Leon Turnbull Photography

Are you afraid of heights? Then this hike is definitely not for you. P.S. I am afraid of heights.

I had not been to this waterfall in Paradise before, but it has been on my list for a while. I decided to take the short route, because the longer route apparently involves more hair raising, death-defying, walking along the side of a cliff. Also, it was longer.

However, my route was not as flat as the other one. The hike starts by descending a few hundred feet down to the canal. Mostly it is easy, but the last little bit was quite steep. I got lucky. Once down at the canal, you need to cross it and get up along the other side of the canal.There was supposed to be a metal bridge that allowed you to cross, but I could see no such bridge. Was I in the wrong place? Fortunately, the canal was dry today otherwise it would have been impossible. I guess they shut the water off when there is a storm. Lucky me.

Anyway, I crossed over and jumped up on the other side and started walking along the canal to the waterfall. Before too long, things got a little hair-raising.

The canal is literally built right along the side of the cliff. Below you, is nothing but net. Or rather, nothing but nothing. Because if you fell here, there will be a long period of nothing before you felt something, namely the ground. You are walking on a very narrow metal catwalk over top the canal. It is totally freaky. If there was water in the canal, I do not think I could handle it, with fast rushing water directly below your feet. Vertigo insanity.

I have said it before, but I am afraid of heights. You may think, that is stupid. How can a waterfall hunter, especially the Waterfall Madman, be afraid of heights? Waterfalls, by their very nature, fall off cliffs, and many of them are extremely dangerous and cliffy to see them. Well, I guess I just manage as best I can. Most of them I have no troubles getting to. Some are a little crazier. I guess you could say this is one of those.

It is not like you are walking on the cat walks for only a very short time, basically the entire hike is like this. The last half-mile at least, you are entirely walking along the side of a cliff over the canal. If anyone came along from the other direction, it would be extremely difficult and perhaps even impossible to pass them because the catwalk is so narrow. Fortunately, no one came but apparently this hike is quite a popular one.

When I finally arrived at the falls, I wondered how I was going to photograph it on this narrow catwalk. The waterfall is a big one, essentially dropping all the way to the raging river far below. There was no way of course to get down to see it, only the top 50 feet or so is visible from the canal. Nonetheless, it is a fantastic place.

I laid out my camera bag on the narrow metal grate, and set up my tripod with great difficulty. Just as I was about to start taking photos, it started raining! Oh the timing, God! Here I am out on the middle of this canal, standing over a cliff, nothing below me for hundreds of feet, and with no shelter whatsoever anywhere around me, and it is now raining. I could not take photos at all, because the rain would be pelting my lens and it would be impossible to get a decent shot. There was nothing I could do, literally, except wait out the rain. I was pretty sure, though, that it would not rain for very long, and I was correct. About five or so minutes later, it stopped.

I took my photos, then carefully packed up my camera and tripod, stood up on my very aching knees, because I was kneeling on the metal grate the entire time, then slowly started walking back to the car. I definitely have to say, that this was a highly interesting adventure.

 

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Today’s blog title comes to you courtesy of my daughter, Nekoda. I could not think of a good title myself, so she smartly suggested the title: “A Hike”. Sounds good to me. It was indeed a good hike.

The  weather was in between storms, and it was supposed to be cloudy all day, with the next storm coming late Saturday. Three out of my four weather apps said it would be cloudy and showery all day in the Bay Area. The other one said it would be partly sunny. I figured that one had to be wrong. Surely it had to be wrong. Wrong! It was right! The  other three were wrong! The ones that are usually right were wrong! The one that is usually wrong was right! Does that make any sense?!?!

Bottom line as I started hiking at sunrise is that the sun was up. I had not checked my sun calculations, since I did not think I would need to. I had no idea if the sun would be hitting this waterfall early or not, but I suspected that it would be getting sun very early, based on its projectory and terrain. I said quite a few prayers as I hiked up the mountain. Please let the waterfall be in shade when I get there!

The hike was fantastic. The first section winds up through a beautiful forest area, with large old trees. Redwoods, I believe. It was gorgeous. Once you get through the forest area, you come up along the top of White Hill, hiking along a ridge. The views are astounding. On a clear day, I believe you could see the ocean. There were clouds today over in the ocean area, but still plenty of fantastic views over Marin County.

