My mom is not doing very well these days so I took a trip to Canada with my daughter Nekoda to visit. It is a two day drive and the first day is a very long day, driving all day. I rarely make stops along the way, especially on the first day because it is so long and tiring and I had no plans to stop anywhere this time either. However, it is hard to resist when the conditions are absolutely perfect and they were perfect for visiting Hedge Creek Falls. It was cloudy. There was fresh snow on the ground. A lot of fresh snow on the ground. I was betting the waterfall would be stunning.
There was a path in the snow. Some people had been down there, so we did not need our snowshoes, but we were postholing quite a bit on the trek down to the waterfall. It was absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen Hedge Creek Falls covered in snow before. It was just a 30 minute break but it was perfect.
Thanks to waterfallswest friend Scotty for sharing this great find.
As of March 1, the snow pack in California is at 151% of average (north), 196% (central) and 231% (south). Precipitation is 117% of average (north), 158% (central) and 167% (south). If all the complainers back in January got their way then we would only be at normal average for the year, and still would be in a horrible drought this summer and likely seeing more forest fires than normal. I am happy to say the complainers did not get their way (though I thought they would when the rains stopped back in January). The storms picked up again with a vengeance in late February and are continuing into March. The snow pack is near an all time high. The waterfalls will be flowing well this year throughout the entire summer. The Madman is very happy. We still have a moderate to severe drought in most areas of California but this continues to improve. By spring I think the drought may be mostly gone. You may be wondering how is this all possible? We have La Nina conditions, exactly the same as last year. Every single weather forecaster said we would have another well below average winter. Every single one. There is really only one explanation in my opinion: God. He has answered all our prayers for rain and snow and to end the drought. In one fell swoop. Thank you Lord but I have to admit the extremes in California just kill me. I would much prefer to just have an average season every year.
Anyway enough of that. Onto my hike this weekend. I had no idea this waterfall (waterfalls) existed. It is an unnamed creek. I did not even consider it in my research. Why would I? However, with all the rain we have had, the creek is flowing very well and I could see from my friend’s photos that this would be a great waterfall find and definitely worth visiting. I did not know exactly where it was located on the creek. I assumed it would be down by the river. That was most logical. So I hiked the trail all the way down to the confluence at the river. No waterfall. Ugh. It must be upstream somewhere.
Now things got very hairy. I started bushwhacking up the creek. Bushwhacking indeed! The poison oak was absolutely atrocious. I gave up even trying to avoid the stuff. I can only hope I scrubbed it all off when I got home. There was a path in places but mostly it was a crazy bushwhack up the mountain, in the creek, through the brush, through the oak. I almost gave up. Where are those darn waterfalls anyway? I did not want to go back down to the river. That would have been just too hard. There was a big storm coming and the rain was supposed to start very soon. But I was not sure I would be able to exit upstream. It was incredibly brushy and getting worse and worse. I bushwhacked the entire length of the creek from the bottom to the top (to where it finally crossed the trail). I found a couple lower waterfalls that were 20 ft high (but hard to photograph). Finally I reached the main waterfall, an outstanding 41 ft. high cascade. I found it! We shall call it Drivers Flat Falls. I relaxed here a bit, taking many photographs. Then I continued going up the creek hoping to find an exit point so I would not have to retreat back down all the way to the river (thankfully I found one). It was a marvelous day in Auburn State Recreation Area.
I debated whether to share this photo or not. In the end I decided the picture is not really too horrible and it is worth it for the story.
It was a frustrating weekend. For myself. For Tara. For Nekoda.
My wife Tara is seriously sick. A long story but your prayers would be appreciated for her recovery.
In the meantime Nekoda had her big dance competition this weekend in San Jose. This is a huge deal for her. Tara would normally be the one to take her but obviously she could not do that this year. Enter the dad. Certainly I did not mind doing this and happy to help both of them out. I’m sure Nekoda would have preferred having her mom but I think she was quite satisfied with me being there.
In addition, I would actually have time to hike while she was dancing (or sleeping). Since she did not have to start in the morning until 10:30AM or so, I could go for a quick morning hike both days as long as it was close enough to the hotel.
I had an epic plan for Saturday morning. There was snow! We had very unusual low elevation snow in California this weekend. It really was going to be an epic hike. Except all the roads were closed! But were they? Apple maps was showing closures with no possible way to get to my planned destination on either side. However, Google maps was showing different. Some roads were open. There was a way. I suspected Google would be the one that was correct so off I went on Saturday morning with high hopes. But alas, I came to the closed road well before I could reach my destination. Google was wrong. I returned to the hotel in defeat and waited for Nekoda to wake up so we could go get breakfast together before her dance class.
