Day 6 out of 11. I miss my mommy, says Journey. Tara is away on a trip to Greece, Turkey, and Italy. Journey is sad. She loves her mommy so much. Truthfully, she has been doing quite well with daddy. We have been going to the park twice a day despite the heat this past week. We have had a good routine every day. The weekend is here now. Let’s shake that routine up a bit and go on a hike to a waterfall. Journey is all in for that!
We drove all the way out to nowhere. A place called Clipper Mills and a return to Deadwood Creek Falls.
I stopped short of the actual trailhead. It was intentional. It would have been easy to drive all the way but I wanted a bit longer hike. That would have been a great idea except for one thing: the gnats! They were horrendous. I had my headnet so it did not really disturb me so much but I was worried about Journey. They were bothering her quite a bit. I really considered just going back home. But … we continued on to the trailhead. Once we got going down the actual trail all of a sudden the gnats were gone. I guess it was because the trail was still in early morning shade. They would probably be bad on the way back up the hill. For now though, it was a big relief.
We saw a couple hunters out and about. Is it hunting season all ready? They were friendly (one of them was, anyway). I heard a big animal crashing through the bushes but I did not see what it was. It must have been a deer or a bear. Also, there was some guys in 4 wheelers at the trailhead. I guess they drove their machines all the way down to the river and back (I only heard them when we were down there).
Anyway, I was a little concerned if Journey could make it to the waterfall or not. My notes said it was extremely steep and last time I needed to use a rope. Well if I needed a rope that would mean Journey would not be able to make it. I wanted to try it with her anyway. There must be a way. Sure enough, the route I took last time was too steep and dangerous. There were a lot of leaves on the ground which makes the terrain very slick and dangerous. One slip and you would be sliding down the mountain all the way to the creek. I did not want to take the chance that Journey would get hurt. We turned back. Bummer. My plan B was to walk up the creek from the bottom but there was a small waterfall that made that option impossible. How about plan C? Maybe there was a route on the other side of the creek.
I was shocked to find it but indeed there was a path on the other side and it led all the way up to the waterfall. It was easy enough that Journey could do it. There was one steep and sketchy section but we got by it. Awesomeness!
Deadwood Creek Falls is 43 ft. high. It was flowing very well. It is a big creek but I expected the flow to be much less. We enjoyed the waterfall for quite awhile and ate our snack. Then we headed back up the mountain. The gnats were out now but we managed. It was a 1400 ft. climb back up the mountain. Journey was very tired and laid down to rest at every stoppage. We were almost back to the car (I could see it but she didn’t see it yet) and she just laid down in the middle of the road. That’s it, daddy. End of the line. That’s all she wrote. But then I pointed out the car to her and she got enough energy back to make it the rest of the way. She plopped down on the seat and closed her eyes. We did it. It was a fantastic morning in the middle of nowhere Plumas National Forest.
Journey stayed home this weekend. Sad for her but there were two reasons for this: Firstly, my wife Tara is going out of country for 10 days and I wanted to Journey to spend as much time with her as possible this weekend. When Tara is gone all she does is lay down by the door all day and she is so sad. She will not fetch with me or play with me. I can take her on walks but I do have to work during the day. Also it’s going to be almost 100 degrees this week which is going to make our walks a bit too hard to do. Secondly, I knew this hike would be too hard for her. I was down here once before in winter and it was too dangerous. I vowed to return in summer. So I did.
I stopped the car about 3 miles before the trailhead because I had to use the facilities. There were mosquitoes. They were definitely mosquitoes. Ugh. It is October! Why are there mosquitoes? I did not bring any bug spray with me. It is October after all. This makes for an interesting point: at our house we have had these tiny little mosquitoes in our backyard. In October! And they are biting! I’ve never seen mosquitoes like this before. What the heck is this? Well anyway, when I got to the trailhead there were not any mosquitoes. So that’s a good thing. But there were gnats instead. They weren’t too bad on the hike to the waterfall but on the hike back they were quite annoying and I had to put on my headnet. Thank goodness I always bring my headnet with me.
