Leon Turnbull Photography

Tehipite Madness is a real thing. A real disease. This is a warning. If you continue to read this article, you may catch it. Believe me. It starts off small: a mild curiosity and interest. Over time, perhaps years, it slowly grows and grows, until it becomes an unstoppable torrent of madness. You cannot stop thinking about Tehipite, day and night. The only cure: you must go there. The problem: getting there is no easy task. Tehipite Valley is perhaps the most difficult hike you will ever do in your life. Actually, it is not a debate. It is the most difficult.

In my case, the madness was something even worse.

The madness started about three years ago, I guess. You cannot go to Tehipite in the spring and of course summer is too hot among other things, so the Fall is when you need to go. For waterfalls, that means I needed a big snow year. In 2017, I was not ready to go to Tehipite, physically or mentally  (and you need both). My big trip that year was to the North Fork San Joaquin (which was awesome). 2018 was a bad snow year, so that was out. Along comes 2019, another big snow year. Tehipite Valley was my top priority for the Fall this year. The planning was extensive, the madness was building ferociously inside of me. Finally the day came. I’m not sure how ready I was physically or mentally. Even though I had worked my butt off all summer long, I did not lose any weight. I was still at least 10 pounds over what I wanted to be. However, I did feel a lot stronger, so perhaps all the fat just turned into muscle. I don’t know. As for mentally … well ….

My maps told me it was 14.5 miles to the valley. In reality, it was 16.2 miles one way. I do not really understand the big difference, but there are a lot of zigs and zags, I guess, and ups and downs as well. I started hiking at 8:45AM. It took all day to get to the valley, and I arrived at about 5:45pm. Along the way, I met a group of Asian backpackers, only one of whom spoke English. As I approached them, one of  the ladies got out her cell phone as I walked up and started taking my picture. What the heck?? I’m not sure how I felt about this. I am not that good looking. I talked to the one guy who spoke my language. He said the trail was in pretty bad condition and very difficult to follow. There was a fire here some years ago and it decimated the trail to Tehipite Valley.  I was not surprised to hear this news, but since these people and many others have made it through, I expected I would have no problems either. But he also said something else: the gnats were bad down in the valley. Um, what? Now take note of what he said: the gnats are bad down in the valley. And note what he did NOT say: the gnats down in the valley are absolutely horrific, the gnats are the worst I have ever experienced in my life, the gnats are relentless and will swarm around you without break, and are in the millions.  If he had said any of the last three things, I might have re-evaluated my plan. He did not. I can handle a few gnats, geepers, they are probably not that bad anyway. He was wrong about the trail, after all.

Indeed, the trail was not bad at all. There were only TWO extremely short sections where the trail was overgrown and difficult to follow. It was very easy to get by these two short sections. I was expecting so much worse (not just from the Asian backpacker, but from other reports I have read as well). I did not even need my GPS. These people obviously have not done any off trail hiking before. Granted, it would sure be nice if the Forest Service cleared these sections, but really, I have probably done a hundred hikes much worse than this. This one was easy peasy.

After a lot of hiking, and more uphill hiking than I expected or wanted (I’m supposed to be going down!), I finally came to the rim of the Middle Kings Canyon and my first big view. It is a magnificent view. From here you can see the river (3000 ft. below), waterfalls on the opposite side, and of course the majestic Tehipite Dome, which is the reason “most” people want to hike here. “Most” people does not include the waterfall madman, but without a doubt it is a majestic sight to behold.

From here, you descend 3000 ft. to the river in only 2.0 miles. Let us put this in perspective shall we, because remember … if you go down, you sure better be able to climb back up later. The Upper Yosemite Falls trail is 2700 ft. elevation gain in 3.5 miles. That is 771 feet per mile. The Wabena Falls trail is 2600 ft. elevation gain in 2.4 miles. That is 1083 feet per mile. The Tehipite trail is 3000 ft. elevation gain in 2.0 miles. That is a whopping 1500 ft. per mile. This trail is MORE DIFFICULT than Wabena Falls (which was my #1 most difficult hike – before this one). Not to mention that I was carrying a 40 pound backpack (which I did not have for Wabena Falls). By the time I was ready to ascend back again, that pack was supposed to be a lot less than 40 pounds. However …

