I always say I will never return to Ventana Wilderness. It is always too tough. Too many ticks. Too much poison oak. Too brushy. Too crazy. Then I always go back. What is wrong with me? This trip turned out no different than usual. Only three out of seven planned waterfalls seen.
With my work I need to submit my vacation requests at least one month in advance. That is very difficult for me. How can I possibly know what the weather will be like? It was not looking good at first with an extremely dry January but then it started raining on Feb. 1 and cleared up precisely on time for my backpacking adventure. Big Sur had about 11 inches of rain. It was going to be a glorious weekend. Thank you God for this perfect timing.
The first waterfall on my list before I even started the backpacking was Ghostly Falls. I had no idea what this waterfall was like. It seemed like a very easy hike on the map. NOTHING in Ventana Wilderness is easy. Even though short, it was quite difficult with a lot of tree blowdowns and it took a lot longer than I wanted. I needed to get going on my main hike for the day. I don’t think it was even worth it. Ghostly Falls is pretty but it is small, 21 feet high exactly. Alrighty then. One waterfall seen. Let’s go backpacking!
A recent trail report I read said the Cone Peak Trail was in decent shape. NOT! It was horribly overgrown. I was battling through incredibly thick brush. I could not continue for another 3 miles like this. I decided to give up and try the Coast Ridge trail instead. This one was supposed to be in worse shape so I did not have much hope for it. It was very difficult but I did manage to get through it and up to the top of the ridge. At this point I was incredibly tired and it was getting late. I thought it would be an easy walk down to Trail Camp from here. HA! Ventana Wilderness wins again. The Gamboa Trail was COMPLETELY OBLITERATED from the Dolan Fire of 2020. It was utterly IMPASSABLE. Now I am completely spent. I could not continue. There is no water or place to camp. I did not want to go back down the difficult Coast Ridge trail and I did not have the energy for it either. What can I do?
I decided to go down the Carrizo trail to Carrizo camp. It was about 3 miles out of my way but downhill and this trail was supposed to be in good shape so it should hopefully be an easy hike. It was not an easy hike and it took longer than I thought but at least the trail was not horrible.
There were quite a few ticks in the last mile before camp. Up to this point there had not been any ticks or poison oak. Ventana ticks are an advanced species. They cling to all sorts of branches on the trail, not just the whitish colored grasses that most ticks hang on. They also change color to blend in. There are white-grey colored ticks that cling to these white colored grasses in addition to the brown ones. You think I am joking but I am not. I did not see any green colored ticks on the green branches but I will not be surprised to see those in the future. My clothes were treated with permethrin which is supposed to keep the ticks off but I still got ticks on me. One was actually trying to bite through my pants. That were treated with permethrin. Welcome to Ventana Wilderness.
I was dead tired when I got to camp. It was late and the sun was setting. I was also cold. I got my tent set up and ate my dinner and got into the warmth of my sleeping pad as soon as I could. I slept well. On to day two.
I slept fairly well and was up at sunrise. The creek was much clearer in the morning as I suspected it would be so I scrambled down the steep and unstable slope to obtain water for drinking and for coffee. It was actually still quite a bit dirty (much more so than 6 years ago) but once it passed through my filter it was clean as a whistle.
While I was down there I walked up the creek bed to the upper falls to take a photo of it from the base. This was a new photo for me as I did not do this last time. Being down in this canyon is frankly a bit frightening. The cliffs are very unstable. I heard more than one rock fall during the night. Indeed as I was taking photos of the waterfall a large rock fell down the cliffs directly beside me. Thankfully it was on the other side of the creek and was not a danger (although it would have been if it was much bigger). Nonetheless it freaked me out and I jumped four feet in the air. I did not realize it until afterwards but there was a massive boulder sitting very precariously on the cliffs directly above where I was photographing. If that had fallen while I was down there? Well … you get the picture … Pancakes.
