Leon Turnbull Photography

My adventure this past weekend started out at 4AM and ended up with a 7 ft. high waterfall. That’s a lot of effort for not much payback.

It is always a big effort getting up so darn early in the morning. But with sunrise now at 6AM, and considering it takes at least an hour and a half to drive anywhere interesting, it is a necessity.

My plan was to explore the Silver Fork American River at Kyburz. I was hoping to find a decent sized waterfall on that river. I had no idea, really, if there was one or not. I just had a thought that there might be one, there should be one, and I was meaning to explore it. I had a couple possibilities marked out on my map. When I got there, and arrived at those possibilities, I realized that my big effort was for naught. No waterfalls. But I didn’t want my day to be a total loss, so I scrambled down to the river anyway. When I got down there, I found a 5 ft. high waterfall. Eh. Not too exciting, but I took a photo of it. It was pretty steep scrambling down there and took more time than I wanted to. I had a second destination in mind as well.

That was Alder Creek, 5 miles down the road from Kyburz. When Rob and I were driving home from Bassi Falls the other day, way up on Ice House Rd., we noticed a waterfall off in the distance across the canyon. It looked like a big one. Was it really a waterfall? It was hard to tell from so far away. When I got home, I studied my maps, and saw that yes there a possible waterfall. But I wasn’t sure which drainage it would be. I thought maybe Alder Creek was the ticket. It wasn’t. The correct drainage was Mill Creek, and yes there is a waterfall on that creek. A big one. But I’m not sure (yet) how to get to it. I’ll be working on that. In the meantime, my idea for this day was to explore Alder Creek. I think there might be a waterfall on Alder Creek as well. I found a trail leading up the creek, and at first it looked very promising and very easy going, but then it stopped. At this 7 ft. high waterfall. Continuing to bush whack up the creek for another mile was not on my list of things that I wanted to do this day. Maybe another day. So anyway, I just stopped here at this mini falls for a quickie photo. Then off home I did go. And arrived back at the house to find my wife still sleeping. ha ha.

Although Tunnel View is perhaps a more dynamic view of Yosemite Valley, I think I prefer Valley View shown here. There are always way too many photographers at Tunnel View for my liking, you have to duel tripods just to find a spot to set up. I hate crowds and I like my photography without the fighting. Valley View usually doesn’t have very many people around.

I had a fabulous evening at Yosemite after gorging on pizza at Curry Village. it was most certainly the best part of my weekend. Firstly, I drove out to Valley View for sunset light. It turned out to be not much of a sunset. The clouds rolled in, blocking the sun. I think I got the very last of the good light with this shot here. I really like this one though.

After Valley View, I packed up and went over to Lower Yosemite Falls. I intentionally left my camera in my vehicle and walked up to the falls. They have built new walkways there now, and you can park along the road. I like that very much. As I approached the viewing area at the falls, there were quite a few people there. I went straight by them, up into the wooded area beside the waterfall, to my favourite viewing location. There was no one else there. I just sat down on the wet rocks and enjoyed Yosemite Falls immensely, with the large amount of spray from the falls getting me quite wet in the process. It was awesome, and the most enjoyable experience I had all weekend. And to think, I wasn’t even planning to go up to Yosemite Falls this time. I’m so glad I did.

We had a pretty big rain storm here this past weekend. A much needed and much welcome rain storm, and not something we normally get in the month of May. On Sunday night, I was looking at the water flow over North Form Dam (Lake Clementine). North Fork Dam is the best measurement of how the water (and waterfalls) are flowing in the greater Sacramento area because the water is not controlled. It is a dam, but they don’t control the water there on the North Fork American River, they just let it flow right over. The flow was over 8000 cfs, about 5 times the normal flow. I knew that meant that ALL the waterfalls in the area would be ripping and roaring like crazy. (with all the increased flow, Folsom Lake has gone from 80 percent up to 87 percent capacity in just a few days – and that is with all the increased water they have been letting out recently). Anyway, I said to my wife, I gotta take tomorrow off work and go out waterfalling. I said that only half jokingly. If I could have taken the day off work, I would have. But there was just no way I could do that. I went to bed depressed.