As I descended from here, the gnats came out. They got worse and worse as I went down the trail. Honestly, I should have had a head net. It would have made things a lot better, but I was not expecting any bugs! It is late September, after all. Of all the reports about Tehipite that I have read, no one mentioned anything about gnats. You would think this would be an important item to mention! By the time, I got down to the valley floor, the gnats were all over me. They were absolutely the worst I have ever experienced in my life, without a doubt. I had hoped that when I got to the open area where I would be camping, they would not be bothersome. Nope! They were horrendous everywhere. I set up my camp, ate my dinner, and went to see the waterfall.

Thankfully, there were no gnats at the waterfall. But unfortunately, there is no place to camp at the waterfall. I should have strung a hammock across the creek at the base of the falls. Ha! To see Silver Spray Falls, you have to cross the creek three times. In late September, it was a challenge crossing the creek. In the spring and early summer, it would be impossible without a doubt. You would not even be able to see the waterfall at that time of year. Even now, this late in the year, the spray at the falls was quite intense, making photography very difficult. I guess that is why they call it Silver SPRAY Falls! Nonetheless, it is an incredibly beautiful waterfall. This lower drop shown here is 160 ft. high, and there are upper tiers as well (the total height is 370 ft.). Silver Spray Falls is worth all the difficulty to see. However, what was I going to do next? …

 

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This is Upper Cascade Falls, 151 ft. high. It is a fascinating little slot canyon here, and the viewpoint is incredible. Imagine this at peak water flow.

Even though it was windy, I slept pretty well. I was very tired. I had initially intended to get up early and hike in the dark, going back on a different and longer trail, and also seeing one more waterfall along the way (which is why I needed to hike in the dark). However, I was just too tired and did not feel like getting up and hiking in the dark. I decided that getting a couple hours more sleep would be a better plan. I hiked back on the same trail, 12 miles back to the car. Most of it was downhill, thankfully. Surprisingly, I saw quite a few other backpackers coming up the trail. A bit odd because it was a Sunday. I arrived back at the trailhead at 12:30pm. I got home at about 4PM, ate dinner, and went to bed at 7PM. I was so tired, and slept for 10.5 hours that night. It was an awesome trip into the Hoover Wilderness!

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After packing up camp, I ate my breakfast and set out. I had about 9 miles to hike to where I intended to camp that night at Cascade Falls.

There was another group of backpackers hiking along the same trail as I was hiking. We kept passing each other along the trail. I would rest, they would pass me. They would rest, I would pass them. This kept going on ad infinitum and got to the point where it was a bit ridiculous. At least they were not going to the same place that I was going.

The hike was pretty much all uphill, and even though it was not a huge elevation gain, it was very tiring. By the time I got to Cascade Falls, I was spent.

There was no camping at the lower (main) falls, so I kept climbing up the mountain to a spot in between the lower and upper falls. This was where I expected to find my place to camp. You most likely did not know there was an upper falls here, and probably did not even know there was a lower falls here, even though the lower falls is marked on the maps. At the very least I am sure you have not ever seen it or seen any photos of it (I will explain this below). The trail seems to be well maintained but not well traveled (at least, not well traveled on the waterfall section). It is very rocky in places and also very sandy in other places. The sandy part is because of all the mules that go on the trail. They beat up the trail to death, making it very sandy and difficult to hike on. Not to mention all the crap they leave behind that you cannot avoid walking on (pet peeve). I was not sure which I hated more, the sand and mule crap, or the rocky terrain. Believe it or not, I think I prefer the sandy terrain. The rocks just kill my feet horribly.

It was very windy when I arrived at the campsite. I was expecting this, and worried about setting up my tent in the wind. I have a new tent, the Zpacks Duplex. It is expensive, but it saves two pounds. Is it worth two pounds in savings? Well, the jury is still out on that, but the reviews on this tent are very good, and so far I like it. However, it was blowing around like crazy in the wind, much too much for my liking. I read about a trick on the internet, to set it up lower to the ground when the weather is like this, so that is what I did. It worked and held up just fine in the wind, however I think I should have set it up a bit higher than I did. I will know better for next time.

