Leon Turnbull Photography

Sometimes it is not all about the waterfalls. Sometimes it is about the scenery. That is what I am telling myself anyway.

I plan all my trips around waterfalls, of course. Sometimes it does not work out as planned. Especially this year, 2020. For my big Fall backpacking trip, I was not planning to go to this location, I had a different trip planned. The fires. The smoke. That put the nix on my big plan this year. For my alternate trip, Plan Z, I chose northern Yosemite National Park. This was pretty much the only place in all of California where the air seemed all right and not too smoky. There *are* waterfalls here that I had not been to before, and I thought they would be flowing decent, at least a few of them. And you can’t go wrong with Yosemite. I go to Yosemite every year, but this year, I had not been to Yosemite because of COVID-19. I thought I was not going to make it this year, but then Plan Z came into being, and off I went to my favorite national park.

I hiked in from Twin Lakes on the eastern side of the Sierra, hiking through the Hoover Wilderness, over Mule Pass, and into northern Yosemite National Park. I arrived at Twin Lakes on Friday evening. If I arrived any later I would have been out of luck. Apparently, you have to pay for parking here. You should not have to pay for parking at a wilderness trailhead, and I did not think I had to pay. I have hiked here before and I did not pay (though maybe, I was supposed to pay?) There are no signs about parking or about paying for parking, and I was not sure where the trailhead parking was, so I asked the attendant at the campground kiosk, (who was about to close). He told me I had to pay $15. Well, crap. Even though I thought I was being screwed, I payed the $15 and parked. (I don’t think I was being screwed, but I also think there should be free wilderness trailhead parking).

It was after 6PM. My plan was to hike up to Barney Lake and camp the first night. I would arrive at the lake well after dark. I saw one deer just as I started the hike, the only wildlife I saw on the whole trip. The hike took longer than I expected and I did not arrive at the lake until 8PM. (sunset was about 6:30PM). There were quite a few people on the trail, coming down from the lake, even after dark. There was also someone camped at the lake (in the best spot), but I found another place to setup camp, and went to bed.

I got up early, packed up, and continued my hike. First stop: Robinson Creek Falls (pictured here). This was the only waterfall on the entire trip. It was not flowing very decent, but I took a photo anyway. It is a big waterfall and would be impressive at high flow (if you can get to it at high flow). It was also quite difficult to get up close to. There is a large rock slide beside the creek. The boulders were huge. This, as I found out soon enough, would be the main theme for the trip: Enormous rock slides. I managed to find a path over the rocks and to the creek, but only by squeezing through a very narrow slot through a couple large rocks. If I was two inches wider I would not have made it (I am not kidding – on the way back I almost could not squeeze through). Once at the creek, I had to cross over to the other side of the stream to photograph the waterfall. In high water, this is not going to be possible, but the waterfall certainly would be much better if you could find a view of it.

So what can I say about the rest of the trip? Are you still reading? This is going to be long, and there are no more waterfalls. But as I said, the scenery is impeccable. It is Yosemite National Park.

Mule Pass is at 10,500 feet elevation. I started at 8300 feet at Barney Lake. It is a killer climb. It was not so much the high elevation, but it was my 40 pound backpack. I think that is what really did me in. This was intended to be a 5 day trip, but I ended up cutting it short because of the lack of water. On the west side of the pass, there was quite a bit of water flowing in the streams, even the small unnamed streams. I thought this was a good sign. Piute Canyon should have a good, decent, amount of water in it. Wrong. On the east side of the pass, there was no water at all. On the descent, I was starting to worry that Piute Canyon would be completely dry. I was almost out of water, and if that creek was dry I would be dead (literally). Also, the smoke was starting to roll in to the canyon from the south and it was starting to get noticeably bad. I chose this area because there was no smoke here! Ugh. I prayed it would clear up by evening. (and thankfully, it did).

I arrived at the bottom of the canyon. I could not hear the creek flowing. This could be really bad. It was a half mile up the canyon to where I planned to camp beside the waterfall. As I continued and approached closer to the creek, I could finally hear a trickle. Whew. I would not die. But it was definitely not flowing much. Not nearly enough for a decently flowing waterfall. This was very disappointing to me. I really thought this creek and waterfall would be good, even this late in a dry year. I camped beside the almost dry waterfall. I was tired. I slept well.

What would I do the next day? I did not want to go home yet. I decided to explore down Piute Canyon. Maybe there would be more water in the creek downstream. The hike started off tremendously well. There is no trail, but it is easy hiking and when the canyon opened up it was incredibly beautiful. Then I came to a dead end. THE SLIDE. I don’t know when this rock slide occurred, it was a very long time ago, but it is absolutely MASSIVE. It spans the entire canyon, from one end to the other, and up the other side (over a quarter mile wide). The rocks are absolutely ENORMOUS, from one end to the other. I could find no easy way past them, and I spent a couple hours trying to do it. This is no simple rock hop! I finally gave up. I think that it can be done and I just did not go the correct way, but I was tired, and I decided it was not worth the effort because of the lack of water. It was time to go home.

