Leon Turnbull Photography

It has been somewhat of a disappointing weekend for me thus far. I had big hiking plans, but could not get any sleep on Friday or Saturday nights. Ugh, why does this happen when I want to get up early? I turned off my alarm both days. I am still thinking of going out Sunday afternoon. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Should I or shouldn’t I? I don’t really want to be tired for work on Monday either.

On the plus side, Nekoda had a dance performance at the El Dorado County Fair in Placerville on Saturday, and she and the rest of the girls were awesome as usual.

This is the Upper Falls on Canyon Creek. The true Upper Falls. It is hidden away around a corner and the trail does not go by it, and there is no path over to it either, so I suspect that most people go right on by it without even knowing it is there. I would not want to miss this one. It is really a fabulous waterfall, 96 ft. high, and has an interesting fan shape, sliding into another big enticing pool. I climbed out on some huge logs in the middle of the creek to take the shot. They were swaying back and forth in the water, not really good for setting up a tripod on, and I wish I had better light, but this shot turned out ok.

I learned last week that the Bowman Lake Road was already open for the year (as of the end of March). This is shocking. During a normal year, this road is not open until June, sometimes even July. It seems they plowed the road this year so they could work at the dam (they = PG&E), but no doubt it is also due to the very low snowpack this year.

I decided to take advantage of this and drive up to Bowman Lake to see it in rare, early season conditions. I was expecting there to be quite a lot of snow up there, similar or more to what I experienced the previous week in the Trinity Alps. The road was plowed to the dam only, and I expected to have to walk from there through the snow. I brought my snow shoes. I did not need them. There was no snow.

As you may know the Bowman Lake Road is pure torture. I have said this before and I will say it again, the road leaves your bones rattling for days afterwards. The potholes and rocks you have to drive over are ridiculous. It takes forever to drive the five miles to the lake (and even longer if you want to keep going to Faucherie Lake). It is the bumpiest road.

There was some snow along the side of the road as I drove up in certain places. If they had not plowed it, I’m sure the road would still be closed. I find it extremely funny how snow accumulates so much in precise locations and takes forever to melt, but just a few feet further and there is no snow at all. Actually, it is not funny. It is annoying. If the snow on the road in these few spots would melt quicker, the roads would be open so much sooner in the year. I am very happy they plowed it this year.

But as I arrived at the lake, I found almost no snow whatsoever! If you think about this, it is really awful. There should be tons of snow up there right now. Where oh where are you, snow? You could easily drive past the dam to the end of the lake. And so I did. There were some puddles to drive through, but the road is so hard, it does not turn into mud. I drove to the turnoff for Weaver Lake and parked. I could have kept driving up this road too, but I wanted some exercise. Plus, I was sick of driving that darn awful road. My head was rattling off its post.

I knew there was a waterfall at the end of Weaver Lake, and I had not been up here before, so I was hoping to get to it. I really thought it would be very easy to get to it. At the end of the lake are some crazy cliffs, much similar to the cliffs on Table Mountain in Oroville. I continued on the road past the lake, down to the bottom of the cliffs and cross countried it over to the waterfall. This part was easy smeasy. However, as I approached the waterfall, I realized I would not make it. The brush got very thick, far too thick, the sides of the gully got steep, far too steep, there were trees and bushes in the way of the view of the waterfall, far too many. There was no way to get close to this thing for any sort of decent view. And I tried. I tried going through that thick brush. Not a chance. I settled on this shot here, for which I had to stand in the middle of the cold creek to shoot. After this, still desperate for a better view, I went back up the road and on the top of the cliffs, thinking there might be a good view of the falls from above. You just can’t get close enough to the edge of the cliffs to see the waterfall, however. I crossed the creek above the falls, and tried the cliffs on the other side as well. Again, it just did not work. It was close, baby. There was almost a great view of the waterfall from the other side. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, however. Not in waterfall hunting. I want to go back here someday and try again. I think there might be another way. There must be another way.

Well, I had to get back. I was due in Grass Valley for my nephew’s birthday party. I had wanted to go on a second hike while up here. Heck, if you’re gonna drive up this bumpiest road, you should at least go on one other hike. But I spent far too much time at Weaver Lake trying to find a view of that waterfall, and now I was out of time. I’ll be back here again, though.

The Canyon Creek hike last weekend was over 14 miles with 2500 foot elevation gain. I started hiking at about 6:30AM and got back to the car at 5:30PM (not all of that time was hiking of course – I like to stop to take pictures!). It takes me two full days to recover from a huge hike like this one. No kidding. When I was young and vibrant (ha!) it probably would take a few hours to recover from a hike like this. Not any more, Theodore. After the hike, I was starving, so I stopped in Weaverville at Round Table Pizza, and ate some wings and most of a medium size pizza, then drove back to Red Bluff. Then the cramps started, as they often do on a big hike. They started in my hands. It is hard to drive when your fingers are cramped and in agony. Later that night as I tried to sleep (and “tried” is the key word), my legs started cramping badly. I could not scream out, or it would wake the kids who were sleeping right next to me. I usually don’t sleep well the night of a big hike, and this was no exception. Next day was Easter, and we went to early church service. It was a pretty busy day, and of course we had to drive back home to Sacramento as well. I had a fairly good sleep Sunday night, but Monday at work I was super tired all day long, and also felt like I still hadn’t caught up on all the calories I burned from the hike, though I kept eating constantly all day. I went to bed early again. Finally on Tuesday, my body seemed to be back to normal. Just in time to get ready for next weekend’s hike. Haha.

