Leon Turnbull Photography

At Christmas, we went up to Canada to visit my sister and family in Cranbrook BC. They had very little snow this year, the ski hills were not even open yet, and it was very warm. In fact, it was the warmest I can ever remember it being there at this time of year.

So skiing was out of the question, and snow shoeing was out of the question, but I was hoping to do some hiking at least. On the first day (Christmas Eve), I took my wife on a hike to Moyie Falls (or so I hoped). I have been there before in the winter, but my wife has not been there. When I was there before, I was able to cross the river easily on snow bridges. I expected there would be no snow bridges this year because of the warm temperatures, but I still hoped to be able to find a place to cross, perhaps on logs or at a very easy and shallow crossing. But we had no such luck. The river was flowing strong and deep. Any attempted crossing would have resulted in hypothermia and probable death. No thanks. Plan B was to try to get up to the falls on this side of the river. I made a very strong attempt at it. I found a way around the first cliff, and indeed we even found a trail going up high along the river, above the cliffs. I felt good and certain this would work out well. But alas, the trail just went to the top of the falls (and you could not see the waterfall). I found a way back down to the river below the falls, but again got cliffed out. There was absolutely no way to get up to the waterfall on this side. Strike out. Not only that, but I strained my back climbing around in the bushes and snow (what little snow there was there). Terrific. Not.

On Christmas Day, in the afternoon, I was determined to get out and do something, so I decided I would just go to Marysville Falls, which is very easy and which I have been to before, a few times. That is about all my back could handle. My sister then told me about another waterfall in Kimberley, which I had not been to before, and indeed had not even heard of before. It was a bit shocking to learn of this waterfall, because I have researched the area extensively, and did not come across this one. Yet, how could I miss it? The park is called: Cherry Creek Falls Park. Kind of obvious, madman. So anyhow, after seeing Marysville Falls, my mom, sister, bro-in-law, and wife made the short drive up to the park. (none of the kids wanted to come – they would all prefer to stay home and play video games – shocking). It is a very easy and short hike down to Cherry Creek Falls, which is a very lovely 30 ft. slide. I stood as close to the creek as I dared, because it was impossible to tell if I was standing over rushing creek or solid ground, and the ground did seem very unstable. All in all, this little hike and new waterfall was a huge make up for the first day’s debacle at Moyie Falls. I was a happy madman again.

I think this will be my new saying whenever I find something new and awesome: Sweet Baby Yoda!

Sometimes I feel really bummed when I strike out on hikes (such as what happened last week) , and cannot get to where I wanted.  I feel like I should have done better.

Then sometimes I feel as if I killed it out of the park, such as what happened this week. This was one of my top hikes of 2019. Perhaps Lower West Cherry was more awesome, but this was probably the best day hike of 2019 for sure.

After striking out last week, I did not want another strike out this week. I was perhaps 80 to 90 percent sure I could make it up to this waterfall on Murphy Creek. Those are pretty good odds.

The flow was about perfect. If it is too high, you cannot even get to the lower falls. There is an extremely dangerous stream crossing just before the lower falls. It was all right today, but the rocks were wet and slick, so you need to be very careful. If you slip, you will go over a big waterfall and probably be dead. Needless to say, I was careful.

I had lots of time, so I took plenty of photos of the lower falls before beginning the big climb up to the upper falls. I climbed up high and then back down to the creek, eventually reaching the same point I got to last time. Last time I was here, I ran out of daylight and did not have time to get to the waterfall. Today I had plenty of time. I needed to cross the creek. It was almost but not quite rock hoppable, so I put on my water shoes to cross. I probably actually could have rock hopped it. Anyhow, better safe than sorry. Once on the other side, you just need to climb up the bank. There was oak here, but I think (I hope) I avoided touching it. Finally, I came into full view of the magnificent waterfall. I let out a huge whoop and holler. No one heard me. I could not believe I actually made it here. It seems so difficult and impossible from down at the highway. As far as I know, I am the first to make it here, and the first to document its discovery. It is another waterfall madman first encounter.

I measured the waterfall to be 113 ft. high (the lower falls is 67 ft. high). It is absolutely stunning, and you can get right up to it and touch it if you like. It is also difficult to photograph because of the spray. I took plenty of photos anyway, and spent a lot of time here enjoying the moment.By the time I got back to the car, it was noon. The sun was out. Time to eat lunch and drive home. It was a most awesome day in Plumas National Forest.

We had a very late start to the winter this season, definitely the latest start that I can ever remember. I suppose that does not bode well for the snow pack this year, but wait. Last year we also had a very late start, and look what happened that year: our snow pack was about 164% of average at the end of the season. With only one big storm under our belts this year, the numbers for Dec. 1 are now in: rainfall is 50% of average (northern CA), 68% (central Sierra), and 75% (southern Sierra). Snow pack is 76% (north), 94% (central), and 107% (south). So we still have a ways to go to catch up, but hope is not all lost yet. More storms are on the way.

Usually, every Black Friday I go out hiking. It is my thing. It is my favorite day of the year to hike. So I had big plans to hike on Friday, to a couple different places. But … I slept awful on Thursday night and turned my alarm off. I spent the day with family, and figured I would hike on Saturday instead. But … I slept awful on Friday night as well. I almost turned my alarm off again! However, this time I forced myself to get up and out of bed.