But what could I do, I wondered? Maybe I could go somewhere AFTER work on Monday? How about Bassi Falls? I emailed my friend, Rob, to see if he was interested. He was, and met me at my house at 4PM when I got home from work. I dragged my son, Jadon, along as well. He came, unenthusiastically. Jadon, in his own words, is more of a Lego kind of guy, than a hiking kind of guy. He’d rather stay home and make cool looking Lego designs. He is very talented, artistically. But I want him to enjoy the beautiful outdoor world as well, so he came with us.

It is an easy hike down to Bassi Falls, about a 10 minute walk. You could easily hear the falls roaring from the parking area. Little streams were pouring down the hills over the trail. Jadon had fun splashing through them. When we finally came into view of the falls, it was indeed ROARING. When I was here last year, it was roaring incredibly. This year, there was even MORE water roaring over the falls. Did I say Bassi Falls was roaring? It was an overwhelming sight to behold. I think even Jadon liked it. Rob was overwhelmed trying to find a way to photograph the falls. He eventually gave up and took photos of the creek and trees instead. It is definitely a daunting task to photograph such a powerful waterfall. How can one possibly convey the feeling, the power, the immensity of such an awesome waterfall in one little photograph?

After awhile, it started to rain again and was getting cold. Rob had gone off somewhere, apparently attempting to cross the roaring creek. We could not see him. But it was getting late now too, and Jadon and I decided to head back to the car and wait for Rob. Jadon was worried Rob would fall in the creek and drown, or something. We had to cross a deep part of the stream on the way back, and although Jadon had rain boots on, the water got in them. That made his feet cold and very wet. It was all my fault, dragging him through the deep water instead of lifting him. I had taken my boots off earlier, so I could maneouver around the area to photograph. The water was dang cold! I gave Jadon my dry socks to put on, and we walked back up to the car. Shortly after we got back, Rob rang me on my cell phone. He was on his way back. It is amazing that you can get cell phone reception out here.

It started raining quite hard on the way back home. The amazing thing is, if we had gone to Bassi Falls on Tuesday instead of Monday, there would have been even MORE water roaring over the waterfall. Hard to believe that would be even possible. Did I say Bassi Falls was roaring? I wondered if I could take Tuesday off work?

Vernal Falls is one of my favourite waterfalls in Yosemite. It is not one of the more uncommon falls there, as I said that I was going to be doing more of this trip. But my hike on Day 2 was certainly of the uncommon variety. My plan was to hike about 15 miles in total, up past Vernal and Nevada Falls, all the way to Bunnell Cascade on the Merced River. Along the way, I would see 3 new waterfalls (not counting Vernal and Nevada). After hiking 9 miles the previous day, the big question was could I do it?

It was a cold sleep the night before. I had a campsite in Lower Pines campground, and was sleeping in my SUV. I had made reservations only a couple weeks before the trip, and was fortunate to get a site. I think I managed to snag the very last campsite in the valley. I wasn’t expecting there to be so many people at Yosemite in April. I should have known better. Anyway, I woke up at about 5:30AM, and I seriously considered staying in my sleeping bag, but I wasn’t warm even in my sleeping bag, so I forced myself up and out.

I made it up to Vernal Falls at about sunrise, and took a couple photos of my favourite waterfall, which was flowing as good as it gets. I knew it would be rather wet hiking up past it on the Mist Trail. The Mist Trail is perhaps the best waterfall hike in the country. It just doesn’t get any better than hiking up alongside a huge waterfall, getting drenched by its spray, and then continuing up to the top alongside another huge waterfall (Nevada Falls). The only problem of course, is the amount of people that go on this trail. But you would think that at sunrise, I would be the only one on the trail. Almost, but not quite. A group of older Japanese men were also up early hiking this day, and I met them up on the Mist Trail. The Mist Trail was a problem. Because it was so cold, it was ice! The steps were incredibly slippery. One missed step, and boom. You could easily fall and seriously injure yourself. I was extremely careful walking up the steps. I made it up without incident, and so did the Japanese men.