As of April 1, we finished this year in California at a dismal 55 percent of normal snowpack in the central Sierra Nevada, 48 percent in the north, and 40 percent in the southern Sierra. We had a very wet November and December, but then three straight months of almost nothing. This is two awful years in a row for us, and this year was perhaps even a bit worse than last year or about the same. We may get some more precipitation in April but it will not impact the snowpack much, if anything. The snow has already started melting, and we will have another very short waterfall season this year in California. The waterfalls are currently flowing well in the mountains, so if you can get out, now is definitely the time to go. It will not last.

This is the Far Upper Canyon Creek Falls, often referred to (incorrectly!) as the Upper Canyon Creek Falls. If you missed the boring rendition about the naming of waterfalls on this creek, and you care, you should read my last blog entry before this one. This is probably the most popular waterfall on this trail because it is the easiest to get to. The waterfall is 65 ft. high and is a real beauty, it was my second favorite waterfall along this trail. It has real grace, splashing down in a horsetail form into a lovely little pool, changing direction and going over another little drop into another drop-dead green pool. The color in the pool was enhanced by the sun. When I arrived here, I had “light clouds” in the air, which were trying to blot out the sun, but mostly unsuccessfully. I wish I had better light when I was here, but the pool would not have been so green if it were more cloudy, so actually this photo turned out just dynamite for me. I ate my lunch here at the base of the falls, trying to gain energy for the hike back down the mountain. I still had to make stops at the three other major waterfalls on the creek on the way down.

It is very early into waterfall season but without a doubt this monster waterfall on Canyon Creek in the Trinity Alps has taken an early and huge lead on being the most spectacular waterfall I have seen this year. Lower Canyon Creek Falls is an incredible cataract, an amazing 142 ft high, and ripe with full snow melt. Wow. Like I said it is early and I’ll probably be going to Yosemite sometime. But still.

Ok so you may be wondering (or maybe not) why I have not visited this popular hiking area in the Trinity Alps before now. There are waterfalls! I must be foolish! Well it’s not like I haven’t tried. The first time I was planning to go years ago I forgot my hiking boots back in Sacramento. Doh. Another time there was a forest fire in progress and the road was closed. Peachy. Other times since then the conditions just have never been right when I’ve been up north. You know me, I like to photograph waterfalls, and this hike is seven miles one way with multiple waterfalls, all of which all get early sun, so it is impossible to get to them in good lighting conditions … unless it is a cloudy day. Finally this Easter weekend the conditions looked right. The forecast was calling for “mostly cloudy” skies with showers in the afternoon. Time to get my boots on. Now just make sure I don’t forget them this time!

I don’t know about you but to me “mostly cloudy” means “almost all clouds” in the sky and very little clear sky … NOT … light scattered clouds with mostly clear blue sky. Humph. Well I started out hiking anyway with trust in God that those clouds would soon come. It reminded me a lot of the Tuolumne River hike I did last year under much the same conditions, and much the same kind of terrain, with the big difference being this hike started off going uphill and finished downhill (which is SO much better then the other way around).

I arrived first at Lower Canyon Creek Falls expecting to find a well traveled trail down to the falls. Surely there must be one, this is a popular waterfall is it not? I searched and searched but could not find anything and now I was well past the waterfall. This was rather weird I thought and did not figure out why there was no trail until much later in the day. I decided to keep plugging on up the trail and attempt to get to this lower falls on my way back down.

I arrived shortly at a surprise waterfall, a 30 footer and stopped to take some photos. After this the trail got much more difficult. Once I hit 4600 ft elevation I was hiking through snow. I had brought my snow shoes but did not need them, nonetheless hiking through snow is tough slogging and this section really wore me down. By the time I arrived at Middle Falls the sun was already out. Where were those clouds? I continued all the way up to the first lake. I had initially wanted to hike much further but I literally could not take any more steps up hill. I was worn out from the hike, most of it through snow, 2500 ft elevation gain, 7 miles one way, and a very heavy pack to boot (carrying those snow shoes all the way and I did not even use them!) Not to mention I still had to stop and photograph all the waterfalls on my way back down the mountain.

