How many bucket list waterfalls have I been to this year? One, two, three, four. All of them in Yosemite National Park: Eleanor Creek Falls, Ribbon Falls, Kendrick Falls, and … doo doo doo doo … bottom of Illilouette Falls. Four is quite a lot for one year, right? Obviously I’ve been on many other hikes, but I am talking about bucket lists, once in a lifetime hikes, at the top of my list.
I think I have probably mentioned before that I hate the new system in Yosemite where you need to get a day permit reservation in advance. That may work for some people but not me. I cannot plan months in advance when I am going to Yosemite on a certain random day in the future. I usually plan my hikes last minute. I don’t know what the weather is going to be like months in advance, or when I will be able to go on a certain hike, or even what hike I want to do until a few days before. They do release additional permits one week ahead of time, however, on Saturday I am usually hiking so I cannot log on to the computer and try and get a permit in the 10 minutes they are available before they all sell out. This past week, however, I was not doing anything on Saturday so I was actually able to log on and snag a day permit for the following weekend. Goodness gracious me.
I have often wondered why they say you need a permit at 5AM. It is so early! I could go in to the park before 5AM without a permit but that would mean I would have to drive to Yosemite Friday night and find a place to camp or sleep in my car. I don’t really like doing that too much. After 5AM you need to have that darn permit. I arrived at the gate at 5:55 AM. Permit in hand. The kiosk booth was not open! There was no one there! I suspect now that they do not even open until 6AM at the earliest. So why do they say 5AM? Next time I would not even need a permit. Would it be worth taking that chance? Hmmm.
There were a lot of people in the Valley. The Curry Village parking lot was completely full. The trailhead parking lot was almost full. It was only 6:30 AM! Holy crikey.
I got my stuff and headed up the trail. I thought the Ribbon Falls hike was very tough (it was). This hike was about three times as difficult. It is about the same length and about the same elevation gain, just a little more. But there is no trail! (unlike Ribbon). It is all off trail. There is brush. There are creek crossings. There is walking right up the creek bed. There is scrambling over huge boulders. There are a couple technical class three maneuvers to get over the huge rocks. It was at the limit of my skill level. It took 2 1/2 hours up and the same going back down. But I made it. The bottom of Illilouette Falls! I would not say it was spectacular but I would certainly say it was incredibly beautiful. (it would be spectacular at high flow but it’s not possible to do this in the spring). Bonus: I saw zero people. Everyone else was hiking the Mist Trail. It was a fantastic morning in Yosemite National Park.
After resting at camp for 5 hours, I had one more hike to do in the afternoon after going to the upper Kendrick Creek Falls. Below Edith Lake is Lower Kendrick Creek Falls. It is a 500 ft. descent. I did not realize it was such a huge descent, I thought it was more like 100 or 200 ft. but when I looked back up from the bottom, I thought, holy crap, I have to climb back up that? Being so tired as I am? It turned out it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. But it seemed bad. Again, it was a lot of walking down very steep granite rock to get down to the lower falls. There was also a massive wall of brush that I had to find a way around.
Lower Kendrick Creek Falls is 49 ft. high. There was no way to get up close to this one unless I crossed the creek but the creek was not crossable. I photographed it from further back, the best I could do.
The next morning I was up at 4AM. I had to hike 15.5 miles all the way back to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. That is 7 miles of difficult off-trail hiking, plus 8.5 miles on-trail hiking. Elevation gain would be 1800 ft., all of it at the beginning on the off-trail section. I estimated it would take 12 hours to hike all the way back, so starting at 5AM I would get back to the reservoir at 5PM. The off-trail section took 1 hour longer than anticipated but the on-trail section (all downhill) was much quicker, so I actually got back at 4PM, one hour ahead of schedule. Not too shabby.
I dropped my GPS. It was only about a 2 foot drop and not a hard landing, but it stopped working. This was an issue. I had a backup of course but my backup device was not going to show me where all the brush was, it would only generally show me the proper direction to go. Since I was off-trail, I was going to be in big trouble navigating through all the brush. Before I got up to the brushy sections, I tried my GPS again. It was working! It was definitely behaving erratically but it was working again for now. Good news. Now I could navigate through all the horrible brush. It definitely seemed worse going back for some reason. This is a lesson learned for me. From now on I will make sure to load my off-trail routes to both devices. Could I have navigated back with only my backup device? Certainly but I would have been in the thick of the brush and it would have taken a lot longer and been more difficult. Could I have navigated back if I did not have a backup at all (and my primary device was not working)? Definitely not. I would have been thoroughly lost in space.
I got back to the trail at 12PM. It is all downhill from here and I made good time until I came to the final steep rocky section to the reservoir. Oh man, I do hate hiking these rocky steps. Why couldn’t they make this trail properly? My blistered feet were complaining very loudly. It was also very hot. The two days of cooler temperatures were gone. It was about 90 degrees down at the reservoir and I was hiking in the worst part of the day, but I knew it would be like this and I had no choice. I had to get back home this day. I lathered on all the sunscreen I could and sucked it up. I am just glad it was all downhill.
