Leon Turnbull Photography

The North Fork American River, near Weimar CA. This river ranks by far as my most favourite river that I have yet seen. It is so beautiful, so pristine. Now at this location, the river is very calm and it has very easy access. You can’t really appreciate its true beauty. And yet, it is still incredibly green and picturesque. I did not over saturate the colors in this photo. It really was this green and lush.

But at most spots upriver from here, the access is difficult at best. Only the hardiest hikers and kayakers enter its 2000-4000 ft. canyon walls, and truly experience the amazing ruggedness, pristineness, cold, green rushing waters, and amazing waterfalls that abound along this incredible river for some 60 miles. Tributary creeks, swollen with snow melt, crash down cliffs in amazing waterfalls, some over 500 ft. high. One of those is 2200 ft. high, the 2nd highest in all of California, and you probably haven’t even heard of it. Many of these waterfalls are too difficult to reach because of the ruggedness and steepness of the canyon. I have been to some, but not all of them. I do love it there.

This shot was taken near Codfish Creek Falls, on my hike a couple weekends ago. After visiting the falls, I still had time before I had to retreat back up the trail, so I stopped by my favourite river to see how it was looking that day. I am glad I did.

This weekend’s hike was to Shingle Falls in the Spenceville Wildlife Area, near Marysville. No cougars were spotted on the hike this time. But plenty of cows. Now that’s exciting. Well, it was for my dog, Kaya, anyway. She would’ve chased them if she could, but they were on the other side of a fence. Nonetheless, the cows didn’t like the look of her or something, and scampered off (scamper is definitely the appropriate verb here). On the way back from the falls, they were a bit more brave, and didn’t scamper away, but they did watch us (or Kaya) very closely.

Shingle Falls is a very scenic 47 ft. high waterfall. I think it resembles a giant warped spatula. Now ask me why I think a giant spatula is scenic. It is also a waterfall with many names: Shingle, Fairy, Beale, Dry Creek. I have never known a waterfall with so many names. It is a bit steep to get to the pool at the bottom of the falls, but is not too difficult. Unfortunately, Kaya could not get down there. It was just a bit too steep for her. When we were here last 7 years ago, I remember she was able to get down, but I think my wife and I must have carried her down some parts. So anyway, Kaya stayed halfway up the cliff side, while I went down and took photos. She did pretty well with that, but I kept talking to her the whole time saying “stay Kaya”, “it’s all right Kaya”, “I won’t be too much longer Kaya”, “don’t go off chasing cows Kaya”, etc. etc.

There is also a Lower Shingle Falls just downstream from the upper falls. Click here to see a photo of it. Although not as scenic as the upper falls, and not resembling a giant spatula, it is a very impressive 29 ft. high plunge. It is also a bit steep to get down to, but not as bad as the upper falls, and Kaya was able to get down to this one with not too many problems. Though she did moan and complain a bit. She’s getting more cranky in her old age.

Later on in the day, I drove up to Stirling City, north of Paradise. I was trying to hit Big Kimshew Falls there, one I have not yet been to. Unfortunately, there was too much snow there, and the road I needed to get down was closed. I was really not expecting there to be so much snow at that elevation. Bummer. I guess this one will need to wait until spring. But I wish I had known that before I drove all the long way up there.

On Tuesday, I took the day off work and went back to Knickerbocker Falls in Auburn. I wanted to get back there and try to get to the upper falls in that canyon while it was still flowing well. Knickerbocker Falls is a 500 ft. waterfall with 3 major waterfall drops. The lowest falls can be viewed easily from the other side of the American River. The upper sections are so enticing but yet so unreachable. I was determined to change that this day. But I was denied. Knickerbocker Falls would not give up its secrets to me (this time). I started hiking from Cool at the Olmstead Loop trailhead. Once I hiked over to the top of Knickerbocker Canyon, I was on my own. No trails lead down into this canyon. I was doing some cross country solo down the canyon, battling through brush, down steep and sometimes dangerous terrain. Hoping beyond hope to catch a good view of the upper falls of Knickerbocker Canyon. In some places, I was following some old trails and old roads so the going was not too difficult. But in other places, I was scrambling down very steep sections. Knickerbocker Canyon is in a very steep recess with a truckload of heavy brush all around it. I could not get very many glimpses into the canyon itself, where the waterfalls were. Whenever I got to a new potential viewpoint, I thought to myself, yeah, I’m sure I’ll be able to see it from here no problem. Then I was yet again denied. I only caught one glimpse of one of the 2 upper waterfalls, but not a good one at that. It was definitely rather frustrating. I did eventually get down to the bottom of the canyon and was able to get to a good viewpoint of the lower falls (shown above), so it wasn’t a total loss by any means.

What goes down must go back up. Right? After scrambling about 800 ft. down the mountainside, I had to then of course go back up. So while I was hiking back up the mountain, it happened … I saw a cougar!!!! Now as an aside, I have always found it interesting that Americans usually call this animal a “mountain lion” and Canadians call it a “cougar”. Same animal, different names. Strange. Well, since I am a Canadian by birth, I will be calling it a cougar. Anyway, so this was the first time I have ever seen a mountain lion – er, I mean cougar, in the wild. I saw him first. He was just sitting up on a hill about 100 ft. away from me, hunting for some lunch (really). When he saw me, we just stared at each other for a very long time. I could not continue forward, or I would be walking right in front of it. I could not really go back down the trail, because then I would lose sight of it, and he could easily come right after me. All I could do was just wait … and wait … and wait. I thought I would be waiting all afternoon there. I amazingly had cell phone reception, so I called my wife and told her about the situation. That sorta freaked her out, especially because the phone reception was not great, and it cut out a couple times. I guess the Verizon guy has not been to Knickerbocker Canyon. Can you hear me now? While we were talking on the phone, she was looking on-line to find out what to do when you spot a cougar (or when one spots you). But I already knew all that. Finally, after a long while, the cougar saw some other animal and stalked slowly towards it and pounced on it. I was praying God would provide him some lunch to eat (that wasn’t human tasting). But he missed. He immediately turned around and looked at me to see what I was doing. I think he was as wary of me as I was of him. A few minutes later, he walked off slowly, and I lost sight of him. I was then able to continue hiking up the trail. I was still being very wary in case he looped back around. But he was gone. Whew! What a crazy adventure.

Now truthfully, I thought I acted fairly calm throughout this ordeal. I was definitely very nervous and anxious on the inside, not knowing what the cougar was going to do. But my knees were not shaking and I did not pee my pants, or anything like that. I was definitely doing a lot of praying to God. And God did protect me, thankfully. If the cougar had come after me, I had my hiking poles to fight him off, which may or may not have worked. I should have had my bear spray, but I had left that at home on this hike. Oops.