Leon Turnbull Photography

After going to West Sulphur Creek I continued on to Mill Creek Falls, hoping to get there before the sun started blazing down into the canyon. I figured I had enough time to hit up both West Sulphur Creek waterfalls and get to Mill Creek on time. I figured correctly.

With rope in hand, and after getting down to the crazy waterfall on upper West Sulphur, I figured getting down to the base of Mill Creek Falls would be a cakewalk. I figured wrongly! I made my way from the overlook at Mill Creek down to a large rock, just above a 7-8 ft dropoff. There was no good foothold from here and even with a rope, it was just too much of a dropoff to continue down the rest of the way. The entire bottom area was all misty anyway from the spray of the falls, and I would not have been able to get a decent shot from the bottom, so I decided to just shoot from the rock. This is further than I have ever gone before down here, although it certainly would have been awesome to make it all the way down. Just a bit too crazy for my blood. Somehow, Mountain Goat Rob made it all the way down without a rope. I don’t know about that guy. He is a bit nuts. Will I ever try this another day? I don’t know, though I am sure I will be back to this waterfall again. It is a beauty, and it was flowing stronger than I have ever seen it before.

I was hoping for a good hike but not a killer hike this past weekend, so I chose Antoine Canyon, near Foresthill. This area was ravaged last year by the American Fire and I thought it might be interesting to hike down into it, perhaps it would be easier now after it has burned. Or perhaps harder? Either way, I have never hiked down on the south side of Foresthill Rd before, I always hike on the north side into the North Fork American River canyon. The south side drains into the North Fork of the Middle Fork American River, and is not too shabby either. It won’t be my last time down there for sure.

The road passed right through the burned area, and even though it was very early, there were workers blocking the road and my access. Ummm, can I get through here? I asked. You can “now”, they said, with the emphasis on the “now”. Ummm, will I be able to come back through here later? Who knows, they said, we are getting ready to cut down these burned trees. Yeah, that is quite reassuring, isn’t it. I was actually quite surprised that these guys would be out here working on a weekend, shocked even. I wasn’t sure if I should turn around, I didn’t want to be stuck in there all day, but I decided to take a chance on it. As it turned out, coming back through was not a problem at all, even though they were still busy working.

I parked the SUV and started my hike continuing down the dirt road. I could have driven further on the road, but I wanted to get a decent hike in this morning. I am certainly glad I did that, otherwise the hike would have been too short. I had calculated I had about 1.5 hours to make it down to the falls but the sun was already above the ridge line. Would I be too late? Well obviously I made it in time, otherwise I wouldn’t be too glad about it. I done good in my calculation this time. After 1.5 miles, you need to cut off the road and head down down down to the bottom of the canyon. It started off all right but got steeper as I went along. Much steeper. The last section to the creek was bordering on cliffy steep. One good thing is that I brought my rope, and I used it get down the last part to the creek. No problems getting down there with the rope (without a rope, it certainly might have been a problem). The bad thing is that I did not bring my water shoes. Stupid stupid stupid. This is the problem with having a bad back, and trying to save on precious weight on my hikes: I do not bring along items I think I might not need, and I was not thinking that I would be doing any creek wading this morning at all. However, I ended up down at the creek further downstream than I anticipated. Now I had to wade upstream to the waterfall. The creek was a bit deep in places, and the rocks were super slippery. It would have been very easy if I had my water shoes, but instead I had to wade upstream in my bare feet. I only slipped one time, but in the process, I managed to get my hiking boots (that I was carrying) completely soaked. Ugh.

Well I got up near the waterfall but there was a little cascade and small falls I still had to negotiate. I had to cross the creek again, climb up on a narrow ledge and continue climbing to get above the cascade. It was pretty fun, actually. Finally, I got up to the waterfall. It is quite a unique looking falls, and I think I will definitely be back to this one someday. I think it would be awesome at higher flows. The only trouble is that I would not be able to wade upstream at higher flows. It could be an interesting adventure.