The wind at the top of the hill was from another world. It was so strong it seriously almost blew me right off the mountain. I had to make sure my steps were planted firmly on the ground, and my hat was secure on top of my head. Yowzers. After climbing all the way to the top of White Hill, I then had to make the big descent down the other side. All the way down to the bottom, where I found the waterfall. It was pretty easy to get down to the bottom. After all the rain, I was expecting the water in this small creek to be much higher, but it was pretty nonetheless.

And what about that prayer I made earlier? As soon as I arrived at the waterfall, it started to rain! I guess that is a positive answer to my prayer. It was definitely in the shade. I was able to obtain at least one decent photo, even though it was raining. Not to mention very cold, with that wind.

By the time I climbed back up to the top of the mountain, I was extremely tired. This hike was much more strenuous than I anticipated, and I soon realized I had no energy to go on the second hike that I was hoping to go on. By the time I got back to the car, the sun was back out again as well, which also took away any desires to go on any other hikes. So I ate my lunch, and then made the long drive back home. I will be back, though.

 

 

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Well I was hoping to get to multiple waterfalls on this day, and this first hike would be easy smeasy. Yeah, sure.

It is a very very long drive out to this waterfall on Brushy Creek, about an hour drive or more, past Oroville. It is hard to get motivation to go out there because I need to get up so darn early, but with the higher water flows right now, I thought I would finally try this one.

If you look at Google Earth, it seems you can see the entire 215 ft. high waterfall from the top of the ridge, and thus would be a very easy hike. I had to hike an extra 1.5 miles because there was snow on the road (at 4000 ft.), but it was easy and refreshing. I thought I had lots of time. I reached my viewpoint on the top of the ridge, but the waterfall was completely out of sight. I came all the way out here for nothing.

There is only one thing to do now. Go down. It seems from Google Earth and the topo maps, that it is one massive cliff below this ridge. I was not expecting any chance to get down it, but it turned out that it was not cliffy at the top. Steep yes, but definitely possible. So down I went. 1000 ft. down. It was not really “brushy”, but there was poison oak galore. I did not quite get all the way to the bottom, however, because the bottom 100 or so feet were indeed a cliff, but I came to a spot right across from the massive waterfall. It was spectacular, but the view was obscured. I could not get a clear view of the falls from there, and there was definitely no going any further. It would have been amazing with a clear viewpoint from there. I could see the creek which the falls dumps into going in full torrent, and a small 10 ft. waterfall on that creek. The only people I know that have ever been to this massive waterfall are insane kayakers on this creek/river, not any normal people have seen this before me. Scratch that, no normal person would ever hike down this mountain. It’s just too bad that I could not get all the way to the bottom. The viewpoint I did find of the falls was from further up the mountain, about halfway down from the ridge (or so).  It was a beautiful view of the falls. It was the only good one I could find.

So back up the mountain I went, 1000 ft. up. I had initially hoped to go on a big hike (10 miles) in the afternoon, but there was no way I could do that now. I was too tired from this first hike that was supposed to be very easy. So I drove back to Oroville, had lunch at Jake’s (of course), then drove home. It was a pretty good day. I just hope I don’t get that darn itch again.

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The Pineapple Express came to town and left destruction in its wake. About 15 inches of rain fell in the Northern Sierra foothills. Many rivers and creeks were flooded. Roads and highways closed. Power lines came down. Mud and rock crashed down mountain sides. Famous trees fell (one famous tree, anyway).

P.S. Northern CA is now at 218% of average rainfall for the year so far and the snow pack is now above 131% of average. We still have two and a half months of winter left. Keep it coming!

Of course you know that I would want to get out and see some waterfalls at extremely high flow. The North Fork American River reached 43,000 cubic feet per second, quite a bit higher than the high from last month’s storms, but lower than I was expecting. We received less rain than initially forecast. I blame my wife for jinxing the forecast. She said beforehand that we would not get so much and that the forecasters are always wrong. Argh, thanks so much, my love.

Anyhow, the rivers were extremely high. Normally at this time I head up to my go-to waterfall, Canyon Creek Falls, and actually this was my plan when I woke up. One problem. The freeway was closed. I could not get to Canyon Creek.