In the afternoon I had more free time. I did not have to pick Nekoda up until 8:30PM. I decided to drive to the coast. I knew those roads were open. I planned to hike to Purisima Creek Falls and wait until sunset for taking photos. Enter my new frustration: the San Mateo County park system. All the parks in this county do not open until well after sunrise and close at 5PM, well before sunset. There were big and plentiful signs saying the gates closed at 5PM promptly and do not be late or you will get locked in. Ugh. Sunset was at 6PM. I waited at the waterfall viewpoint for as long as I possibly could, hoping for some clouds over the sun. It was not to be. I ran back to the trailhead in order to get back to the car by 5PM and not get locked in. I did not get the good sunset photo that I wanted.
I thought about coming back the next morning in the dark and sneaking in before the gate opened. I probably should have done that but instead I went on a different hike closer to the hotel. That one did not work out either because the creek was almost completely dry. (I won’t be sharing that photo). Strike three.
What about Nekoda? Her big day was on Sunday. She had a solo dance and two group dances. Last year she won an “honorable mention” award for her solo dance and hoped for the same or better this year. She danced absolutely beautifully and perfectly. She did not win an award this year. I am sure you can imagine her disappointment. I was upset. She was ripped off. She totally deserved an honorable mention at the very least, if not better. I’m not just saying that as her dad (but of course it is true I’m biased). Well, she can still be pleased that she danced her best and we are all very proud of her. It was a nice father daughter weekend in the Bay Area.
I decided to return to Antelope Creek to attempt to get up to the main waterfall. I only got to the small lower falls the previous week and was a bit disappointed. Now I knew what I had to do. Back into the poison oak. Back into the horrible brush. This time I was determined for redemption.
I only managed to start 30 minutes earlier than before. I wanted to have more time than that but it should be ok since I now knew where I was going. It took a full hour to just get up to the lower falls. So much brush. So much oak. And today, so many bugs! It has been much warmer than it should be this week. It is supposed to be winter, for Pete’s sake. Also, there were many ladybugs along the trail. It was hard not to step on them as they were all along and over the trail.
At the lower falls I climbed up above it and then crossed the creek and continued up the mountain. The old trail also continued. What is this old trail anyway? I do not think it is a trail just to go to the waterfall. I can’t imagine anyone at all has been on this trail in many years. Maybe decades. Perhaps it is an old miner’s trail. It is the only thing that makes sense to me. On this side of the creek it seemed the trail was more difficult and there was more poison oak. Perhaps it was just my imagination. I was battling through the brush and it was now a lot steeper going up the mountain. After another 30 minutes I finally reached my destination. Waterfall!
This is the true Antelope Creek Falls. 39 ft. high. It is slightly smaller than I thought and for some reason I thought it would be more spectacular. (only because it was so hard to get to – I am aware that is illogical, ha ha). Anyway it is still a fantastic waterfall, although a bit hard to photograph. I had to climb down a steep section to get to the bottom of the falls and then cross into the middle of the creek to get a good angle. It was definitely worth the effort but oh my was it a doozie to reach. I returned to the car at 5PM and ate my dinner sandwich before driving home. It was a killer tough day at Antelope Creek.
I was not really into watching the Super Bowl this year. I don’t even know who was playing (well, maybe I know that at least). I would rather go hiking. So that is what I did after church on Sunday.
I have been wanting to try this hike for awhile. Access is difficult to say the least. I arrived at the trailhead in the early afternoon (there is no trail so I guess I cannot really call it a trailhead). I found the creek to be flowing very strong. I was not expecting there to still be so much water. My plan was to wade up the creek but that was not going to be possible now. So instead, I crossed the creek and climbed up the other side. I did not think I’d get very far now but I had to try it. Well much to my surprise I found an old trail following the creek upstream. This was very unexpected. It was very difficult to follow. It was very overgrown. The poison oak was treacherous, but I continued all the way up to the confluence of the two creeks. I was literally shocked to get this far.
This was about as far as I could go. There was a small waterfall here on Antelope Creek, barely 20 ft. high (being generous), but it was a nice little cascade. There was a smaller waterfall on the other creek. My wife would think it was a waterfall but I did not think so as it was only about 10 ft. high. I took photos of the 20 footer.
I am sure there is a bigger waterfall upstream. I climbed above the small waterfall. I could see another small drop but no big waterfall. I could not find a way to continue any further. At least not very easily. I decided to call it a day and turn back. Perhaps if there was less water I could make it further. I may return some day but it was very difficult just to get this far. It was a good Super Bowl Sunday for the Waterfall Madman.