I climbed back up with water in tow and made some coffee for my breakfast and pancakes, enjoying the morning sun with view of the mountain and waterfalls. The hike back out was uneventful. My pack was much lighter since I was only carrying two liters of water and less food as well. I made it back to the car by 10:30am. The Kia Soul was still there. I’m just glad it wasn’t stuck somewhere along the road and blocking my path. I was home by 4pm. It was a marvelous two days in the Mt. Shasta Wilderness.
Our entire family got the evil COVID as a Christmas present this year. We had to delay our trip to Canada because of it. I wasn’t happy especially because I think it could have been avoided if a certain unnamed person (not me) hadn’t gone out to see my wife when he was sick, although we probably would have gotten it somewhere else since it seems to be going rampant again.
Needless to say I was quite sick last weekend and did not hike. This weekend, however, I felt much better. I was definitely going hiking. The last hike of 2023. The last waterfall of 2023.
I tried this one a few years ago by going straight up the creek from the road. That did not work. I came fairly close and got a glimpse of the waterfall but there was no way to get up to it. My next try would be to attempt it from above, but in the meantime the Dixie Fire of 2021 raged through the area, destroying everything in its path, and in 2022 the entire canyon (along with nearby Murphy Creek) was washed out in a flood.
Now it is the end of 2023 and time to try again. On Google Earth everything looked burned out and desolate but I did not see that on my hike. In fact it didn’t really look like anything had burned. It has all grown back now, and that includes the poison oak. There was a lot of that.
I got to the creek and parked, got all my gear out, locked the car, and started my hike. Something was wrong. I could feel it. In my bones. What is wrong? I knew I forgot something. I had my water. I had my backpack. I had my hiking pole. I had my camera. Doh! I did not have my tripod! I forgot the darn tripod back at the house. Argh! The reason is because I took my wife’s car this time and did not transfer it. Normally I just leave the tripod in my car. I transferred my hiking pole but not the tripod. Darn it. What am I going to do now? Well I would figure it out once I got up to the waterfall. I probably wouldn’t make it anyway.
It was not too difficult climbing up the mountain or too brushy. The biggest problem was the poison oak. It was steep and there were a lot of loose rocks. I had to be very careful but as I approached the waterfall from near the top I could see a way down to it. It was not cliffy as I feared. I was not able to get all the way down to the creek but I made it to a fantastic viewpoint of the waterfall. Opapee Creek Falls is 103 ft. high and it is very lovely indeed. At high flows it will be spectacular. I am sure I will be back here some day. With a tripod. Thankfully there was a nice spot where I could put my backpack down and set my camera stably on it and this allowed me to take good photos of the waterfall with no tripod. Sweet.
Initially I had planned a second hike in the afternoon but decided to skip it for four reasons: (1) my trek to Opapee was so successful and also harder than I thought it would be. (2) no tripod. This was the biggest reason. I was lucky for a spot to set up the camera on my backpack but probably would not have such luck at additional spots. (3) poison oak. I needed to get home and wash up before it was too late. (4) still recovering from COVID. not really a big problem as I felt pretty good but still it was probably smart not to push it too much.
It was a great morning in Plumas National Forest with yet another new waterfall discovery.
As of Dec 1 the snow pack in California is about 26% of normal overall. It is a disappointing and pathetic start to the new season. All the rain is going into the Pacific Northwest thus far. This is not supposed to happen in an El Nino year, especially for a strong El Nino. But … obviously it is still early. Winter doesn’t really even begin until December so hopefully it will turn around soon. I would like to see us at least get an average winter. That is not too much to ask, right?
Anyway, I did not feel like doing much this past weekend but I wanted to at least go out with Journey somewhere. Our church service was not until the afternoon on Sunday so we got up early in the morning to go to Auburn. It has been 16 years since I have been to Lake Clementine Falls. It would be nice to go back there with Journey. However, I forgot it was the day of the marathon. The road to Auburn was closed. Ugh. Now what? Journey will be mad at me if I just go back home now (after waking her up so early!). I decided to go the long way around to Auburn. We had lots of time.
I parked at the Foresthill Bridge. The parking is free. If I park at the Confluence it is not free. I know I could get a free pass at the library but it is inconvenient. On the downside, there is a 700 ft. descent from the bridge down to the river, but this would be a good hike for the two of us and not too difficult.
