Leon Turnbull Photography

In the past week, there was one more foot of new snow fallen. It was the last storm of the winter (although it is not winter anymore). I had hoped it would have all melted by the weekend, but not so. Since it was fresh, it was not packed, and the snow was soft and not good to walk on without snow shoes. I knew I would need my snow shoes on this backpacking trip, and therefore I did pack them. Since the first part of the hike is road walking, I carried them. This added 3.5 pounds of weight to my pack. Not a fun thing, but it was easier walking on the road in hiking boots than snow shoes. At least it was downhill.

Once I got off the road, I put the snowshoes on since the snow was softer and I was sinking in. I hoped I could ditch them long before I got down to the river, thinking that I would be leaving the snow far behind, as it is a 1500 ft. descent. However, there was much more snow than expected, and it continued ALL THE WAY down to river level. When I got to the top of a certain gully (I could not wear them going down the gully), I almost left them there. Surely there would not be any snow at the bottom of the gully, but reluctantly I decided to carry them down, and it’s a good thing. There was a lot of snow at the bottom of the gully, and it was much deeper than at the top. Snow shoes were an absolute necessity.

There was one big creek crossing, but it was not horribly big and I was not expecting it to be uncross-able. I put on my water shoes and it was definitely flowing swift and very cold, but not dangerous at all. Coming back in a couple days could be a different story. It was supposed to warm up quickly this weekend, and that meant more snow would be melting into the creek. I was not concerned about it. However…

There was one section of the hike I was concerned about: It was a potentially very dangerous area, with steep drop-offs down into the raging river below. Fortunately, by this point in the hike, all the snow was gone. If there was snow, I would not have been able to continue past this section. With no snow or wet slippery rock, it was pretty easy.

It was a very long and difficult hike, but after 5.5 hours of slow slogging, I finally made it to my camp at Upper Palisade Creek Falls in the early afternoon. This waterfall is hidden off the main trail, but you can practically see it from the main trail (in fact, you can see it from the main trail), and it is very easy to get to. I don’t know why I never noticed it when I was down here before, and I thank my friend Mike for telling me about this one. It is a magnificent waterfall, dropping in two tiers, 80 ft. and 30 ft., and it is a perfect place to camp, right beside the falls. I had a terrific evening enjoying the waterfall and photographing it. However, it would be a very cold night…

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This weekend took me back to Serena Creek Falls. I’ve been to these waterfalls before but … it’s been awhile, and I wanted to come back here again. I also wanted to scout out the area for an upcoming trip in a few weeks. How much snow was up there? I was not sure. Would I need snowshoes? No clue. Where was I going to park for this upcoming weekend trip? I had an idea but again, I was not sure. So Serena Creek Falls seemed like a good place to go while I did these scouting things as well.

I arrived at the trailhead. There was at least 2 feet of snow on the ground here. That is not a lot, really. I thought there would be quite a bit more than this. It was very hard packed. I determined that I would not need my snowshoes on the hike, and so I left them in the car as I hiked down the road on the hard packed snow.

When I reached the point where I needed to get off the road and head towards to the creek, I began to wonder if it was a mistake leaving my snowshoes. In the trees, the snow was softer. There were some potentially big holes. I did not want to break my ankle on this hike! I figured it could be quite dangerous down near the creek with big holes and rocky and very steep terrain. Even with snowshoes, it could be a problem.

I did not posthole even once as I hiked down towards the creek (well, maybe once). There were many tracks back on the road, as this is a popular area for skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling, but there were no tracks going to the falls. No doubt I am the first person to visit the waterfalls this year. When I got to the top of the waterfall, which is where I would need to descend the very steep hill, I found no snow at all! With no snow, it was actually very easy getting down to the bottom of both waterfalls. I did not need my snowshoes after all.

At the Lower Falls (pictured here), I knew I would have to get in the creek and over towards the middle of the creek to take photos. There was a good strong flow in the creek, and of course it was icy cold, but I was able to get to the middle. I could not get all the way over to the other side, however, so I took my photos standing in the middle. My toes froze off, but I think it was worth it. Lower Serena Creek Falls is a beauty.

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As of April 1, the rainfall is at 80% of normal (northern CA), 79% (Central CA), 64% (South). The snowpack is at 47% of normal (northern Sierra), 64% (Central Sierra), 55% (Southern Sierra). March was the fifth wettest March on record, thanks to three very big storms. With those 3 storms, we went up from about 20% snow pack to 50% snow pack.

So was it a true Miracle March, as many people are saying? I would say yes and no. First and foremost, I thank and praise God for all the rain we received in March. Many people were praying for rain, and He answered that prayer. The snow pack more than doubled in one month, as did the overall rainfall. It would have been very depressing indeed without that March rain. Nonetheless, overall, a 50% snow pack is still very dismal and awful. The good news is there is rain continuing into April. This rain will probably bring us up close to 100% of normal for precipitation, but it will not add much to the snow pack, unfortunately.

All right, on to the waterfalls …

I have been sick recently and I have not been out hiking much. Also, I just had dental surgery and now I am out of commission for this weekend in recovery. However, in between those things, I did manage to get in one new visit to an old friend. The Devil is most certainly NOT my friend. However, his waterfall is not too shabby, mostly because it is very easy to get to. Except for that darn road.

I have not been down here since the storm damage of 2017. The road was closed for most of last winter, and only opened again in the summer. I was dreading the drive down. It was an awful road before. What would it be like now? It seemed maybe a slight bit narrower and a slight bit rougher on the way down. Or was that just my imagination? It was probably the latter, I suppose. The main thing I hate about the road is that it is so narrow, unfathomably narrow in some spots, with horrendous dropoffs. If any cars are coming in the opposite direction, there is no way to pass. Thankfully, I saw no one.