Time for Plan B, which was suggested to me by a friend: Grouse Falls. I would not have even thought of this waterfall in the winter. Surely it would be inaccessible this time of year, but the idea had much merit. If you are going to see a raging waterfall, go huge. At 504 ft. high, Grouse Falls is huge. It would be spectacular. Could I get to it?

The road from Auburn to Foresthill was extremely busy. In both directions. What the heck is going on? I always see cars coming from Foresthill (to go to work in Auburn, I assume), but not the other way. And everyone was driving much too fast. It was still dark, the roads were wet and potentially slick going around the corners. There easily could be deer along the road. Or bears. Awhile ago, I did see a dead bear along this road. Hit by an idiot, who was driving too fast, I am certain. It ruined my entire day. Indeed, this morning I saw many more deer than I usually see, a surprisingly large amount actually. They were all out and about, no doubt, because the big storm was over, and now they were looking to stretch their legs in the morning, and get their breakfast and coffee. Don’t drive so bloody fast in the early morning hours, people.

Getting back to the hike, my big concern with all the flooding and such happening, is that wherever I went, I had to be safe. This was a big concern, and why my Plan A was for Canyon Creek. The road up to Grouse Falls is not exactly safe. The North Fork of the Middle Fork American River canyon is terrifyingly steep. The road down from Foresthill to the river and up the other side is an amazing feat of engineering, built into the sheer vertical cliffs. Rock and mud slides are not uncommon, and after a huge rain event, I suspected there could easily be blockage. They have to keep the road open because of the powerhouses, but nonetheless I was concerned I might get trapped for quite a long time on the wrong side of a slide after my hike was all done. There is no other way out in the winter. But the storm was done, surely if anything came down it would have happened the previous day. Right?

Well as I drove down the road, I did see many rocks that had fallen onto the road, one big one that was blocking half the road, a couple fallen trees that were blocking half the road. Once I had to get out and move a big rock out of the middle of the road, but mostly it was easy to drive past all these small obstacles. So far so good. There was rain coming, but not until the afternoon (supposedly), so hopefully nothing else would come down as I hiked.

I came to the Grouse Falls turnoff. I had no idea what to expect. I was prepared, and thinking it quite likely, that I would have to walk from here. 12 miles round trip. I thought there would be too much snow in the road, or if it had all melted, then the road would be far too muddy to drive. I was prepared to make that hike. There was no snow. I kept on driving. It was surprisingly not muddy, and in fact was in very good condition overall for driving. I drove one mile. There were some icy patches on the road. I had to drive by them very carefully, but no big deal. I drove two miles. A small tree blocked the road. I was able to pull it out of the way. I drove two and a half miles. A small flooded creek going across the road, but nothing I could not drive through. I drove three miles. Snow on the road, but it was a short section, and I was able to plow through it. I drove three and a half miles. A much larger tree had fallen and blocked the road. I thought I was done for with this one, but I used my muscles and was able to pull the monster over enough to pass by. I am Superman. I drove four miles. A big, long, and deep snow section on the road. This time I really was done for. If only I had a jeep. I do not. But I had driven four miles! It was only 1.5 miles from here to the waterfall overlook. No problem. It was a very easy hike from here. However, as I approached the overlook, I began to realize there was going to be a different problem which I had not yet even considered: FOG!

The canyon was completely socked in. I could hear the waterfall, and it sounded impressive indeed, but I could not see it from the overlook. Then it started to hail. Hard. Then it started to rain. Hard. Then it started to snow. Hard. I waited for the fog to lift. I probably stayed at the overlook for an hour or so, through all that weather. Before too long, the fog did lift and I could see Grouse Falls. It was astounding! You have never seen Grouse Falls ever look so fine and magnificent. I clicked madly away at my camera because I only had about a minute, then the fog rolled back in, covering up all that magnificent-ness again. This scenario repeated itself quite a few times over the course of the hour. The fog would lift. Click the shutter button like a madman. The fog rolls back in. I took many photos. Hopefully, I got a decent one. It was impossible to tell because much of the time it was raining or hailing. It is very hard to photograph in the rain, and like an idiot, I forgot my umbrella so I did not have anything to help keep the rain off the lens. Finally, the fog came back for one last time, and I said enough. So long Grouse Falls, and thanks for all the pics.