I know that I am certainly not the first one to see this waterfall. There was a miner’s camp here, with a chair, gold panning equipment, and an axe that looked fairly new. Obviously someone has a claim down here. I wonder how he hikes down to it? It is not exactly easy to get down here, but it is certainly a quaint little place. Speaking of gold, when I climbed back out of the canyon up to the road, I saw three cars coming down the road, all filled with older guys, older than me, but not too much older. They said to me, Is that your SUV we saw parked way up the hill? Yes, it is. Wow, you hiked all the way down here, that is awesome, you are an iron man, amazing. (it is only 1.5 miles on an easy dirt road). When I told them I just hiked to the bottom of this steep canyon and back up, they practically fell down at my feet and worshiped me. I am kidding. But they were very much in awe, for sure. Well, it was a tough hike, but I have certainly done plenty of tougher ones. They all had metal detectors, and apparently, they were looking for gold along the hillside. It seemed rather odd to me. There are no streams up here, I would think they would more likely find gold down at the bottom of the canyon. But maybe they know something I don’t, it seemed like they had done this before. Well good luck to them, I guess. I certainly found my gold down at the canyon bottom.

I had initially wanted to go for a hike in Lassen Volcanic National Park but when I arrived at the park in the early morning hours I found that my trail was closed. Even though their website indicated that it would be open. Good thing I had a plan B.

Plan B however was back outside the park. So after using the park facilities (TMI) I drove back out. On the way to the trailhead I saw my first bear of the season. And it was a big one. It scampered up into the woods when it saw me coming. My daughter said what’s so exciting about that??!!?? Well, she has a good point. It would have been much more exciting to see one while I was hiking. Ah well I was still very happy. They are my favorite land animal and I don’t get to see them very often.

I continued on to the trailhead. Or I tried to. Until I came to a gate with a big huge no trespassing sign blocking my way. What the heck? This was the last thing I expected to see here. This is supposed to be public national forest land I had thought. But I was not to be outdone. I did some quick thinking. There must be a way around this. How about the other side of the creek? That seemed like a good plan. I crossed the creek and followed it, winding its way this way and that way through Brokeoff Meadow. I found an old logging road and followed it for awhile. When it ended I continued through the woods. Considering that it is a short easy hike to this waterfall I was actually surprised not to find any trail here. I am also surprised that no one knows about these waterfalls. Two awesome waterfalls quite easy to reach and no one has ever heard of them before? Well now you know about them. Courtesy of waterfallswest.com.

I was in a hurry. After my initial foray into the park and then the private property detour I was running late. I thought that these waterfalls would get very early sun, especially the upper one. I reached the lower falls, which was still quite well in the shade. It is a big long cascade 122 ft high and quite impressive. I took some quick shots and climbed to the top of the falls. I had to cross the creek and managed to drop my hiking boot in the creek when I took it off. Oh how nice. At least it didn’t float downstream over the falls.

Once across the creek it is an easy trek up to the waterfall. And it is a beauty, an awesome waterfall dropping through a narrow crack in the rock, fanning out wide in a huge 67 ft drop, then cascading for another 21 ft. It is perhaps the best new waterfall I have seen this year. Although it is spectacular it is very difficult to photograph because the top part is hidden behind the rocks. However, you can get right up to the base of the upper section, and this is where I took this photograph here. It was a bit misty.

I still had a lot of time before I had to meet my family for lunch so I continued to the top of the falls and upstream. I knew there was nothing else up there but it was fun to explore. I believe I crossed into Lassen Natl Park. The waterfall is right at the outside edge of the park but not quite in the park, so once you get to the top you will be in the park. It sure was a great hike out in the Lassen wilderness.

Hanging on the edge of a cliff in order to get a photo of a waterfall? Who would do such a thing?

Well I had in mind to go back to West Sulphur Creek in Lassen Volcanic NP one last time. I really wanted to find a view of that upper waterfall. Could I do it? Last time I managed to get to the brink of the falls but no view could be found. It is seriously hidden away with sheer cliffs on each side of it. No way to get down. No way to view it. But if there is a will there must be a way, and I had the will, but did I have the skill? Could I get down the steep cliffy hill? Would it be such a thrill? Or would I once again come up nil?