However …on the other side of the river, the half mile up to Devils Falls, the road was most certainly much worse. There are huge ruts in the road now where there was none before. A four wheel drive seems a necessity now.

In addition to seeing Devil’s Falls, I also tried to get to the upper falls, and also down to Shirttail Falls. When I did those hikes before, it was shortly after the fire, and pretty easy to get to them. No brush, no poison oak. Now the brush is back and the poison oak is back. In force. The poison oak was humongous. I did NOT want to get into any oak. It was not worth it. I decided to turn around. I finished photographing Devil’s, then drove went back up the mountain. There was a big storm coming in, and it was good to get off that crazy road before it all started.

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ODE TO NFAR:

In the beginning was the river, and the river flowed.

And the One who made it was pleased and said it was very good.

And its name was North Fork of the American, but its closest friends called it NFAR.

And it flowed green and wild through the rugged and beautiful canyon.

And there were towering waterfalls dropping into it, and the river welcomed them joyously.

And in the spring there was none that could tame it.

For some time, however, it was sad and disheartened.

And it longed to run wild and free again.

Many thought it would die and never come back, but after a time it did return and with a vengeance.

And there are eight waterfalls on the river, and they are splendid.

And the first is not made by the One, but the people like it and they flock to it and play in its lake.

And the second is not grand, but it has the spunk.

And the third is most glorious, but to see it you must die and be re-born.

And the fourth is the chief of the eight, and it is the maddening one.

And the fifth shimmers like a curtain in the sunlight.

And the sixth is where the emerald fairies play in the summer.

And the seventh lives in a narrow place, and is of power.

And the eighth is veiled and is usually only seen by the crazy ones on the water.

And the ones who live in the trees tried to claim part of the river for themselves only.

But the people must fight back, because the river belongs to the One, and He gave it to all.

And all the people thought that was the end of the waterfalls.

But the mad man did not believe it, and he set forth, and he was determined.

And he found the ninth, and it was beautiful and it was born of the mountain and the meadow.

And he was much delighted, and the people rejoiced.

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The second big storm of the month has delivered. This one dumped 7 inches of rain in the Northern Sierra foothills, and 5-7 feet of snow in the mountains. With one more big storm in the forecast for next week, we are on our way to seeing a true Miracle March. But more on that later.

For now, the waterfalls are rockin! I drove up to Oroville (again!) this weekend and up the North Fork Feather River canyon (again!). There were waterfalls flowing everywhere! Multitudes of unnamed streams flowing down the hillsides! The named streams and waterfalls were going off crazy! It was a water day! The waterfall madman was in Heaven! More exclamation marks!!

But where should I go? What should I see? I wanted to explore a certain creek that I had not been to before, which I learned about thanks to waterfallswest friend Jeremy. I knew there was a big waterfall on this creek that was fairly easy to get to. Or was it?

When I arrived at the creek, I found that it was snowing! There was a couple inches on the ground and it was still falling from the sky. I was only at 2000 feet elevation. I was shocked to see it snowing at this location. I pulled off the road, started to get ready for the hike, and took a wee alongside the road (it was a real emergency). It was at this point that a highway patrolman pulled up to me and got out of his vehicle. What are you doing? Are you all right? Yes, I am all right officer, I am just taking a wee and getting ready to hike up this creek to see some waterfalls, sir. Oh, all right then. I thought you were in need of assistance. I hope you have a fun day. Ok officer. Thank you, officer. Some parts of this story may be slightly exaggerated. But not all.

He left. I started my hike. I was already getting quite wet. The hike was short, and there was even a trail. Not that I could see it because of the snow. I encountered one obstacle on the way to the waterfall. It was a major obstacle.

There was an unnamed creek coming down the side of the mountain which I had to cross. On any other day, it would either be dry or a very easy walk across. Not today. The creek was rushing down the mountain, and below me, dropped off a cliff. This was no easy crossing! The rock on both sides of the creek (and in the creek of course) was wet and slick. If I slipped here, I would be sliding down the creek and over the waterfall. This was a deadly crossing. Sometimes I exaggerate my stories. Like for instance, the story above about the police officer. He did not see me taking a wee. He was just concerned that I might have had car troubles (it was very nice of him to stop). However, I am not exaggerating about this creek crossing (and I hope my wife is not reading this). It was potentially a very bad one. But … I had to go see this waterfall. Could I cross the stream safely? There was a branch over the creek. I grabbed onto it. I carefully planted one foot beside the stream on the slick rock, and stretched my other leg across onto the slick rock on the other side, then pulled myself across whilst holding onto the branch. I made it. Now the big question is how I would get back across afterward? It looked a lot worse going back the other way (and it was a lot worse). Well, let me worry about that later. Right now, I had a waterfall to get to.

After crossing the creek it was fairly easy to get to the waterfall viewpoint. It is a magnificent 67 ft. drop on this creek. It was snowing like crazy (as you can tell from the photo). It was amazing. If the ground was not so slick I probably could have gotten to the bottom of the falls, but it was a bit too much for me to try it today. Photos taken, now it was time to cross that creek again.

I did not want to go across in the same spot. I went a bit upstream to look for a better crossing. I found a better crossing. The only problem is that I had to put my boot right into the creek. It got very wet (obviously), but it was a more secure foothold and crossing. On the other side, I found myself hiking along the edge of another big dropoff on very slick terrain. Why did I not notice how bad this was coming up to the falls? This section kind of freaked me out worse than the creek crossing. Well I got by it, and back down the mountain I went. It was a great little hike to a magnificent waterfall.

I did go on a couple other hikes after this (and got even more wet), but I did not make it to any other waterfalls. Mostly the terrain was just crazy slick because of all the wetness. I shall return, however.

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