I am very much enjoying my hikes with Journey. I am having more fun going on an easier hike with her that I have done before than going on something more difficult by myself. And she loves it so much, it makes me very happy. This week’s journey to a repeat waterfall: Grouse Falls. Well, it was “supposed to be” Grouse Falls.
As we drove up Mosquito Ridge Road I could see all the small creeks and waterfalls were flowing. I was surprised but this was a good sign for Grouse Falls. It should be spectacular. Then we hit the snow. At the turnoff for Grouse Falls there was too much snow to drive the road. I expected there to be some snow but not this much. We decided to hike from here. It would be 10 miles round trip which is not too bad but actually it was. There was six to eight inches on the ground for pretty much the entire hike. It was quite difficult, especially for Journey. She loved it though. She would run way ahead in the snow and she was having a blast. But somehow she hurt her leg. It did not seem to slow her down and she was not limping but she would not let me touch it so I know it was hurting. We hiked an hour on the road and we were not even half way there. I felt that another 3 hours of hiking in this deep snow would be too much with her hurt leg so I decided to turn back. If there was just 3-4 inches less snow I think we would have had no troubles making it all the way, and with the warm weather coming this week all this snow will probably be gone so perhaps we will try this again soon.
On the way back I stopped at this waterfall by the roadside. I have seen it before but never had a good chance to stop and photograph it. Although it is on an unnamed stream it is a very pretty one and I think it deserves a spot on my website. I am calling it Mosquito Ridge Falls and it is 60 ft. high. It was a wonderful snow day in Tahoe National Forest.
Now that it is March it is time to start heading to higher elevations to hike. I want to be above 4000 ft. in order to avoid poison oak and ticks. I thought about taking Journey up to the snow but when I looked at the weather for that hike it said 23 degrees. Yikes. I would not mind that so much but I did not want to freeze Journey to death. Plus that would mean it would be icy and possibly dangerous for her.
I decided to take her to the Lake Spaulding area. Someone posted a photo of Fuller Lake Falls from last week and it was a very nice one. The waterfall was flowing well but not too strongly. Of course all that could change in an instant since it is dam controlled (and indeed it would). Anyway, I did not have a good photo of this waterfall yet and Journey has not been there so it seemed like a good adventure for us.
We left the house at 5:30AM and drove up the hill. When we got up there I saw that there was snow! I was not expecting this at 4500 ft. elevation. I drove up to Fuller Lake and there was quite a bit of it. We could have started from here as I had planned but I decided to drive back down to the river and hike from there. It would be longer but probably a lot nicer and easier. I am really glad I did that considering what we found when we got to the waterfall (below).
There was only about 1 inch of snow on the ground, up to 4 inches in some places. It was quite a nice hike and Journey was very happy. She loves the snow! We had a lot of fun and saw no one else on the entire hike.
We stopped at Lake Spaulding Falls first which was roaring then continued up to Fuller Lake Falls. It was 2.5 miles one way. There was one creek crossing which Journey would not do. I had to find an easier spot for her to cross it and I had to lift her down one big dropoff. As I did this I slipped and fell hard on a rock, banking up my shin in the process. Journey had a bit of a hard landing but she was ok. She made it across the creek but now I was worried about her crossing Fuller Lake Falls which would be a lot bigger than this little creek. I should not have worried so much.
The Fuller Lake waterfall was ABSOLUTELY UNCROSSABLE. It was ROARING. Much more so than in the photo I saw from a week ago. At least three times as much water or more was coming out of Fuller Lake. It unveiled itself in three large segments, about 150 ft. wide in total. This was the end of the road for us. NONE SHALL PASS.
I took photos of the waterfall and then let Journey have a snack before heading back down. I had wanted to do a longer hike than 5 miles but this was a good one for us and Journey had a lot of fun in the snow. It was a brisk and gorgeous morning in Tahoe National Forest.
Feather Falls has been closed since 2020 when the Bear Fire ravaged the entire area overnight. The devastation was immense. But let’s be honest: the Feather Falls Trail should’ve been opened a long time ago, at least a year or a year and a half ago. There is no excuse to leave this major trail closed for so long. The trail is 100% cleared. The bridges are 100% rebuilt. The parking lot is 100% rebuilt and re-paved. The viewing platform is 100% rebuilt. It has been this way for quite a long time now. Indeed, I am not convinced that the viewing platform was ever burned in the Bear Fire. It was rebuilt just prior to the fire and it looks about the same to me. A lot of people have hiked here in the last year before the trail was open and I don’t blame them. I might’ve come here myself if I had any burning desire to do so. The only thing I really wanted to do, however, was to bring Journey here and make a video, and I figured it was best to wait until the trail was re-opened before doing that.
January 1, 2025. The forest order stating the trail closure to Feather Falls is expired. There is no new forest order posted. I checked multiple times, including the day I came here. The thing that bothers me, and I don’t understand, is why the forest service website does not state that the trail is re-opened. Nonetheless, the forest order is expired, so by the default that means the trail is now open again. It was finally time to bring Journey to see magnificent Feather Falls.
The problem with Feather Falls, which has always been a problem, is that it is in the sun most of the day. So that means (for photography) I need to get up at 4AM, drive out to the trailhead, and start hiking in the dark. This is not good for me but it is especially not good for Journey as she is definitely not a morning dog. That was not going to work for us. The only other option is to wait for a cloudy day. Two of my three weather apps said it was going to be cloudy in the afternoon at around 3 to 4PM. The third one said it was going to be sunny. I thought it would be worth trying it and hopefully 66.67% of the forecasters were not wrong.
