Leon Turnbull Photography

I was looking to go out on a hike before the huge storm (supposedly 5 inches of rain) expected this weekend. At first I was thinking I would go out Friday morning, but the weather forecast was saying the rain would already be started by then. Not that I do not like hiking in the rain. I do, and I am still thinking of going out in the rain this weekend (or at least, immediately after the storm). But it is difficult to photograph in the rain, so I wanted to go out before it all started. So Thursday afternoon seemed like a good choice.

I took my son Jadon along with me. Usually, he doesn’t like hiking with me, but this time he said yes. Awesome. My plan was to go to my favorite little waterfall in the greater Sacramento area: American Canyon Creek Falls. It is a moderate 4 mile hike, easy enough for Jadon as well.

As we started hiking down the trail, I could tell the creek was flowing high. Much higher than expected. This was before the big storm, which means after this weekend it will be craziness down here. But with a higher creek flow, that meant the creek crossings would be rather interesting. There are three creek crossings on this hike. The first two are in mellow sections of water, and usually you can easily rock hop across. For myself, I was able to do it without getting my feet wet, but I had to be careful because the rocks were wet and slippery. But for Jadon, it was a lot more difficult. But all this was perfectly fine for him. He just splashed through the water in his boots. I tried to help him across on the rocks so he wouldn’t need to get his feet wet, but he thought it was more fun to just splash across. The little bum.

The last creek crossing is right at the base of the falls. In order to actually see the waterfall, you need to cross the creek. But the creek was rushing a lot faster here, and it was much too dangerous for Jadon to cross here. So he had to settle for just seeing the very bottom of the waterfall, which was a bit disappointing. He waited for me while I crossed the creek to take some photos. It was very dicey for me to cross as well, and I thought about it quite awhile before picking my spot to cross extremely carefully. I made it. There is really only one vantage point and composition to shoot this waterfall, and it is a difficult position in terms of placing the tripod, and then standing up on the side of a rock outcrop on slippery rocks. My legs were shaking as I stood there taking my photos, and hoping they would not buckle under me completely. I only took two photos. I had wanted to take a longer exposure, but after two photos, I had enough.

Meanwhile, Jadon was waiting for me on the other side and yelling at me while I was taking the photos. I could not tell what he was saying over the roar of the water. When I got back to him, he told me he heard Indians, and then he heard a mountain lion sneaking up on him. How he could hear anything above the loud sound of the creek is rather interesting (especially a mountain lion!). He is such a silly boy sometimes.

Here’s another view of beautiful snow and ice filled Shackleford Falls. Aren’t those icicles hanging down so totally cool?

I was standing up on a big rock to get this viewpoint. If it wasn’t so freezing, I wouldn’t mind standing more in the creek to get a shot here. haha.

It seems not many people know about Oneonta Falls. It is not an advertised waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge, and in the past, it was often mistaken for smaller Middle Oneonta Falls. I think these days, more people know about it, and it is getting more traffic. It is off the beaten path, but it is not too terribly difficult to get down to. The first section is very steep, but there are plenty of handholds to use.

Oneonta Falls was one of the two waterfalls in the Gorge that I absolutely had to get to on this trip (the other being Upper Bridal Veil).  And I must say, it is a stunning location. I could have spent all day down there enjoying this one, and I really did not want to leave. It is tucked down at the bottom of a gorgeous canyon, it seems like you are in a separate world, and indeed, there will not likely be another soul in sight, and you will be able to enjoy this one all to yourself. There are plenty of photo opportunities down there as well, and you can even walk in behind the falls if you so desire. It is just a magnificent place.

On a final note, I have finally finished updating my site with all the Oregon waterfalls I visited on this trip. I have added or updated 26 Columbia River Gorge waterfalls on my site, and have added info for an additional 40 Oregon waterfalls to my site:

http://www.waterfallswest.com#recent

Leaf Placer! I have never placed a leaf for a photo in my life, and never will. Ha! Do you believe me?

This is another one from Punch Bowl Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. We spent a lot of time here wading around in the creek, taking shots, placing leaves … er, I mean looking for great compositions with Fall leaf colors in them.

This is Johnson Creek Falls near Etna. My friend Brian was initially the person who told me about this one. You will not find this one mentioned in any of the CA waterfall books. Yet it is certainly a well traveled waterfall among the locals. The Etnans (or Etnanites? Etnatonians?) have done a pretty good job of keeping this one a secret from me until now.

The waterfall is technically on private property. But there is a sign indicating that the trail is open to the public for hikers. That is definitely the kind of sign I love to see. It has been this way for a long time, and obviously the locals come here rather frequently, and are no doubt respectful of the landowners’ property. Thank you, people of Etna, and especially to the owners of this property.

It is not a very easy waterfall to get to. It is only a 1 mile hike, but it is a very strenuous 1 mile. The trail climbs up and up and up to the top of the waterfall. It is a very steep hike, and once at the top of the falls, you are treated to an obscured view of the waterfall across the canyon. I measured the falls to be 118 ft. high, though it really could be higher than that (but if there is more above, then it is not viewable). From this viewpoint, it is necessary to scramble down to the bottom if you want to get a better up close and personal view. It is a very steep and difficult descent. It is also slippery and dangerous if the ground is wet (which it certainly was with the snow around). I managed to get down to the bottom, then cross to the other side of the creek to take my photos. From this low point, you can only see part of the entire waterfall (actually, about 71 ft. of the total 118 ft. height can be seen from the bottom). I imagine that in the spring it would be extremely wet down there from the spray of the falls. This time of year though presented another difficulty: falling ice. While I was down there standing in the middle of the creek taking photos, ice was falling down the waterfall. I was a safe distance away, but it was something that made me a bit wary. I did not stay down there too long.