Leon Turnbull Photography

There is a path from the road at Devils Falls going down to the bottom where the creek dumps into Shirttail Creek. There you will find this pretty little thing. It is a two tiered waterfall, and I did not measure it but I do not think it is 20 ft. high. I only photographed the lower tier, being as I thought it the most prettiest. I do think it might be more interesting at higher flows with both tiers together, if that is, you could find a good view point of both tiers together. Could be tricky.

You might think it funny that I had never been down here before, since I have been to Devils Falls many many many times. I always thought it did not look all that interesting when I peered over the edge from the road before. This time, I was sufficiently bored enough so I decided to go down (just for the heck of it). I think I was right about it not being too interesting down at the bottom, in the sense that the waterfall was not very big. But on the other hand, even small waterfalls can be pretty, and this one certainly was.

There is finally some rain in the forecast next week. It has been a long time coming. Much too long. It has felt like summer lately, and it is totally killing me! I even noticed some wildflowers starting to bloom. Really?? If you are one of those people that like this weather, then ummm, don’t talk to me. Unfortunately I don’t see any big storms coming, only small ones. We need big storms please. Ah well it is better than what we have had thus far this year: nothing on a stick (as my wife always likes to say to me – usually in reference to what is for dinner).

This weekend I first went to Upper Chamberlain Creek Falls, wanting to get a good shot of it from up close. When I was there last year, there was so much flow I could not get a good angle to photograph it. This time, it was barely flowing at all, and I was quite disappointed; I am not sure if I will share that photo or not. I didn’t think it would be great by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it would be at least as much as nearby Stevens Creek. Not so. It was certainly not worth braving the poison oak and all the ticks. I must have flicked at least 30 or 40 of them off the grasses as I walked along the trail. Eck.

I decided to go over to Devils Falls next since I was in the area, taking the long route from Windy Point. By the way I did not see much evidence from the forest fire last summer. Right around Devils Falls there is a lot of charred remains but even the very close Mexican Gulch was not touched. I’m certainly glad Windy Point at least was not burned because of the beautiful wildflowers that display there in the spring (p.s. it is not spring yet!).

I am not really all that keen on Devils Falls anymore, since I have shot it to death. But it keeps coming back to life, and in fact it usually has decent flow most of the year (not to mention that it is so very easy to get to – except for that awful narrow road). This time, though, I did something different. Shocking. I went to the very bottom of the waterfall (below the road where it dumps into Shirttail Creek). I have never been down there before which is an oddity for me (as it is not hard to do). There is another small waterfall down there, not anything to write home about, but it is a pretty little thing, so I think I will likely post that shot next.

I was also scouting a new location with a potential new waterfall. I found a possible route down to it, but I did not want to make a huge effort, since it would likely be only trickling. If it rains much in the coming weeks, I will likely be back to try it. I’m not telling where it is yet, but if you see me post yet another shot of Devils Falls in a couple weeks, then you will know that I struck out. Stay tuned and let’s hope for some rain and new waterfalls being found.

Here is another view of Iowa Canyon Falls, the same waterfall I just recently posted. I think this is a much better viewpoint than from up close at the base of the waterfall. The angle at the bottom of the falls was just too severe and it was not possible to see the entire waterfall from there. Nonetheless, I was really happy to finally get to the base of the falls last time, it was not too difficult, and I am planning to go back and do it again, when (a) the flow is a bit less so there is not as much mist, and especially when (b) the water is not so cold, so I do not freeze my toes off again. I think I might be able to find a nice (or at least a different) view from down there when there is not so much mist.

I went back to Slab Creek Reservoir this morning to try to get up close to Iowa Canyon Falls. It was not my first choice for hiking, but my first idea for a hike could not be done because it turned out to be on private property. So plan B it was, back to Slab Creek.

It was a BRRRRRRR …. very cold morning, the temps were below zero, there was ice on the road, and even snow in Placerville in some spots from the miniscule amount of precipitation we received a couple days ago. I am still hopeful for a big change to the current weather pattern by middle of February. So anyway, here I am down at the bottom of Iowa Canyon, trying to figure out how to get up close to this waterfall. The prickly brush lining the creek bed taunts me saying, yeah come on man, you can do it, we won’t hurt you, hee hee. Well I know better than to listen to those lies. It was wading up the creek bed I knew was the only way to go. Did I mention that it was a cold morning? The bridge over the creek was ice, I could slide the whole way across. Too bad I wasn’t younger, I might have had fun doing that instead of worrying about breaking my neck. I rolled up my pants and started up the creek (though first a bit through some of that prickly brush was a necessity – doh!). The creek was freezing. Yikes. The going was not too difficult however. I made it up to the base of the waterfall in short order. The last pool was a bit deep, coming up to my knees. Did I say it was cold? My feet were starting to get a bit numb, then I realized the only way to photograph this sucker would be standing in the middle of that freezing water.