The hike was a lot worse than I remembered. It was very brushy. And very difficult. Journey would’ve hated it. I finally made it down to the creek and now I had to go upstream to the waterfall. It was not easy getting upstream with all the brush. At the end you have to climb up a little waterfall. This is where I had to turn back last time in winter because it was too dangerous. Today, it was fairly easy to do. Technically, Journey could’ve probably done it if we were very careful. But all that brush. I’m glad I did not bring her.
I thought the waterfall would be better than it was, even at low flow. It was still rather pretty. Upper Cherokee Creek Falls consists of two 20 ft. cascades. Both would be great at high flows. But could I have even gotten here at higher flows? That is the question.
I climbed back out of the canyon through all that brush, back to the car, and drove home. When Journey greeted me at the door she knew I was out hiking. She gave me a sad eyes look. Why did you leave me at home, daddy? I’m sorry baby but you really would not have liked it today. It was a quick and hot day in Tahoe National Forest.
El Niño is coming! Super El Niño is coming! Monster El Niño is coming! The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Actually El Niño is already here! Just ask Hawaii.
The governor has already declared a state of emergency. Let’s see, how much rain has fallen so far. Oh yeah, zero. How stupid do you have to be? Lest I remind you of 2016 when we had the last super El Niño. The hype for rain that summer was just as bad as it is this year. Perhaps even more so because we were in a horrendous drought. But how much rain did we get that winter? Ah yeah, not very much at all. And we are already in a state of emergency with not a drop of rain yet? My point is, we should not be so sure about what will happen in the future. Don’t believe the hype. Nonetheless, I do have some hope that this El Niño is more like 1983 or 1998 and not like 2016. I think we will probably get above average rain but not the monster deluge that everyone is saying we will get. Also, I think it will be a slow start and it won’t start raining until mid November. Tell me I’m wrong (I hope I am).
I was planning to go backpacking this weekend with Journey. However, I did not think it through very clearly. We had to go to the Bay Area on Friday night to see my daughter’s senior dance solo. We would not get back home until midnight, and now I have to get up very early for a long drive out to the place where we were going to hike? That is not going to happen. I was so tired I could not even drive home from the Bay Area. My wife had to drive. I canceled the backpacking trip and decided to just go on a day hike with Journey.
I thought we would return to Sly Park Falls. Something very easy and close to home. I heard there may be fall color there but there wasn’t much. In fact it seemed almost past peak color, which makes no sense seeing as it is not even October yet.
Journey and I have been to this one before. Last time, it was her first or second hike off leash. She did great that time but now she is an expert. She is such an awesome dog.
Somehow I took a wrong turn on the way there even though I was pretty sure we went that way the last time. We ended up having to go off trail to get back to the main track. Journey is good off trail as well even though she does not like it so much. We made it to the waterfall and crossed the creek to get up close to it. The water was a bit cold and I’m sure Journey did not like that part. There is also a new log spanning the top of the waterfall which was not there last time. Interesting. I am glad it is not an unsightly log. We spent some time at the waterfall and then made the hike back up the hill to the car. It was a lovely morning in Eldorado National Forest.
The wind was supposed to stop at midnight. It did not. It continued all night long. Occasional large gusts battered the tent throughout the night. I got no sleep. I do not think Journey slept much either as I could hear her tossing and turning all night long.
It was still windy in the morning. I expected there to be mosquitoes and I bought a new device which supposedly would keep them away but I did not get to test it out because there were none, thanks to the wind. I had to make our breakfast in the tent vestibule again. Journey enjoyed her special breakfast but I could not eat much. We packed up and left early, at 7:30AM.
The photo is Lake Lois Falls. You can tell it is a pretty big cascade but there is still snow covering some of it. If I had waited to come later when the snow was all gone, by then the waterfall would be much reduced in flow. Maybe if I had come a couple weeks later it would be better but I doubt I will ever come back here again even though it is a beautiful place.
Both Journey and I were very tired on the hike back. Due to lack of sleep? Due to the hike being so hard? Due to me still recovering from sickness? Due to all of the above?
There were no mosquitoes so I was very happy about that. The snow was hard and icy on the climb up to the pass. Spikes would have been proper but I did not have mine. Journey was running on ahead in the snow and had no issues. From below it looked pretty treacherous but it really was not because there were footprints I could walk in and dig my feet into the snow.
