Leon Turnbull Photography

After going to Linda Falls, we had plenty of time available that needed to be killed. I knew of another small waterfall in the Angwin area, and thought we might be able to get to it.

I wasn’t sure precisely where it was. I knew where the trail supposedly started. I wasn’t sure about access, and if it would be posted against trespassing. As it turned out, it wasn’t posted. The trail is on private land, but they allow access to the public. Gotta like that. I also wasn’t sure exactly where the waterfall was along the trail. It was like the blind leading the blind. We followed the trail down to the bottom of the canyon, and came to a 3 way junction. This was where I became unsure. Do we go left, right, or straight ahead? I had no idea. But the trail straight ahead looked most promising because it cut straight down directly to the creek very steeply. George and Paul stayed up top, while I went down to investigate. And very shortly, I came to the creek and the small waterfall. I knew this was the right spot because the creek dropped into a very cool looking swimming hole, sort of like a big amphitheatre or something. It was gorgeous. I called up to the others to come down to see it. To get down to the bottom of the falls, though, required crossing the creek above the falls on very slippery rocks, then following a path up and around and back down to the bottom of the falls. It was a bit tricky, but we managed, though George elected to stay behind for this part. Even though the falls is only 14 ft. high, it is definitely a very scenic one, and it is obvious why this is a popular swimming hole in the summer.

It pays to know people in high places. Isn’t that how the saying goes? Something like that anyway.

There are a lot of waterfalls in the Napa County area that are, unfortunately, on private land. Many of these beautiful waterfalls are no longer accessible to the public. There are some, though, that are on land owned by a group called Napa County Land Trust. This land is protected now from development and this group often leads hikes into these areas. But the general public is still not allowed to go there.

Linda Falls in Angwin is one such waterfall, which is actually a fairly recent acquisition by Napa County Land Trust. I’ve been trying to get permission to go to Linda Falls for a couple years now.

Well, as luck would have it, I just recently learned that one of my Flickr friends is a member of Napa County Land Trust, and he offered to take me to Linda Falls, as well as another waterfall in the Napa area. Cool! So George and I made arrangements to meet up in Angwin last weekend. It would be an all day affair. Another friend of his, Paul, drove up from Oakland to meet us for the excitement as well.

The walk in to Linda Falls is quite short and easy, though getting down to the bottom of the falls is a bit steep. Although George is 65, I was surprised how he was crawling around the cliffs like a slow mountain goat. He climbed up the steep cliffs on the far side of the creek to the top of the falls, while Paul and I watched from below, praying that he would not slip and fall. I really didn’t want to be carrying him back out.

Linda Falls is definitely a pretty little waterfall, which I measured to be 31 ft. high. It is surprising how steep the canyon walls are here where the waterfall drops into, considering how flat it is up at the road, just a short distance away. It is definitely a gorgeous area. We spent a long time here, photographing and exploring the area.

Just thought I’d give you folks something a bit different for a change. Time to take a breather from all the waterfalls lately. Nothing too exciting though. No raging waterfall here or anything like that. I’ll be off this weekend to find some more “new” waterfalls. Should be fun, and hopefully I’ll find something.
This is a really good close-up shot of a completely wild American Avocet bird. Taken somewhere on a beach in northern California. It is certainly not a captive bird inside the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Umm, well I guess I cannot tell a lie. It really is inside the Aquarium. It is not a wild bird. I cheated on this shot, I know it.

But seriously, it is rather interesting that you can get so close to these birds in the Aquarium. I was within a couple feet of this one, as I took this shot. Didn’t even need a zoom lens. They pay no attention to people (I’m sure they are very used to the hordes of people that see them every day). This one was just trying to get in some nap time.

I know this is not a great photograph, but the story is much better. Trust me.

After hiking to Rock Creek Falls, I was quite tired and very wet. I was initially planning to go back to Coloma and Dutch Creek Falls, but after that first hike, I figured I would just go home. But then I changed my mind, thinking that the hike to Dutch Creek is not too difficult and it was still very early in the day. So off to Coloma I went. My friend Rob had informed me of another waterfall he found above the main waterfall on Johntown Creek. I had somehow missed it when I was here the first time. I wanted to get to it this time.

