Leon Turnbull Photography

This is the Lower Middle Fork Tuolumne River Falls. An incredibly stunning 182 ft. high waterfall (and before last year, was almost completely unknown). This image was taken back in the spring though I had not posted it before now.  It is located in a spectacularly beautiful area with three amazing waterfalls practically side by side. At least it was a spectacularly beautiful area. Is it still? Of course it is! Nevertheless, this area has been hit hard by the Rim Fire, one of the largest fires in the history of California. It will certainly be interesting to go back here after the fire is done, and see how the area has changed. It will undoubtedly be significant.

It seems that a lot of people are upset by this fire. So much more so than any other fire I remember. Yes this area will be different now. For better or worse I don’t know. Fire is a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem. Fire is not a bad thing, but yes there will be a lot of damage. The fire is much bigger than it should be, and there are many factors why. Nonetheless, the waterfalls will still be there. The lakes and rivers will still be there. It will still be beautiful. As for myself, I’m looking forward to going back to this area.

This is Upper Bridge Creek Falls in Oregon. It is not overly impressive, but would be better with higher water flow. I only photographed the upper tier of this falls since it was the most interesting. I got right out on the slippery rocks into the middle of the creek while my family watched non-nonchalantly hoping I did not fall down the lower section of the waterfall – or maybe it was just me hoping I would not slip.

Well this was certainly a fine and pleasant surprise. And not exactly what I had planned either. Or rather not at all what I had planned.

My objective for Friday evening was to go back to Fordyce Falls. PG&E still has Fordyce Creek cranking out at 450 cfs. I’m sure any day they will turn off the faucet, so I wanted to get out there before that happens. Unfortunately there just happens to be a little forest fire in the area. A big one, actually. The American Fire is raging in the North Fork American River Canyon near Foresthill. Fordyce Creek is up near the top of the pass at Yuba Gap, so it is not exactly in the same area but the smoke is hovering over the pass. It was really quite a sight to see driving up I-80. There is a huge mushroom cloud ominously stretching out across the sky. The light is strange, and the color is remarkable. The hike to Fordyce Creek begins at Fuller Lake which is on the edge of the cloud, so I would be hiking right into that looming disaster. I really felt it would be unwise to make an 8 mile hike through all that smoke. It did not seem too bad at Fuller Lake, but to hike 8 miles through the midst of it would be extremely unhealthy. It would probably be like smoking 10 packs of cigarettes all at once. I’m not a smoker, not even for a waterfall. I decided to go back.

But I wanted to do something. After all, I drove all the way up here. I thought maybe I could go for a hike back in the Colfax area. I remembered this waterfall I had heard about on Osita Creek, so I looked up the directions on my iPhone. It is an easy hike, the weather was very warm, and the bugs were obnoxious. I had absolutely zero thoughts of seeing a waterfall here. I was certain the creek would be bone dry, I was only wanting to scout it out for the winter. Essentially, wasting time because I needed to go on at least one short hike.

I had read that this waterfall was only 20 ft. high and that it was man-made. This is the main reason I had never been here before. I had no desires to see any small, man-made waterfall. Boring. Well, I had three fine surprises in one: the creek was flowing half decently of all things, it is much more than 20 ft. high, and it is *not* a man-made waterfall. I did not bring my measuring stick so I am not sure exactly how high it is. Normally I always carry my tape measure (I mean, laser rangefinder) but this time I was not planning to go to any new waterfall and I was trying to save as much weight as possible for a 8 mile hike to Fordyce Creek. Bummer. I estimate though that this waterfall is at least 35 ft. high, perhaps closer to 40 ft. That is about twice the height I had read. Usually when someone says a waterfall is 20 ft. high, it is much less than that. This time it was the opposite. Weirdness indeed. Also, I was happy to find it is not man-made at all. It does flow through a man-made tunnel under the canal at the top of the falls which is unfortunate and detracts from the beauty, but it is still a natural waterfall. As for the flow, I was just shocked to see it so decent in this dry year. Still though, it will be much better to see it in the winter, and I for one will surely be back here.

The fog was a sweet and unexpected surprise. After going to Munson Creek Falls, I had fully expected that by the time we got up here to Bridge Creek, this area would be in full on sunlight. I was not planning to get any more decent photos on this day after Munson. When we arrived and I realized the light was still good, I had to stop and take as much advantage of it as I could. Thank you Lord for keeping the good light for us!

We first went across the road to the Upper Bridge Creek Falls, then went down to the Lower Falls which drops pretty much right into the Wilson River. Neither of the two falls are all that impressive really, and this lower one is half man-made, in that it flows through a pipe under the highway. I cut off the top of the photo right at the edge so you would not have to see the pipe or highway. It is an easy stroll down to the river. Jadon and I were ahead of my wife and Nekoda. When I got down there, I realized the best vantage point would be on the other side of the river. This meant I needed to cross said river. Which meant I needed my water shoes. I zipped on back up the trail to the car to get them. That is where I found my wife and second child sitting, waiting. Lame! Aren’t you two going to go down to see the waterfall? No, you can’t get to it, she said. What are you talking about, how could you possibly know that? I can tell from the bridge, she said. Ugh! There is a good view of the falls at the bottom of the trail! You need to go down there! Well, finally she relented and went down to see it. In the meantime, I found that crossing the river, well, was not difficult at all, but was indeed a lot deeper than it looked to be. The water rose up to my thighs, getting my pants slightly on the damp side. Nonetheless, I made it across without incident and set up shop to take my photos.

I went back to Horsetail Falls again after work on Friday. It is the only waterfall around here that is still flowing decent. This is what I like to do in the summer, … go to Horsetail Falls. It sure seems I go here a lot anyway. Well, I guess it is a pretty sweet waterfall. Heh heh.

The weather was a lot cooler than when I came here a few weeks ago with my son. Twenty degrees cooler, actually. 63 degrees when I started the hike. Now that is sweet. The water flow, however, seemed quite a bit down since the last time. It is still quite nice though, especially considering everything else is bone dry. In fact, I may even come back again in a couple weeks.

I went to the bottom of the falls again, which is a very cool spot, no doubt my favorite little spot at this waterfall. I have been here before and gotten decent shots, so basically this time around I was just playing around. I was going for some super long exposures of the water. This one here is a 60 second exposure. I did longer ones too, but this was my favorite shot. My wife probably hates it. She doesn’t like the silky waterfalls that I like to do (which I almost always do in my photos) – so this one is probably light years over the top for her. As for me, I think it is very dreamy, but I also found that I don’t really have the patience for these super long exposures. Waiting around for two minutes per shot, whilst standing in the very cold water, umm, not exactly super exciting. Ah well, it does create a cool effect on the water. I guess I can handle it once in awhile.