I always attempt to photograph my waterfalls as best as I possibly can. That means being there in good lighting conditions, and just as important, finding the best composition that can be safely had. This is OFTEN not possible at waterfall locations. Some people have recently mentioned to me things like, this photo would be much better if not centered, or it would be better if you moved over to one side a bit, or it would be better if you did this or that. These people have never been to these waterfall locations, and do not realize those things are not even remotely possible. If I move over, I will fall off the cliff and die! There is one and only one composition of this waterfall, so it must be centered in the frame! Wake up and smell the coffee. Photographing waterfalls is often times much more difficult compared to other easy-to-get-to-within-a-very-short-walk-from-your-car general landscape scenes. Ok, end rant.

This waterfall is a perfect example. The angle from the base of the falls was severe. I could not get any closer to photograph due to the extreme mist from the falls, plus the angle was no good. If I moved to the left here, I would not be able to include the upper tier of the falls, and there would be too many branches in the way. If I moved to the right (which I would have liked to do), then that big rock would have obscured too much of the waterfall, plus I would have been standing up to my waist in a deep pool. This was the best possible composition, and it may not be a great angle, but it was the only one available.

There was only one problem with this. I had to stand in the creek to get this photograph. The freezing cold creek. So that is exactly what I did. I think I would have been fine if I did not have to stand in the creek to photograph. But by the time I was done (and believe me, I did not take very many photos), my feet were completely numb. Really bad. I don’t remember the last time my feet were so cold, probably not since skiing when I was a kid. I took my water shoes off and sat down on a rock, drying them with my towel, and trying to get some feeling back in my toes. I sat there about 20 minutes or so, and my feet were still numb;  I was getting a little bit of feeling back, but still they were very cold. I put my water shoes back on, now having to wade back down the creek, trying to stay out of the water as much as possible. Back at the bridge and walked quickly back to the car where I promptly turned on the heat and sat for another 20 minutes or so, trying to get my feet warm from the heater. My next purchase will be: waders.

I like surprises. At least I like surprise waterfalls. Surprise birthday parties not so much. This weekend I went to Slab Creek reservoir again. When I arrived at the parking area, I realized that my GPS was not working at all. I knew I had just charged the batteries so that should not be the issue, nonetheless I tried my backup batteries and they did not work either. What? The GPS was working perfectly fine just a couple days ago, and I know it was not dropped or anything. It just all of a sudden stopped working. Argh! Now it looks like I’m gonna have to buy a new one. Oh that is just peachy. Well, I did not think it was critical to have the GPS today. I wanted to see if I could hike up along the reservoir to Slab Creek inlet. However, I did not get very far. Not even past the dam. The reservoir was full so I definitely had no chance to hike up along the lake as I hoped to do. Strike one.

Next up was to try to get down to North Canyon Falls. This requires crossing the river below the dam. I don’t know why but I find this scary. What if they released water while I was on the wrong side of the river? Never mind that it would not happen. They keep the flow very constant and with no rain there would certainly be no release. Yet that reservoir sure looked very full. And why were the rocks all wet down below the dam if it hadn’t rained in a month? Hmmm. Anyway the river seemed too deep and fast to cross anyhow. Perhaps it could be done at the right spot but I was not motivated. I have to be motivated. Strike two.

I went up to photograph Iowa Canyon Falls next. I wasn’t really into doing this either. I already have a good shot of this falls but I figured I needed to get at least something this morning. There is too much prickly brush along the creek to get right up to the base of the falls (well, perhaps if I was motivated to do it!) so you need to climb up the bank and shoot the waterfall from a distance. I noticed that there were quite a lot of ticks in the grass but I was wary of them and I did not get any on me. Little freakin’ buggers. Ugh.

As I hiked back up to my car afterwards, bummed from a somewhat disappoingting morning thus far, I saw a trail going off the road and back down to the creek. Hmmm, that is interesting. I could see a small waterfall down there and it looked like the trail was going down to it, however another part of the trail continued up the creek, but I could not see what was around the corner. I did not think there would be anything but I decided to just go see anyway. I guess I was motivated enough to do this, despite the ticks and poison oak. I am sure glad I was because what to my surprise when I saw this nice waterfall hiding around the corner! Not a little one either, but a beautiful 33 foot high cascade! Getting up to it was a challenge though. There was a lot of prickly brush to get through. I also saw four old cars down here, two right in the creek and two on the hillside. I’m sure they’ve been there for fifty years or so. You really don’t like your car so much you have to drive it off a cliff into a creek! Crazy. It reminded me of back home in BC when I was a kid, people would drive their old cars off the cliff into the Columbia River. At the time, being so young, I thought this to be very fascinating. Anyway, once down at the creek I had to get my water shoes on and wade up the creek the rest of the way to the falls. This was to avoid all the prickly brush lining the creek bed. It was not hard but it sure was cold! Once at the waterfall I then had to cross a narrow fast moving channel to the other side to get the best viewpoint. Very carefully! Upper Iowa Canyon Falls sure is a marvelous cascade and it turned my morning from BLAH to GREAT. I do love waterfall surprises!