I arrived at the park very early of course. It is a short hike down to the West Sulphur Creek Falls viewpoint. It’s hard to believe no one knew about this waterfall before I discovered it last year. Now however, I saw signs that more people have been down here. Fans of waterfallswest?

I thought there might be a way to see this crazy thing on an overlooking ridge in between the two waterfalls. But it was steep and I would need a rope. A long rope. I almost psyched myself out beforehand thinking it was too crazy steep to get down. I was nuts to try it. Am I suicidal or what? But it did not really look so difficult once I arrived on the scene. Just down one rocky section then continue down the ridge and voila, great waterfall viewpoint. Piece of cake, right? I should have listened to my inner psyche after all. It turned out to be steeper than it looks from up above. The rope was an absolute necessity. I’m sure there are folks out there that would go down without a rope but I’m scared of heights. I have nightmares (seriously). Loving waterfalls and being afraid of heights do not mix very well. It was craziness to go down this ridge and I made my way very carefully. Finally I got to a tree out near the end of the ridge and I could see my waterfall. Could I go any further to get a better view? Ahh, I think not. I was happy to get my shot of this waterfall but I don’t think I’ll ever want to go down there again.

Now what crazy waterfall should I go see next?

Here’s another new one for ya folks, that’s two new ones in a row, and I must say I really really liked this waterfall, but it is pretty darn tough to get to. This is Upper Burnett Canyon Falls, and it is a sweet one, 83 feet high. A real beauty. It would be even more amazing at high flows, though I am not sure it would be possible to get there earlier in the year.

I have never attempted to get to this waterfall before, though I have known about it for at least a couple years. It has been listed on my website for that long, so if you are a subscriber to my website, then you would know about it as well, and perhaps you could have even made it here on your own before I got here. I know at least one friend of waterfallswest has done just that, earlier this year, but I am not sure the route that he took to get here. Probably not the same as myself, I guess I like things a bit on the spicy side.

I initially tried to come down a short route, more direct, to the waterfall, but then I came to the cliffy section, and it was just a bit too steep for comfort. Did I say the terrain in this drainage is crazy treacherous? Perhaps I could have made it down, but I chose to go back up and make my way over to Wilmont Canyon and down to Burnett Creek from there. It was steep there as well, but at least it was not cliffy, and I was able to make it all the way down. I did manage to squash a slug with my hand in the process. Not intentionally of course! That would be gross! However, I slipped and in order to catch myself I put my hand down quickly without looking where I was putting it. Right on top of Mr. Banana Slug. Sorry about that friend. Or unfriend. I’m just glad it was not a rattlesnake.

Anyway, once down at the creek, I had to make my way upstream to the waterfall. That could be very difficult. I soon came to a small waterfall, about 20 ft. high or so, with no way to continue except to climb back up the cliffs again in order to get up above this waterfall and then once again, back down to the creek. It was a bit too steep to get back down to the creek, however, but with my rope I made it down safely. Right through a truckload of poison oak. I was not expecting any oak down here. The elevation was 4000 ft. and poison oak does not usually grow above that elevation. However, there was certainly a bunch of it down around the creek level, and unfortunately no way to avoid the stuff. Ugh! Well no time to fret. I continued up to the waterfall. And it was a roaring success. I was extremely pleased to get here, but it took a lot longer than I thought it would. I had no time to make my way downstream and try to find any other waterfalls, which was my original intention. That will have to be saved for another day.

There are actually quite a few very elusive waterfalls in this drainage of the North Fork of the North Fork of the American River (NFNFAR for short), including an even bigger one on this same creek as well. I have not been to many of these waterfalls in this area: the cliffs in here are rather, shall we say, sheer, and the terrain is, shall we say, treacherous. That is the understatement of the year. But I will certainly keep trying.

I did not go back up Wilmont Canyon but instead took a different route back up the mountain, climbing the cliffs on the other side of the creek. It was actually a much better route. But it was still steep. The mosquitoes were out in force too. I could not stop to rest anywhere on the hike back because as soon as I stopped, I would be attacked. Big Ugh. But it was certainly a great day in the NFNFAR canyon.