After eating my dinner, I went down to the lower falls. The reason you most likely have never seen any photos of this waterfall: you cannot get down to it! Well, let me explain. The trail goes right by the falls on the north side of the creek. You most definitely cannot see the waterfall from this side. It is way too cliffy, impossible to get down to the creek level, and to top it off, the waterfall is hidden behind a corner with cliffs on each side. No wonder I had not seen any pictures of this waterfall before! But the waterfall madman is not to be outdone so easily. I did not hike 12 miles to see nothing! It seemed to me that I would be able to see the waterfall from the ridge on the other side of the creek. So I went back down the trail all the way to the bottom, bushwhacked over to the creek, crossed the creek, climbed up the steep and crumbly embankment on the other side of the creek, and started climbing up the ridge back to the waterfall.

And voila! The madman strikes again! I came to an awesome viewpoint of Cascade Falls, an absolutely gorgeous 59 ft. high three tiered waterfall. What a perfect view!

I did not want to go all the way back down to the bottom and cross the creek again back over to the main trail, so I just continued up the ridge on this side. I knew I could get across the creek easily at my campsite, and in fact, I should have come down this way to begin with, but I wanted to see if I could get down to the falls on the trail side of the creek first (which, obviously, I could not). It was very easy climbing up the ridge back to my campsite (well, relatively easy).

After crossing the creek at my campsite, I continued upstream to the upper falls. This was much easier getting to than the lower falls (thankfully!), and I found a great view of the upper falls (on the edge of a cliff, of course), which is 151 ft. high, and reminded me a lot of Twin Island Lakes Falls. (photo is coming). The lower falls reminded me a lot of Carson Falls (because of all the cliffs and scrambling around to get a good view). It is funny how some waterfalls are so similar to each other.

The upper falls is hidden and not right by the trail. I suspect 99.99% of the people hiking this trail have no idea there is a waterfall here. I saw no evidence anyone had ever been here before. I also thought it funny how close these waterfalls are to the Pacific Crest Trail, but probably 99.99% of the people hiking the PCT have no clue there are waterfalls here, and even if they did know, they would not take the time to go down to either of them. This is why I would never want to hike that trail. I would miss seeing far too many great waterfalls and other sights. Anyway, I headed back to camp and to bed on this windy night.

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After work on Friday, I drove to Sonora Pass. The plan was for a quick one night backpacking trip, but it turned into two nights.

At first, my idea was to sleep in the car on Friday night, then get a very early start on Saturday morning, hiking in the dark, in order to get to the first waterfall before the sun on Saturday morning. I did not really like this idea too much. I like sleeping a bit better than hiking in the dark.

I decided to change things up a bit, and hike in part way on Friday night (in the dark). So much for not hiking in the dark. However, this would put me close to the first waterfall, and then I would not have to get up so early the next day. This is what I did.

At the trailhead, I talked to a couple who just came off the trail. They said the mosquitoes were out. I was bummed to hear this. The madman does not like mosquitoes. Nonetheless, I did not encounter a single mosquito on this first day. I’m not sure where they thought they saw any mosquitoes, as they were coming from the exact place where I was going. There were a few around the next day, but mostly they were a non-issue. Even so, I would much prefer ZERO mosquitoes than even ONE or TWO mosquitoes.

I started hiking at 7:15pm. Sunset was 7:30pm. It was dark 15 minutes after that. I had about 3 miles or so to hike, and it was an uneventful hike except for when some birds freaked me out as I walked by them. Also, I saw a nice little snake right on the trail. It was not a rattlesnake, it was a rubber boa snake. I have only seen this type of snake once before, so that was cool. More cool than seeing a rattler.

I arrived at Roosevelt Lake at 8:30pm, 3 miles from the trailhead. I wasn’t sure I wanted to camp here, but there was a nice big spot by the lake, and even though it would be nice to get a little closer to the waterfall, I did not really want to hike anymore in the dark, plus I was not sure there would be any flat spots further up the trail (there was not, as I found out later). I stopped here and set up camp. I was in bed by 9PM. Not a bad evening.

In the morning, I got up early but not too early, and hiked up to the waterfall. It took a lot longer and was a lot harder than I expected.