We arrived at the re-paved parking lot at 12:30 PM. It was very sunny. We were the only ones there but clearly a lot of people have hiked this trail in recent days or months. The trail is very different. Before the fire the trail was mostly through the forest. Now the forest is completely gone. It is 100% exposed to the elements. This hike is going to be absolutely brutal in the summer. Also, you can now essentially see the entire loop trail as you hike along. That means you will be able to see all the people hiking behind you or ahead of you on the trail. But as I said, there was no one else here when we came.
Journey really struggled on the hike to the waterfall for some reason. After 2 1/2 miles she acted like she wanted to go back. She was tired. I think it was because it was very warm out. Imagine what it would be like if it was summer, though. You should definitely not bring your dog here in the summer. Or your kids. Or even yourself. 9 miles of hiking completely exposed to the sun when it is over 90 degrees? I will not be surprised to hear of someone dying from heat exposure. It was warm for us but not so hot and we were over halfway to the waterfall. I urged her to continue on.
We arrived at the viewing platform at 2:30PM. It was completely sunny. Journey had a snack and then she laid down on the deck to snooze for about 45 minutes. I sat down to enjoy the waterfall and waited for the clouds to arrive. I was not too hopeful because there was nothing around at all, nonetheless, at about 3:15PM the clouds made an appearance and I was able to take some good photos. It would have been even better if I waited longer but then we would have been hiking in the dark. I got my shot and I was happy. We left at 3:30PM and headed back.
The shorter loop going back is much more difficult but after her long rest Journey had her second wind and she did great on the hike back. Much better than me in fact. I was quite struggling on the uphill. Journey was way ahead of me the entire time but she always waits for me to catch up. I love that about her. We got back to the car at 5PM and drove home but stopped for a hamburger, which she mightily deserved. We had a terrific hike to spectacular 410 ft. high Feather Falls.
They say La Niña has finally arrived. Is it too little too late? We have had zero rain in January so far (excluding the first weekend) and it is not looking good in the immediate future. Bloody stupid polar vortex. Perhaps La Niña will have a positive effect in February or March. We shall see.
I was quite disappointed in this waterfall. I really thought there would be a lot more flow. I know it is a small creek but we had a lot of rain in late December and I thought for sure it would still be decent.
It was 3:30 PM when we arrived at the trail head. Journey was excited. It was a really good hike for her and she had fun. Down at the river I saw that some people were camping there. We saw no people, just the tents. I did not think about it at the time but later I thought it was odd that there were no people. It was late afternoon and near dusk, it should be active with people getting dinner and ready for bed. Now I am thinking that maybe the tents and campsite were just abandoned. Hmmm…
Anyway, I thought this was going to be an easy hike for Journey and my prior notes did not indicate otherwise. However, when we got down to the river I realized it was going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. It was not just an easy stroll along the river. There was a lot of rock scrambling, with slippery rocks and steep drop offs. There were a couple places I had to lift her up the rocks. I wondered if she was even going to be able to make it to the waterfall but she did incredibly awesome. I was very proud of her. We made it to the falls and she waited patiently while I took photos.
It took a lot longer to hike here than I expected and it was already close to sunset. No time to see the middle or upper falls and it was dark by the time we got back to the car. We had a fun and enjoyable hike at South Yuba River State Park.
La Nina has arrived. A weak La Nina. The exact same conditions that we had in 2023. Remember that huge record breaking winter? You may be wondering (like I am) if we will have a 23 peat. A repeat of that 2023 winter. Or at least an above average winter. It would be pretty nice. But where is all the rain anyway? We just had our first winter storm this weekend but it was a small one. Well let’s remember 2023: We had nothing in October that year either. We had some rain in November but not a huge amount. It was not until December when the flood gates opened. So in other words let’s just wait a bit longer and see what happens. And pray for a good winter.
Waiting is not so easy though. I have a lot of ideas this winter for hikes with Journey but we need a lot of rain first. Where could I take her right now though? Lower Cherokee Creek Falls was my idea. That is a big creek and I thought it should be all right.
We arrived at the trailhead at sunrise. There was fog along the North Yuba River which was pretty interesting as we hiked along. It is a flat and easy walk until you get to Cherokee Creek. Perfect for Journey. She was off leash the entire hike. She would trot on ahead and then stop and wait for me to catch up. Repeat ad infinitum. She was perfect.
Once we got to Cherokee Creek I put her on leash for this section up to the waterfall. There are steep drop-offs, many logs to maneuver and jump over, and the trail is washed out in a couple places. I had to lift her up and over some very tricky and difficult spots. I knew it would be like this but it was perhaps more difficult than I remembered, especially one particular section where there was a landslide. It is great that she does not mind me lifting her up and over these difficult spots. Our previous dog Kaya would not let me do that. Kaya would have insisted on finding her own way around the landslide (and she would have). Anyway, Journey and I got past it and we made it to the waterfall!
Lower Cherokee Creek Falls is a lovely 23 ft. drop. It was not flowing great but it was not horrible either. After I took photos we had a nice snack (Journey did anyway). Then we hiked back past the landslide to the nice flat trail where she could be off leash again, and then back to the car and home. It was a wonderful morning in Tahoe National Forest.