It was snowing extreme on the hike back out, and raining no doubt at the lower elevations. I had hoped to do another hike, but not in this weather. I wanted to get down the mountain before half of it came down, wiping out the road. I did not feel like doing another hike in rainy weather, and I kinda felt that I did not see enough from this big rain event. Though, I should mention that I did go to Bassi Falls as well. It was a good snowshoe hike, but it was pouring rain and windy and very cold at Bassi Falls, and I only took two quick shots. Neither of them turned out at all. Crap. At least one of my myriad of Grouse Falls shots turned out well.

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The first day after Christmas we went up on the ski hill. Red Mountain is the best ski hill anywhere. Am I biased? Maybe. My children do not ski much, because it is so expensive down in California. Shame on me, I do not like to ski is much as I used to. I have skied at all the Lake Tahoe resorts, and they are good hills there, but it is so expensive and such a long drive to Tahoe. Frankly, nowadays I prefer to hike and not ski. It is much cheaper, and more fulfilling also. However, when I am back in my hometown I do ski (since my mom pays for it). So although my kids are not expert skiers, they do really well when they do go. My daughter and son both got up on the top of Red Mountain for the first time, and there are no easy runs from the top of that lift. They did great. We did have one funny incident when we went to the very top (Granite Mtn), with my daughter Nekoda and niece Hannah. As we were about to get off the lift, Hannah’s board got caught and she did a faceplant. Right in front of me. I could see this whole thing unfolding in slow motion. I could not get off or I would have sliced her head open stepping on her, so I waited for her to get out of my way, then I realized there was no more ramp for me to get off on, and the lift was turning to go back downhill, so I just jumped. It was about 10 ft, and I slammed into a pole, but fortunately the snow was soft. The ski patrol guy came over. He first asked me if I was ok (so nice of him to be so concerned for me), then he harangued me about how I should be getting off the lift properly, as if I was a stupid beginner who does not know how to get off a chair lift. Yeah ok, Mr. Expert, in case you did not notice, I would have killed my niece if I had tried to get off. Thank you very much. At least my sister was thankful I did not severely injure her daughter. I’m sure Hannah was grateful also.

On the second day, the day that Carrie Fisher died, he went to see Rogue One in the theater. I still remember clearly the day in 1977 my family took us to see Star Wars. I was nine. Now 39 years later, I take my family back to the very same theater to see this movie. It seemed rather appropriate.

On the third day, we were supposed to go skiing again however some members of our family, not to name any names, did not want to go up. So I grabbed my things and headed down the hill to Beaver Falls.

It is an interesting hike in the winter along the railroad tracks. And fun. There was about 2 feet of snow on the ground, and they do not clear the tracks in the winter, so the snow shoes were a definite necessity.

In the beginning, you go past some houses. One raging dog maniac was barking his head off at me, and wagging his tail at the same time. Trying to get at me if he could (to lick me to death?). His two dog companions, however, were howling ridiculously. It sounded as if they were both being slowly eaten alive by some sort of large animal. I’m not kidding. It was pathetic.

Along the way, I saw some tracks that must’ve been coyote. It looked like the coyote was jumping down the trail because the tracks were huge, almost like a bear. Then I came across fresh deer tracks and I followed the deer trail all the way to the falls and right down to the bottom. It was not hard getting to the bottom, but once down things got downright dangerous. The water level was very high for this time of year, and I could not follow along the creek bed as I normally would.

I had to ditch the snowshoes, then climb up a cliff and along the cliff before I could get back down to creek level. Once down, I had to work my way out on the ice towards the creek edge in order to see the waterfall around the corner. The raging creek was flowing right under my feet as I stood on the shaky ice. It was a bit freaky and I did not, I could not go any further up towards the falls, and I certainly did not want to get out any closer to the edge of the creek for fear of dropping through the ice. If my wife is reading this, then I will say I was perfectly safe where I was standing to take this shot, and I made sure the ice was very secure under my feet. Ok, honey? Anyway, it was incredibly beautiful down there. My first snowshoe hike of the season.

 

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