I crossed the West Walker River by butt scooting across on a log, then followed Falls Creek upstream.  Even though I know we had a fantastic year, I was still surprised at how much flow there was in both the West Walker River and Falls Creek. It is September, after all. I was half expecting Falls Creek to be dry as it is a pretty small drainage, but with this flow, the waterfall should be terrific (if I can get to it). It gets steeper and cliffy-er as you get closer to the falls. I was hoping to get a good view of the waterfall without having to climb half way up the mountain, but unfortunately, you cannot see much of the falls due to a lot of thick brush along the creek. There was also no way to get to the creek through all the brush. The only choice was to keep climbing higher. Going higher meant getting above all the brush, but now I had cliffs to deal with. Getting to the falls seemed impossible, and now it was getting late. The sun should already be hitting the falls. But it wasn’t. I kept climbing, and finally found a good way over to the creek. I was standing on the edge of a cliff, but I could see the biggest drop of the waterfall from here, a marvelous 45 ft. high horsetail fall. The entire waterfall is bigger than this, but you cannot view all the tiers at one time (or really, any of the other tiers at all).

When I go backpacking, I want to pack as light as possible. This means I leave my laser rangefinder and clinometer (for measuring waterfall heights) at home. I meant to take these out of my pack, but I forgot. That was stupid and added an extra 1.1 pounds to my pack. You might think that is not very much, but every single ounce adds up enormously when you are backpacking. Well, at least you now have the exact heights of the waterfalls from this trip. You are welcome.

After this, I went back down the mountain to photograph the Lower Falls, which was still in shade but not for long. Then I hiked back to camp, packed up my gear, and had my breakfast. So far, it was a fantastic morning.

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It is September! Summer is almost over! The mosquitoes are pretty much done! The weather is cooler! Time to get back to hiking!

I was just joking with a friend, who went to a certain waterfall for the fourth time. I said to him, you do know there are other waterfalls in California, right? Now having just said that, where did I go hiking? Horsetail Falls of course! And how many times have I been to Horsetail Falls? I had no idea, but I was curious, so I counted them up, by looking at the dates of all my photos. This would be the 15th time I have been to Horsetail Falls! There may be a couple times when I did not take any photos, so it could be more than 15. You think I like this waterfall? The first time I went was 2003, so that is 15 times in 16 years. Not bad, not bad, but I think I had better go one more time this year to make it all even. LOL. (I think I might do it, too).

It was Labor Day weekend, the parking lot was full. It is always full in the summer on the weekend, but on a holiday weekend? I prayed for a parking spot on the drive up the hill. When I arrived, I found one and only one parking spot. God saved me that spot! Thank you Lord.

There were tons of people on the trail, as expected. My plan was to hike up to Pyramid Lake, and hopefully photograph the waterfalls up there that I have not photographed yet. It has been 7 years since I have been up to Pyramid Lake. I did not quite make it. When I arrived at the bottom of Horsetail Falls, there is that one very difficult and crazy section you need to climb up. I struggled getting up it, this time. I did not have my regular hiking boots on, and with less traction on my feet, my shoes could not get a foothold on the slick rock. Finally, I managed to wedge myself up and over. Meanwhile, a Japanese man watching from below was laughing at me the whole time. Anyway, I made it up. After this one section, there are a couple sketchy parts, but mostly it is not difficult to get to the top of Horsetail. It is easier getting back down, but not in the dark. Finding the proper route in daylight is difficult, but in the dark it could be disastrous.

Thus I arrived at Gefo Lake and it was already 6PM. This was my last ditch turning around time. I still had 30 minutes to Pyramid Lake, and I would not make it. According to my notes it should only take 3 hours to Pyramid Lake, but it had been 3.5 hours and I was still not there. Argh. Anyway, the other waterfalls were not flowing. I will have to return earlier in the spring to get those ones. I got back to the Ropi Lake Falls viewpoint, and it was just coming into shade, so I ate my dinner and photographed that waterfall, then I booted it back down as fast as I could. I arrived at the bottom of Horsetail just as it was getting dark. The rest of the hike back to the car was in darkness. (I did have a light of course). Once again, even though it was a holiday weekend, I was the last one off the mountain. It was a great Labor Day in the Desolation Wilderness.

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