It was all downhill from the top of the pass but I was just so tired. We stopped at Maud Lake for water and rest. A good decision because there were no mosquitoes there (I figured there would be some at the Silver Creek crossing where we stopped on the way up). Shortly after Maud Lake I stopped for lunch. It was very early for lunch but as I said I was tired. And hungry. After this rest I seemed to gain some energy and was ok for the rest of the hike. Journey, however, was not. She was tired and lagging. Whenever we stopped for a rest, even a short one, she plopped down on the ground. We took quite a few rest breaks and eventually we made it back to the car. It was 2PM. Journey needed the rest of the day and the next one as well to recover completely. I bought her a hamburger on the way home. She deserved it. It was a marvelous overnight trip in the Desolation Wilderness.
I have been sick (again). I have not been hiking in a few weeks. Finally this weekend I felt like 100% again so I thought it would be good to take Journey on one last backpacking trip before summer. I thought about going to Eastern Sierra but I just did not feel like making the long drive over there and Journey hates long car rides so it would not be good for her either. How about something closer to home? How about the Desolation Wilderness?
It was supposed to be windy all day Saturday. That would keep the mosquitoes away. Sunday would be a different story. We arrived at Mosquito City (aka Wrights Lake) just before 9AM. The wind had not started yet but there were no mosquitoes so that was good. The recreation area is not open (which was very surprising) so we had to park before the gate which adds a half mile or so to the hike. The parking lot was already almost full.
We started our hike. The wind started right on time at 9AM. My pack was very heavy. It was 40 pounds because I was carrying all Journey’s stuff as well. I need to buy her a new pack but I have not done it yet so I figured I would just carry all her stuff this time. I am sure she was happy about that. Me, not so much.
About halfway you have to cross Silver Creek. I was a bit shocked how much water was flowing in the creek. It was deep and up to Journey’s belly. She was leery but she did well crossing it.
The total hike is 8 miles one way with 1500 ft. elevation gain. That is not so bad except almost all the gain is in the last two miles before the pass. This was a very tough climb. I was absolutely beat. Heavy pack, no exercise in weeks, you get the picture. Journey seemed to do well but if she was carrying a pack she would have struggled.
When we got to the top of Rockbound Pass it was extremely windy. It was almost blowing us off our feet. We quickly continued off the pass and encountered a lot of snow on the north side. Journey was ecstatic about the snow, running back and forth down the steep slope while I carefully tried to make my way down without slipping and falling. Journey has built in micro-spikes on her feet. Ha ha.
It was very windy at Lake Lois where we planned to camp. There was one group camped at a spot just before the lake and they may have been out of the wind for the most part but there was no other place. We crossed the outlet stream to the spot I camped at last time. It was very windy here but there was nothing else so I set up camp here. Once I got the tent set up I was happy with how it was handling the wind. The gusts were 50mph and they were constant. The tent was being blown to pieces but it was holding up.
I could not cook my dinner because the wind blew out my stove immediately. I tried to block it from the wind with big rocks but that did not work. The only way I could cook is from the tent vestibule which was out of the wind so Journey and I sat in the tent while I made dinner in the vestibule. Journey thoroughly enjoyed the dehydrated meal that mom made for her. After dinner we had 1.5 hours before we had to go on our evening hike. Sitting outside in the wind was out of the question so we laid down in the tent. I forgot my kindle (stupid) so all I could do is listen to the wind batter my tent to bits for 1.5 hours. It was crazy.
In the evening we hiked down to Lake Schmidell. It is only a half mile but a big 500 ft. descent. Coming back up afterwards was tough because I was so tired. There was not much wind down at Lake Schmidell but there were mosquitoes. My goal on this trip was to photograph the two waterfalls at Lake Schmidell and Lake Lois as they were all covered in snow the last time I was here. They are not great waterfalls but I thought the one at Schmidell would be a lot better (pictured here). You could not get up close to it and there were a lot of trees blocking the view. Well, I managed and did the best I could.
When we got back up to our camp at Lake Lois the wind had died down. It was still quite windy but it was not crazy wind. We got into bed and (tried) to go to sleep.
