Leon Turnbull Photography

There was a bit more snow and ice at the Upper Iowa Canyon Falls. It was a magical setting. Quite easy to reach the upper falls because the water was so low but the shade and snow made the exposure difficult to handle. But I like the final result.

I did not spend too much time here because I had to get to the church. My kids were practicing for the Christmas play (the actual play was on Sunday). My son Jadon had one of the lead parts and he did a fantastic job. I was very proud of him. Nekoda did great with her part as well.

Please check out my latest Waterfall Madman Video (Episode 2 – Curtain Falls). Try to watch in HD 1080p if possible:

http://youtu.be/QoEdWdwupDA

25 degrees. That was the temperature. Brrr. My primary thought was how I was going to wade up the creek to the waterfall. My toes would freeze off in three seconds at that temperature. Literally.

I had another surprise though. Snow! I was certainly not expecting to find so much snow still left from last weekend’s storm. Even down at river level there was still quite a bit of snow left. I was very pleased about that. I love going to snowy and icy waterfalls. But would I make it?

It would have even been better if I’d come here last weekend with all the fresh snow. It would have been awesome. Nonetheless it was fantastic today with the ice around the waterfall. I needn’t have worried about wading up the creek either. With the low water flow, I could easily walk up the creek bed, in fact the creek bed was completely dry. It seems the water goes underground just below the waterfall, which was weird. The prickly brush was easy to navigate as well with the snow covering it. The only real difficulty was climbing up over the rocks right in front of the waterfall, which was slightly tricky but not overly terrible. It was so gorgeous at the base of the waterfall. Definitely a worthwhile effort.

My back held up very well as well, this being the first hike I’ve done in a couple weeks. It was so great to get out in God’s creation again.

Please check out my latest Waterfall Madman Video (Episode 2 – Curtain Falls). Try to watch in HD 1080p if possible:

http://youtu.be/QoEdWdwupDA

We are still waiting for the big rains to start. The last storm only dropped about 1.5 inches, and less in other areas. We are going to need a lot lot lot lot more before the waterfalls start flowing again. I was disappointed again when the forecasters backed off on the rain that was supposed to be here this week. This is exactly what happened all last year. Maybe next week?

This is Pheasant Creek Falls in Oregon. It is not on Pheasant Creek. It is not on any named creek. There is another waterfall very near this one. It is on Pheasant Creek. That one is not called Pheasant Creek Falls. Are you confused yet?

My 2014 waterfall calendar is now available. Get yours in time for Christmas!

http://www.waterfallswest.com/gallery/cal-2013.html

A cold storm made its way into our area on Friday evening, so cold that we were supposed to get snow at our house, which would be an extreme rarity. We were all excited going to bed Friday night. It was such a sure thing!

Alas, I woke up Saturday morning. No snow. How disappointing! I was wanting to go to the Auburn confluence and take some pictures in the snow there. But that is about the same elevation as our house, so I did not think I would have much chance of seeing any snow, but I decided to go anyway. I had to get the kids to church for Christmas play practice so I did not have time to go anywhere else anyway. Plus, my back is still hurting so going on a big tough hike in the snow at higher elevations was out of the question.

I arrived in Auburn and found a bit of snow on the ground, but nowhere near what was forecasted. As I descended the hill to the Confluence, the snow quickly disappeared. It had snowed down there during the night but most of it was all gone. I made my way to Black Hole of Calcutta Falls, which I had hope would be in the snow, but obviously it was not. It was not flowing very well either. We need a lot more rain here, and I see none in the forecast. It seems we are in for another extremely frustrating and disappointing winter here in the Sierra. Let’s pray January 2014 will turn around for the better.

Speaking of 2014, my waterfall calendar is now available. Get yours in time for Christmas!

http://www.waterfallswest.com/gallery/cal-2013.html

Here is yet one more photo from Abiqua Falls, Oregon. I was basically flat on my back in front of the TV all of Thanksgiving weekend. Normally Black Friday is my favorite hiking day of the year, and I had plans to do three big hikes this weekend. However, I put my back out the previous week and it was still not recovered. I could not even drive up north to see my family, so I was home all alone. It was not very fun. It sucked to put it mildly. I don’t like being so negative on Thanksgiving, I have much to be thankful to God for in my life, most especially my wife and children. But the weekend sucked for me. Oh well, at least I did not have to eat yucky turkey. haha. I am hoping this next weekend to get in at least one small, easy hike.

Unfortunately, it has been a very frustrating start to the winter, and the weather seems to be continuing from where it left off last season, meaning it is not continuing at all. We had a little bit of rain today, and another little bit is coming this weekend and maybe next week, but I do not see any big storms in the forecast, and we need some big ones. At least six inches of rain is needed to get the waterfalls going again, these little bits are not really helping too much at all. Sigh.

In other news, I hope you are checking out my new Waterfall Madman adventure videos. Here is Part II of the Feather Falls video. It is really better to watch it in HD, I am not happy with how youtube compresses the videos. I’ll be working on getting them better in the future. Please subscribe to my channel and share with all your friends!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDmSfhl93P0

Here is Part I if you missed it:

http://youtu.be/Vz7jeJa95ec