At the top, I left the Japanese and continued up quickly to Nevada Falls. I have yet to get a good photograph of Nevada Falls. The sun was already starting to crest above the top of the falls, and I figured I’d be too late again. And I was too late, but the bigger problem was all the mist at the falls anyway. I still do not have a good photo of Nevada Falls. Next time, I tell you, I’m gonna get a good one. No matter what it takes. I promise.

Well, I was quite cold by the time I got up to the top of Nevada Falls. My gloves were useless, because they were still wet from my blizzard hike the previous day to Chilnualna. Fortunately, the sun was out now, and hopefully it would warm me up. Once above Nevada, the trail becomes very flat as you hike up Little Yosemite Valley. That’s a good thing. I had to hike 4.5 miles (one way) up the valley to my destination. I felt very good, and was pretty sure I would be able to complete my intended hike, even though it would take all day.

I encountered snow along the trail now, at about 6500 ft. elevation. It was not difficult to hike through, but it does take more effort to hike through snow, and I would need all the energy I could muster for this hike. I also encountered a couple backpackers who were going up to Merced Lake (which is quite a ways past Bunnell Cascade, my destination).

The first waterfall I encountered was a surprise: Merced River Falls. A fabulous water slide along the Merced River, 58 ft. high. I did not expect such a big waterfall here, I was expecting something in the neighborhood of 20 or 30 ft. The river was just roaring down the slide, creating a cool rooster-tail at the top of it. It would make for a great water slide, if not for the water being so cold and you’d probably drown as well if you tried it. The sun was out and very harsh by this time, as I expected. I was not able to get good photos of course, but they are posted on my regular website.

About a mile above this first waterfall is Bunnell Cascade. I arrived at about noon. It is very similar to Merced River Falls, a long spectacular slide along the Merced River. It is just slightly smaller than the first waterfall, 53 ft. high. I think I preferred Merced River Falls over Bunnell Cascade, but both are amazing to see. I found another waterfall dropping off the cliffs near Bunnell Cascade. This was an unnamed waterfall on unnamed cliffs, and it just flows in the spring when the snow is melting. But it was a pretty interesting waterfall.

It was quite cold at Bunnell Cascade, and I had to find a secluded spot to eat my lunch out of the wind. After eating, I made the long trek back down. By this time, my back and shoulders were in a lot of pain from the heavy camera gear in my backpack. And my feet were also starting to feel very sore, and blisters were forming. I took my time on the hike back. Along the way, I encountered more backpackers and hikers. Once I finally arrived back at Nevada Falls, though, there must have been about a thousand other people on the trail. I hurried down from the top of Nevada Falls as fast as I could to get by all the slow hikers. My blistered feet did not thank me for that. I finally arrived back at the car at about 4PM, tired, sore, and hungry.

My only thought was to get some hot food for dinner. I stopped at Curry Village, and ordered a medium pizza. While waiting for the pizza, I called my wife to talk to her and tell her I survived the killer hike. As I was sitting outside on the deck, a darn squirrel came up and pecked me in the leg! What the hey? I don’t even have any food yet, squirrel! Then it came at me again. This time, I kicked it in the head. Don’t worry, all you animal lovers out there. It was just a very gentle nudge! But he left me alone after that. I’m sure my mother-in-law will not be happy with me, as she is a huge squirrel lover. Anyway, the pizza was sooooo goooood, and I ate 6 of the 8 pieces, I was so hungry. I think that’s why I actually gained weight this weekend, instead of losing weight from all the hiking I did.

By the time I got down from Chilnualna Falls back to my car, the storm had broken. And it was late. I knew it would be a great sunset back in Yosemite Valley, but I wouldn’t make it in time. Oh well, what can you do. I was happy to have gotten up to Chilnualna Falls, even though my photos didn’t turn out great because of the blizzard.

I made the drive back to the valley, where I was camping for the night. As I got near Tunnel View, I came upon this scene. The sun had already set but there was still much color in the clouds over the valley. I quickly made a U-turn and stopped along the side of the road. I thought of just continuing to Tunnel View, but I figured there’d be a thousand photographers there, and that is the one big thing I wanted to avoid this weekend. This looked like a dang good view too, and no one else was around. Plus, there was very little time before the color would be all gone. I quickly got out my camera, set up, and took my photo. Yes! Thank you, Lord!