I have not ever walked across the Foresthill Bridge before but I was really pleased I did so and not because of the views (though they are good). It is the highest bridge in California and I guess people have committed suicide jumping off it, though I do not think I have heard of anyone doing so on this bridge. I was stricken, however, as I read all the notes that someone left on the bridge every ten feet all the way across. Positive notes for people who might be thinking of jumping: bible verses, and other notes saying God loves you, don’t give up, etc. I just thought that whoever did this is a very awesome person. It made my day.
When I arrived there was a lot of fog in the valley and the bridge was enveloped in it. I came to a spot that would make a great photo so I stopped but by the time I got the camera out the fog was mostly all gone. Ugh. Maybe the waterfall would have fog? Likely story. By the time I made it all the way up there it had long since dissipated. Oh well.
It was a lovely hike along the river. Except for all the garbage. Why are people such a-holes? I picked up more than my fair share including some yucky stuff but there was plenty more to be seen. We arrived at the waterfall. It is a little bit steep on slick rock getting down to this viewpoint but Journey did great and made it down. I took some photos and we hiked back along the river and then up the steep hill back to the bridge and car. She was quite tired after that big 700 ft. climb. It was a lovely morning in Auburn State Recreation Area.
Meet Upper Bear Ranch Creek Falls, 112 ft. high. It took me four tries to get here and I was absolutely ecstatic that I finally made it.
I was in the area the prior week trying to get to this waterfall but it was an epic fail. After the Bear Fire in 2020 the brush has grown up tremendously. This route was now impassable. Before the fire I think this might have been a good route. Now, not a chance. Somehow while whacking through all the bushes I lost my Garmin Inreach. I was so mad at myself. I did not have it securely attached to my person and it fell off into the brush. I retraced my steps exactly but did not find it. Back at the top of the mountain, I had cell service so I called my wife and asked her to ping the device, which she did but there was no response. I figured it must be under some trees or logs and now is lost forever. Once I got back home I tried pinging it again. It was the same thing my wife did but this time I got a response! Now I had a location where it was and I could go back sometime and get it. But time was running out. Once it snowed I would not be able to go back until spring and snow was in the forecast for the next week. I literally had just one day to go back there, Sunday on my way home from visiting family up north for Thanksgiving weekend.
It would not be a difficult hike to go back. I figured just 6 miles round trip and 300 ft. of elevation gain. Thankfully it was not at the bottom of the canyon. I did not want to just go back to do this one hike, however. I decided to do a second hike first to another waterfall. I was not planning on Upper Bear Ranch Creek again, I was planning a different (easier) hike, but that also turned out to be far too brushy and impassable. Well …. what to do now?
I thought about taking a different route to Upper Bear Ranch Creek Falls. Perhaps it would not be as brushy. Heck, why not? I had all day. The new route was not so brushy, however, it was very steep and very cliffy. I had to be very careful in some spots. I got most of the way down the canyon and came to the top of a cliff. I thought I was done. I decided to just check out one more spot to see if it was passable and lo and behold, I was able to continue! Past the final cliff, I could forge on all the way down to the creek and to the waterfall. I was in shock that I actually made it down all the cliffs. I was in awe at the beauty of this majestic waterfall. I was so happy you have no idea. This one has been a long time in the making. I do not know of anyone else that has been here before.
I climbed back up the mountain 1700 ft. in elevation and back to my car. I was very tired but I still had a second hike to go retrieve my Garmin. Thankfully someone had cleared the fallen logs across the road and now I could drive much of it. Instead of a 6 mile hike it was more like 3 miles. I easily made it down to the area where the device was pinged. I could not see it. It was not in the exact location where it was supposed to be. I searched the area for about 20 minutes. I could not see it. Multiple passes. Praying fervently. I decided to make one last pass and then I saw it! I must have walked by it at least once without seeing the thing. I was so happy! Woo hoo! Thank you, Lord!
It was a fantastic day to see this amazing waterfall in Plumas National Forest.