I drove up to Oroville and once more back to Bear Ranch Creek. I was really wanting to get up to the upper falls this time, and more than that. I know of only a couple other people that have been up to this upper falls. I have tried before, but it is extremely brushy and difficult. After the Camp Fire decimated this area last year, I thought it would be a lot easier now. Looking at Google Earth, I could see the fire hit this area, and it did not look very brushy anymore. I wanted to try to climb the ridge, instead of going up from the lower falls (which is what you are supposed to do – but that route is very brushy and poison oak as well). The ridge looked like a better option to me. Two problems: One, there was snow! I was not expecting this at all, since this is low elevation (1500 ft.). I was not prepared for snow whatsoever. There would be a huge, steep, and possibly dangerous descent down to the creek. With snow on the ground, it would be very treacherous (I imagined). I figured there was a 90 percent chance I would not make it because of the snow, so this kinda bummed me out since I drove all the way out here to attempt this waterfall, and I had no alternative options. Two, it was too brushy! Indeed, it did not look like there had been a fire at all. It was still just as brushy as before, and there was absolutely no getting through it. It makes no sense because Google Earth clearly shows the fire scorched this area.

I went back down to the trail, and decided to try the other way: Climb up from the lower falls. I have tried this way before, and found it too brushy as well. Well, I will try it again today. It was not very long, and then it dawned on me that I was up much higher than I had made it previously, and I was still going strong. I made it all the way up, and got over to the other side where you need to drop back down to the creek. It was not bad at all, and not dangerous, even in the snow. I made it all the way down, and could see the upper falls before me. It looked amazing! I can’t believe I actually made it all the way this time. I was stoked!

It is really a very gorgeous waterfall, and it is bigger than it looks in photos. I measured the main drop to be 30 ft. high exactly. It is an incredible place. Technically, this should be called the middle falls, not the upper falls. There is definitely another drop above this one. Someday I will get to it. But not today.

It was very tough getting here and took a long time. I was very cold, very wet, and very tired. I still had to climb back up the mountain and down the other side. I made it back down to the car about noon.

But it is not a madman adventure until you have some sort of casualty, and today I had two casualties: I managed to somehow lose my backpack raincover, and I broke my hiking pole. In other words, it was a fantastic day in Plumas National Forest.

This would be the eighth time I have been to Feather Falls in 17 years. It won’t be the last.

In actuality, I was not planning to go to the overlook this time. My plan was to go to the bottom of Feather Falls, on a new route, one that did not involve steep cliffs and abundant poison oak. You may wonder how I would do that. Impossible! Well, I cannot say. Yet. I had a good route mapped out on Google Earth, and I thought it would be golden. However, the route was a washout. There was just too much brush to hack through (surprise surprise). The good thing is there was not much poison oak, but that brush was killer. I tried another way. It too was blocked. Then I tried a third way, and this time I think I found something. However, by now it was too late. There is no possible way I could make it down in time before the waterfall would be in sun, and I did not want to go all the way down and not be able to take photos. So I backtracked, and went to the overlook instead. By the time I got there, the top of the falls was already in sun, but I think I got a pretty good photo nonetheless. I will definitely be back to try my new route. I’m just not sure when that will be.

You will be happy to know that the lower loop of the Feather Falls trail is now completely trash free (for now, anyway). I picked up a ton of garbage on the way back, including a disgusting dirty diaper I found by Frey Creek. I did not want to leave it there, but I had nothing to pick it up with either, so I dumped my lunch into my backpack and then used my lunch bag to store the diaper (picking it up with gloves on). I really think that if you are so lame that you cannot pack out your own trash, you should not be allowed to hike in the wilderness. Am I right? The worst is when people throw their trash off the cliff at the Feather Falls overlook. It is impossible to get down and pick it up. It really irks me to no end. At least leave your stupid trash along the trail so someone else can pack it out for you.

This weekend would be more of a scouting trip than anything else. It is almost mid November and it still has not rained. No rain in the long range forecast. I am depressed. However, I still wanted to go on a hike and find a new waterfall. I was pretty sure this particular waterfall would not be dry, and I hoped it would have decent flow. But would it?

It is a very long drive, I would not want to come out here to see a dry waterfall. The last 3 miles are extremely rough, and I decided to drive them instead of walk. My car did not appreciate it, but my body did when I got back to the car. I would not have to walk an additional 3 miles in the pitch blackness. At least I made sure to put batteries in my head lamp this time.

It is a pretty easy hike to the waterfall, all downhill for 3 miles, and all of it is on a dirt road except for the last part. Coming back up afterwards is a different story, but it is only 1000 feet gain, so it is not really too difficult.

I came to the first crossing of the river, one branch of it. It was completely dry. This is not a good sign. It is obvious that in the spring this branch has tremendous flow, the road is even washed out here from a flood. Perhaps it is from the flood of 2017, or perhaps some other time, I do not know. What I do know is that coming out all this way to see a dry waterfall would make me a very unhappy camper, but this is the smaller branch of the two, so maybe the other one was not dry. This is a river after all, not a creek. I would not expect it to be dry, however it is pretty close to the source so who knows.

As I approached the top of the waterfall, I could hear water. It was not dry! I crossed the river at the top of the falls and made my way down to the bottom on the other side. There was a lot of ice in the river even though it was a very warm day. I thought this was a bit odd.

I was not expecting much, but I had hoped the flow would be a bit better. Nonetheless, it was still very pretty. One very pleasant surprise: the waterfall was much bigger than I expected. When I found this on Google Earth, I estimated it was only about 40 feet high. It is not 40 feet high. It is a towering 69 feet high! In the spring this will be absolutely spectacular. I will definitely come back. It was a very successful scouting trip in Tahoe National Forest.