As I hiked up to the waterfalls, I could see that Dutch Creek was in flood stage as well. The South Fork American River (which Dutch Creek dumps into) was also flowing incredibly swift and powerful. It is nice to see all the creeks flowing so well right now. But we still are going to need much more rain in March. Anyway, I could see that there would be no crossing of Dutch Creek or scrambling around on the steep cliffs by those waterfalls. When I arrived at the twin falls, I was once again amazed how impressive they were and how much water was flowing over the falls. I did not take any photos because the light was quite bad at the time. I was thinking I would go up to the upper falls on Johntown Creek, then try to shoot these waterfalls on the way back down (hoping the light would be better by then). I very carefully scrambled up to the top of Johntown Creek Falls, then continued upstream to the upper falls. It was not nearly as far as I thought it would be.

Rob had photographed the upper falls from in the creek, which is really the best angle to photograph this waterfall, as it is difficult to get a good view of it otherwise, as it turns sharply around a corner mid-stream. There would be no getting down to the creek this day though, because of the very high water flows. I tried to find some sort of spot from up higher, but could not find a good viewpoint. This was the best I could do.

But when I took my backpack off to get my camera out, I was stunned. The top pouch on my camera bag was open. The zipper had broken! I had no idea it was like this on my hike all the way up to the falls. Then I noticed that my wallet was gone, and my laser rangefinder was gone! Oh crap! Where were they? Did they fall down the steep bank and into the creek, gone forever? It was quite possible. I looked and looked, but could not see them anywhere.

At this point, I had completely lost any desire to continue photographing or exploring the creek. My awesome day was on the verge of being ruined. I took a quick snap of the falls, then went back down the trail, re-tracing my steps completely, and searching everywhere for my lost wallet and rangefinder. All the while back down the trail, I was praying praying praying that God would help me find them. I got back down to the bottom of the twin falls, still seeing nothing, and wondering if they might have fallen into the creek there. Nothing. I continued back down the trail to the car. Then I reached a big log that I had to hop over on the way up. There was my rangefinder! But still no sign of the wallet. I looked all around the log, thinking it would have fallen out at the same spot. Nope. I continued down the trail, almost back to the trailhead, and there it was, just lieing on the ground. It was at a spot where I had stopped on the way up, and had bent down to pluck a tick off my leg! It must have fallen out of my pack when I bent down, and I didn’t notice it. Whew! Thank you Lord! Thank you, thank you, thank you. As you can see, I was very much relieved. My awesome day was restored, with only one small glitch in it. Now I just need to go back here and photograph this waterfall properly. I should probably buy a new backpack first though.

I love finding new waterfalls. These are waterfalls that are previously undocumented, and very few people know about. Sometimes I find them myself by studing topo maps. Often I get an email from someone informing me about one. A lot of times, I strike out completely when out waterfall hunting. Other times, I find a nice little waterfall. But every once in awhile, I find a real gem.

Well, I found a gem the other day. It may be the best waterfall in the greater Sacramento area. In fact, I can’t believe I had never been down to it before. It is not really too difficult to get to. The waterfall is on Rock Creek in the Placerville area. It is only about 25 ft. high but is about 100 ft. wide, making it one of the largest waterfalls in the area.

The trail is called the One Eye Creek Trail. It is named after a 19th century miner who had a fight with a cougar and lost, losing one eye in the process. How lovely. Fortunately, I did not see the cougar’s descendant on this hike. I was actually much more concerned about meeting one of the local rednecks. I was venturing into hippy land for this hike. The last time I was in this area, I ran into one, and he was very upset I was there, swearing profusely and telling me I had no business being there, even though I was on a public road. I did not particularly want to run into him or one of his cohorts on this hike. But as it turned out, I had absolutely nothing to worry about. The hike is on public land in Eldorado Natl. Forest, and is very clearly marked the whole way as such.

The trail is not too difficult to follow, but was very overgrown in places. I spent a lot of time crashing through brush and scrambling over fallen trees. By the time I got down to the creek, I was completely soaked. And when I got down to Rock Creek, I was amazed. The creek was in flood stage. It was freaky scary how high the creek was and how fast it was moving. One missed step, and I would have been over the falls and gone in a matter of seconds. I worked my way downstream through poison oak to get to the waterfall (ugh). Again, all I can say is wow. The creek was just thundering over the falls. It was an incredible display of power, stretching across the entire creek bed. It was also very difficult to photograph because of all the water and the spray from the falls. It would be interesting to see what this waterfall is like in normal flows. It probably would not be as spectacular, but still rather nice. I will definitely be returning here someday.