disappointed; I am not sure if I will share that photo or not. I didn’t think it would be great by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it would be at least as much as nearby Stevens Creek. Not so. It was certainly not worth braving the poison oak and all the ticks. I must have flicked at least 30 or 40 of them off the grasses as I walked along the trail. Eck.

I decided to go over to Devils Falls next since I was in the area, taking the long route from Windy Point. By the way I did not see much evidence from the forest fire last summer. Right around Devils Falls there is a lot of charred remains but even the very close Mexican Gulch was not touched. I’m certainly glad Windy Point at least was not burned because of the beautiful wildflowers that display there in the spring (p.s. it is not spring yet!).

I am not really all that keen on Devils Falls anymore, since I have shot it to death. But it keeps coming back to life, and in fact it usually has decent flow most of the year (not to mention that it is so very easy to get to – except for that awful narrow road). This time, though, I did something different. Shocking. I went to the very bottom of the waterfall (below the road where it dumps into Shirttail Creek). I have never been down there before which is an oddity for me (as it is not hard to do). There is another small waterfall down there, not anything to write home about, but it is a pretty little thing, so I think I will likely post that shot next.

I was also scouting a new location with a potential new waterfall. I found a possible route down to it, but I did not want to make a huge effort, since it would likely be only trickling. If it rains much in the coming weeks, I will likely be back to try it. I’m not telling where it is yet, but if you see me post yet another shot of Devils Falls in a couple weeks, then you will know that I struck out. Stay tuned and let’s hope for some rain and new waterfalls being found.

Here is another view of Iowa Canyon Falls, the same waterfall I just recently posted. I think this is a much better viewpoint than from up close at the base of the waterfall. The angle at the bottom of the falls was just too severe and it was not possible to see the entire waterfall from there. Nonetheless, I was really happy to finally get to the base of the falls last time, it was not too difficult, and I am planning to go back and do it again, when (a) the flow is a bit less so there is not as much mist, and especially when (b) the water is not so cold, so I do not freeze my toes off again. I think I might be able to find a nice (or at least a different) view from down there when there is not so much mist.

I went back to Slab Creek Reservoir this morning to try to get up close to Iowa Canyon Falls. It was not my first choice for hiking, but my first idea for a hike could not be done because it turned out to be on private property. So plan B it was, back to Slab Creek.

It was a BRRRRRRR …. very cold morning, the temps were below zero, there was ice on the road, and even snow in Placerville in some spots from the miniscule amount of precipitation we received a couple days ago. I am still hopeful for a big change to the current weather pattern by middle of February. So anyway, here I am down at the bottom of Iowa Canyon, trying to figure out how to get up close to this waterfall. The prickly brush lining the creek bed taunts me saying, yeah come on man, you can do it, we won’t hurt you, hee hee. Well I know better than to listen to those lies. It was wading up the creek bed I knew was the only way to go. Did I mention that it was a cold morning? The bridge over the creek was ice, I could slide the whole way across. Too bad I wasn’t younger, I might have had fun doing that instead of worrying about breaking my neck. I rolled up my pants and started up the creek (though first a bit through some of that prickly brush was a necessity – doh!). The creek was freezing. Yikes. The going was not too difficult however. I made it up to the base of the waterfall in short order. The last pool was a bit deep, coming up to my knees. Did I say it was cold? My feet were starting to get a bit numb, then I realized the only way to photograph this sucker would be standing in the middle of that freezing water.

I always attempt to photograph my waterfalls as best as I possibly can. That means being there in good lighting conditions, and just as important, finding the best composition that can be safely had. This is OFTEN not possible at waterfall locations. Some people have recently mentioned to me things like, this photo would be much better if not centered, or it would be better if you moved over to one side a bit, or it would be better if you did this or that. These people have never been to these waterfall locations, and do not realize those things are not even remotely possible. If I move over, I will fall off the cliff and die! There is one and only one composition of this waterfall, so it must be centered in the frame! Wake up and smell the coffee. Photographing waterfalls is often times much more difficult compared to other easy-to-get-to-within-a-very-short-walk-from-your-car general landscape scenes. Ok, end rant.

This waterfall is a perfect example. The angle from the base of the falls was severe. I could not get any closer to photograph due to the extreme mist from the falls, plus the angle was no good. If I moved to the left here, I would not be able to include the upper tier of the falls, and there would be too many branches in the way. If I moved to the right (which I would have liked to do), then that big rock would have obscured too much of the waterfall, plus I would have been standing up to my waist in a deep pool. This was the best possible composition, and it may not be a great angle, but it was the only one available.

There was only one problem with this. I had to stand in the creek to get this photograph. The freezing cold creek. So that is exactly what I did. I think I would have been fine if I did not have to stand in the creek to photograph. But by the time I was done (and believe me, I did not take very many photos), my feet were completely numb. Really bad. I don’t remember the last time my feet were so cold, probably not since skiing when I was a kid. I took my water shoes off and sat down on a rock, drying them with my towel, and trying to get some feeling back in my toes. I sat there about 20 minutes or so, and my feet were still numb;  I was getting a little bit of feeling back, but still they were very cold. I put my water shoes back on, now having to wade back down the creek, trying to stay out of the water as much as possible. Back at the bridge and walked quickly back to the car where I promptly turned on the heat and sat for another 20 minutes or so, trying to get my feet warm from the heater. My next purchase will be: waders.