The water levels were drastically reduced from three days prior. When I got here on Friday, Wapama and Tueeulala Falls were massive. (in fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tueeulala at such a high flow before). Now 3 days later, they were much reduced. There was one small stream I was counting on for water. It was quite nice on Friday but now it was dry! No more water available to drink. It was only 4 miles to the reservoir and I had enough but I had to conserve. Good thing I had lots of water and soda at the car.
I drove straight to Pizza Factory in Groveland. Mmmmm, that was much needed. It was an incredible 4 days in the Yosemite Wilderness.
I had a good route mapped out on my GPS to the big waterfall. It looked do-able on Google Earth. Indeed it seemed there was no other way to get up the canyon above Edith Lake. From below, however, the route looked like a NO GO. It seemed very steep and cliffy. Isn’t that a little waterfall I see dropping over a cliff? (yes it was). I was not very confident that I would make it up to the big waterfall. But I had to try it, didn’t I?
It was 2.5 miles from my camp with 800 ft. elevation gain, and I allowed 2.5 hours to get up there before the sun would get on it at 7:30AM (yes I started before sunrise). That should be plenty of time. The route was a GO. It was a tough steep climb but it was not cliffy and there was an easy away around that little waterfall. Again though, it would have been deadly if there was snow on the granite rock or if it was wet.
After that big initial climb above the lake the terrain levels out. You can see the big waterfall ahead of you. It looks absolutely majestic but it is still a long way away and it takes a long time to get there. I saw bear scat and deer tracks. How on Earth do these animals get into this remote canyon? Do they go down the incredibly steep granite rock as I had to? I have no idea. The walls in this canyon are incredible and imposing, clearly formed from the ice age some 4000 years ago, as can be seen by the glacial striations on the rock.
I arrived at the waterfall at 7AM with 30 minutes to spare. Oh Glory!
Kendrick Creek Falls is absolutely magnificent! It drops 370 ft. in total, falling off the cliff and continuing into a very large cascade. This one has been on my bucket list for quite a few years now and I have finally made it. The effort to get here was gargantuan but I did it and I was so happy. The wind and spray from the waterfall was very substantial. The upper side of the falls was like a rain storm and impossible to photograph from that side (but very refreshing getting soaked in the spray). The lower side of the falls was a little bit better and I was able to get some shots.
I ate my breakfast and stayed for over an hour, enjoying the view. Then I made my way back down to camp, taking my sweet time. I was very tired (not just from this hike but from all the hiking I did in the last couple days). I rested for about 5 hours in the shade at camp, napping a bit. In the evening I would have one more hike to do and then a huge hike the next day out of the canyon.
I slept fairly well in my tent every night. That is quite unusual for me. I’m not complaining. I have a new pad and a new pillow. Maybe that is the reason. (shrug shoulders)
I got up at a decent hour (not too early, not too late) and had a good breakfast. This would be a long day and almost all of it completely off-trail. What was I getting myself into?
The first huge obstacle is crossing Frog Creek. Frog Creek is a major crossing. This is the only way to access Edith Lake. When I was up at Lake Eleanor last month I could not cross it. Now we are in the middle of a heat wave. The Tuolumne River was flowing at 2400 cfs. Snow melt was at its peak. Frog Creek would be near its highest for the year. The last gasp for the rivers and creeks. I was 95% sure I would not be able to cross it. I had a backup plan but I had to give this a try. This was my third attempt at getting to Edith Lake. A couple years ago I tried via a different route. The wrong route. I completely and totally underestimated the difficulty and I had to bail. Last year I had a permit for the proper route, however, as we all know last year was an epic snow year. It is impossible to know what the weather and snow conditions are going to be like when you need to reserve your permit months in advance. When my permit time came around there was still snow. Going down to Edith Lake when there is still snow would have been deadly. (now that I have been there I know this to be true). The granite rock you go down is incredibly steep and can only be done when the rock is completely dry. I wisely canceled my permit. Third time is a charm, right?
Frog Creek was high. It did not look possible to cross. Or was there a way? There were some logs. I was able to wade half way across the creek in an easy section and then cross the difficult part on logs. It was a bit sketchy but I was able to cross it safely. If the logs were not there I am not sure if I could have crossed it.
There is a lot of brush on the route, most notably on the immediate other side of the creek. It was manageable though and I had a good route loaded into my GPS that avoided much of it. I never felt like I needed to turn back so it couldn’t have been that bad, right? It did seem worse on the return trip, however, and I will talk more about this on DAY 4.
It is a long off trail hike but finally I came to the end of the ridge above Edith Lake. The view is absolutely stunning. I could see the lake below me and in the far distance, the big waterfall. That was my destination. Wow. It was so far away. I was dead tired. There was no way I could make it there.
I decided that I would need to camp at Edith Lake and try to make it to the big waterfall in the morning. It is a very steep descent down to Edith Lake on granite rock. There are cliffs that you need to avoid. In fact there are a lot of cliffs all over the place. It takes a long time to pick your way down and around them. Once down at the lake there is a lot of brush. This also took a long time to get through and find somewhere to camp. Eventually I found it: the perfect spot overlooking the lake. There was absolutely no one else around.