There are four major waterfalls on Canyon Creek plus numerous smaller falls including the 30 foot one I mentioned above. If you read Ann Marie Brown you will be very confused. She mentions only three waterfalls in her CA waterfall book. In earlier editions of her book, she completely missed the Lower Falls and thus describes the three uppermost falls as Lower, Middle, Upper. In her latest edition, she does now mention the Lower Falls properly, but she still ends up being very wrong, now she forgets to mention one of the other three waterfalls on the trail (and she still does not describe the true Lower Falls at all). As for that other CA waterfall guidebook, whose authors have clearly not even been to Canyon Creek, they just plainly copied Brown’s information (from her earlier edition), and also missed the boat, not getting the Lower Falls mentioned at all. (Gee I wonder who I’m referring to?) Both books completely neglect the most spectacular waterfall on Canyon Creek. It is really not hard to figure out. The USGS clearly labels the three biggest falls on the creek in the correct locations. The uppermost falls (65 ft high) is not labelled by USGS (though it should be, and it was my second favorite out of the four). So you want the correct info? Go to waterfallswest.com (the site will be updated very soon). I think this is why no good trail exists to the real Lower Falls. No one knew it existed. The vast majority of people hiking this trail are oblivious as they pass by such an amazing waterfall.

By the time I got back down to the Lower Falls I was dead tired. I figured I would have to descend from the main trail about 200 ft off trail down to the falls. I did not think I’d have the energy to get back up. I would be stuck down there forever. I did not want to go down. But I had to. So I did. As I descended I did not get too far before I almost gave up. It was very brushy and I was down on all fours crawling through it. I persevered however and got out into a more open area. I could see the waterfall now and it looked like a dandy. I was going to make it. When I finally got down to the bottom I was in awe. Sheer magnificence. Oh yeah, and by this time in the day the clouds had finally moved in (thanks again, God). It’s sure a darn good thing I decided to go down there. Immediately below this main section is another 30 ft drop. In order to take this photo I was standing at the brink of this lower waterfall. It was just a bit freaky, and it seemed much higher than 30 ft. Two steps to the left and I’d be writing this blog to you from my grave.

Before heading back up I filled my water from the creek. I don’t usually do this but it was an emergency. I was not worried about getting sick. The water was pure snow melt, flowing fast and clear. I was rejuvenated, and I made it back up to the main trail without difficulty (or dying). I still had four miles to hike before I was back at my car. These last miles were not hard but very slow going since I was so tired. Then my knee started hurting, most likely due to the heavy pack I was carrying. My knee was revolting, trying to wrench itself out of my body. That would be just perfect. Only one mile from the trailhead and my knee gives out. I’d have to crawl the last mile. I made it however, and I did not have to crawl. I was sure glad to be done, and then even more glad to get to Weaverville for dinner at Round Table Pizza. It was a great day in the Trinity Alps.

You win some and you lose some in waterfall hunting. This one was a loss but even losers can be interesting.

My topo maps indicated that there “might be” a 40 ft waterfall on Otter Creek near Georgetown. No, I do not mean Silver Falls which I have been to before, this would be a different one. Surely it was worth checking out at least. This is what I love to do. Find new waterfalls. For this one on Otter Creek … I was pretty sure there had to be a decent waterfall down there, the question in my mind was could I get down to it?

I found a trail leading down to the creek. It was only a mile but with 1000 ft elevation loss it was certainly not for sissies. Surprisingly though, it was a pretty good trail, not overgrown, and I saw only one tick. Good so far. Once I got down to Otter Creek I knew the waterfall was about a quarter mile downstream and this is where the fun began (or not). The trail ended abruptly, a full scale bushwhack was in order. There was a bit of a path as it seemed people had gone down there before, but the going was difficult, it was very cliffy, and worst of all was the poison oak, which was overwhelmingly insane.

I came to one point where I had to cross the creek. I took off my boots, put on my “non slippery” water shoes, took one step into the creek and promptly fell onto my butt, getting most of me quite wet, but my camera was safe in my backpack (which is all that matters of course). No one but the squirrels were around to see me spill, and I am sure they were laughing hysterically. Dang those rocks were sure extremely slick. I continued down the creek (more carefully) to the waterfall. The non waterfall. My 40 ft high waterfall was a whopping five feet high. There was another little thing shortly below this one, which was ten feet high. My forty footer was non existent. And I was so sure there would be something good down here. I crossed over the slippery rocks in the creek again so I could get down to photograph the five footer. The ten footer was a bit too difficult to get down to so I skipped it but all in all this was not worth the extreme effort to visit. I’m sure I will be regretting it in a couple days big time when the poison oak rash sets in.

The hike back up was tough but I took it slowly. I had to. My belt buckle broke so keeping my shorts up was not as easy as it might seem. I addition to this, my shorts got totally ripped somehow (probably when I took a dump in that creek). Geez, good thing I wasn’t on the Yosemite Falls trail. The squirrels were having a field day. My GPS also wasn’t functioning very well. My old GPS broke recently and I had to get a new one. I loved that old GPS. It was so reliable and would function great even under heavy tree cover and in deep canyons. So I bought the exact same model this time (though they don’t even make this model anymore). You would think this new one would work exactly the same as the old one. No sir-ee Bob. I lost a signal down in this canyon and it just did not want get a good satellite lock down there. I know my old one would not have had this problem down there. This is really bad news if I can’t rely on my GPS. Ugh. Good thing I was able to find my way out of the canyon without a GPS today. I just followed the chattering squirrels.