There were many reasons why I had not planned to camp at Edith Lake but it turned out to be the absolute best thing to do. One reason was that all the waterfalls down here were very difficult to reach. I underestimated them and could not have seen them all if I had camped elsewhere. A second reason was mosquitoes. I knew they would be horrible. HOWEVER … mosquitoes were actually a non-issue. There was a good stiff breeze on both days I camped here. There were no mosquitoes. They only came out once the wind died down after sunset and I was already in my tent. This was not luck. I am 100% certain this was a direct blessing from the Lord. There was not much wind the prior day at Lake Vernon or the day I left Edith. Only on the two precise days I was here there was a wind? That is no coincidence.
The Edith Lake waterfall drops about 215 feet into the lake. It is a pretty decent view from my campsite and this is where I photographed it. I did make an attempt to get up close to it but it proved impossible. The only way to do it would be in a raft. Am I going to drag my raft all the way down here? No chance. The hike is way too difficult. Maybe a small light dinghy would be good but I am never going to be back here again. I just enjoyed the view of the waterfall from my campsite.
Big heat wave. No trail. Two rattlesnakes (almost stepped on). One bear (a problem bear). Heavy brush. Cliffs. MAJOR creek crossing. This adventure had it all. Epic waterfall. Epic camping location. Epic beauty. Zero people. Bucket list waterfall bagged. This is YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK.
First things first. It would take two full days of hiking just to get to my waterfall (two and a half actually). My first night would be spent at Lake Vernon (a popular spot). I arrived at Hetch Hetchy entrance before 7AM. Since they are now open at sunrise (this is a new thing for this year), I thought that I could pick up my permit early. It was going to be a very hot day and I had 3000 ft. to climb. I wanted an early start. Nope. There was no one at the booth that early. I could not pick up my permit until 8AM. I waited for an hour. Thankfully the ranger was nice and let me get my permit about 15 minutes early after he started up all his machines and cleared out the moths (his words).
He said he needed to physically see my bear canister. This has never happened before but it was for an important reason. He said there was a problem bear at Lake Vernon causing havoc. (actually there were two problem bears – I learned from a second ranger later). One was a small black colored bear that was sneaking up on people and stealing food and running away with backpacks that have food in them. The second was a medium brown colored bear that apparently tore apart someone’s tent because they left sunscreen in it. I got the whole spiel from both rangers about what to do if I encounter these bears and if they cause problems. I did not mind. It is important. These bears are only problems because of dumb things that backpackers are doing and not minding or storing their food properly. I did see the brown colored bear up at Lake Vernon (not the black one). He did not cause me any problem, however. He ran away when he saw me and was about to climb up a tree. He stopped when he finally realized I was just a human. I took a quick picture and left him alone.
I saw two rattlesnakes both of which I almost stepped on. The first on the trail up to Lake Vernon. It was a big one and it did not even rattle. It was right in the middle of the trail and I almost did not see it. The second was up at Lake Vernon and this one did rattle when I almost stepped on it. Yikes! These things freak me out more than bears.
Anyway, I started my hike at about 8:30AM. Last time I went to Lake Vernon I started at 7:30 and arrived at 3PM. This time I arrived at 3:30PM. That is not too bad but I was dead tired. It was about 95 degrees this day (at the reservoir). It is a 3000 ft. climb up to Lake Vernon. It was excruciatingly hot. There were plenty of people. One big group I passed said they were going to Laurel Lake. The funny thing is there was one guy in the group that was a speed hiker. He would go way ahead of his group and then wait for them to catch up. I kept seeing him as we passed each other back and forth. He caught up with me at the junction to Lake Vernon. I wondered about this because it is two miles past the Laurel Lake junction. Sure enough he shortly came trudging back saying he went too far. Yikes that is an extra 4 miles he had to hike! On this hot day!
There were a lot of people at Lake Vernon spread out along both sides of the lake. There are plenty of spots but I prefer camping below the lake along the creek. It is much more pleasant to me to camp along a raging creek than beside a lake. I was the only one down there and had the area all to myself. Also, my primary thought was that there would not be any mosquitoes down away from the lake. I was wrong about that, there were plenty of mosquitoes, but they only came out at dusk just prior to me getting in the tent for the night.
After I ate dinner I hiked to the end of the lake where Falls Creek Falls is located. My objective here was not to go up to the big waterfall which I have done before but I wanted to get a better photo of the Middle Falls Creek Falls. I did not go to the very bottom last time which I thought was a mistake. When I arrived I realized why I did not do that before. It was difficult to get down and there were no views of it from the bottom anyway. Well I would try to rectify that nonsense. I scrambled down to the bottom, worked my way up the creek and then climbed up on a big rock at the corner and right beside the bottom of the waterfall. I got a decent view and photo. Not bad.
I returned to camp and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a very tough day …