I ate my lunch, then proceeded back up to the top of Mule Pass and down the other side. I stopped at Robinson Lake for the night. There was no one there when I arrived (so I got to choose the best spot). Someone came up later, however, and camped near by. I told him I was coughing a lot and would probably be keeping him awake at night. I think the smoke was causing me to cough so much. (it was not horrible, but there was still a little bit of smoke in the air). I hope I did not keep him awake, but I probably did. I did warn him, however, so it is not my fault; he could have camped further away. Anyway, I enjoyed the beautiful alpenglow at the lake at sunset. The next day was a very long and tiring slog back to my car at Twin Lakes. Thankfully, it was all downhill. I arrived at my car at about noon and got home by dinner time. Pizza again (thank you, Tara). It was a good time in Hoover Wilderness and Yosemite National Park.

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The fires this year in California have been horrendous, seemingly much worse than a normal year. For the first time ever, all the national forests were closed for a couple weeks. Some are still closed. Some parks are still closed. (Sequoia National Park, in particular). So what caused the increase in fires this year? Do not say “climate change”. Honestly, this is a personal opinion, but I hate when people say that, and people say it all the time. Climate change does not cause fires. It may play a factor in the fires (one of many factors), but it does not cause them. I will tell you what caused the increase in fires in 2020: COVID-19. When I say that, I do not mean the virus causes the fires. (that is as dumb as saying that climate change causes fires). It is people! Over 90% of all forest fires are caused by people. And this year, with COVID-19, a much larger number of people than normal have been out in the forests, hiking and camping and recreating. And that means, a much larger than normal amount of stupid people have been out in the forests. And that means, a much larger than normal amount of fires. Am I wrong?

Speaking of fire, I figured it was time to return to the Pool of Cold Fire, an absolutely magnificent canyon with very difficult access.

Actually, though, I had no intention of returning here this Fall, but I bought a new raft. My old raft had a number of holes in it. I fixed all the visible holes, but it was still leaking. It was time to buy a new one. I had big plans to go on a particular rafting adventure this Fall, and after I bought the raft, that area caught fire and is still burning right now. I will not be able to do it this year. (and that is not the only one of my Fall plans that have gone up in smoke – literally).

I really wanted to try out the new pack raft, so I decided to return to the Pool of Cold Fire, which is pretty easy introductory rafting adventure, but not so easy hiking adventure. I started the hike at 2PM on Saturday afternoon, finally arriving at the pool at 4PM. (it is only 2 miles). It is a big descent down to the river, then you need to hike up the river, crossing it, wading through it, hiking through poison oak, and finally you arrive at the Pool of Cold Fire. I was tired by the time I got there. My legs were actually shaking from exhaustion. I guess it has been too long since I’ve gone on a tough hike. I had my dinner and rested, and then blew up the raft.

I found it was a bit difficult to maneuver the new pack raft with the new paddles, more difficult than I anticipated, but I managed to get to the end of the pool, where there is an obstacle you cannot paddle around (rocks in the middle of the river). That required me to get out of the raft in the middle of the river, trying not to dump myself and my gear into the river, and drag the raft up over the rocks. It is a bit tricky. On the other side, I left the raft and walked up to the waterfall, Lower North Fork Falls.  It is also tricky to view it as you need to climb up on a very steep slope with a very steep drop-off into the river. It is an absolutely beautiful little waterfall, even though it is small.

I took my photos, got back to the raft, paddled back, packed up, and scrambled back down the river to the main trail. My legs, as I mentioned, were very tired. I tried to be careful, but I fell a couple times. No injuries, but it could have been worse. One time, however, I slipped on the wet rock and started sliding into the river. I was certain I was going in for a swim. There was nothing to stop me. Yet somehow, I managed to stop myself just in time. The truth is, however, that it was God that stopped me in time, because I was definitely going into the river. If I had, I think my camera and phone probably would have been ruined. Thank you, Lord. I got back to the trail. It was 6:20PM. Sunset was 6:50PM. I grossly underestimated how long it would take to hike out of the canyon. It is only 1.5 miles, so I figured it would take 30 to 45 minutes. I forgot about the elevation. It is a 1300 ft. ascent to the top. I should have known it normally takes about an hour to climb 1000 ft., so this hike out would take well over an hour, and it would be well after dark when I got back to the car. It took exactly one hour to climb out (better than I thought), but it was still dark when I finished the hike. It was a magnificent hike in Tahoe National Forest.

 

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This is from my last hike and backpacking trip to Desolation Wilderness. It is Lower Waterfall Camp Falls. It is such an incredibly beautiful area. I have not been hiking since then. I do not plan to go hiking. Well, not this month anyway. I do have a big trip planned next month, and a really big one for September. Normally, I do not hike at all during the summer. I hate the heat and I hate the mosquitoes. If you don’t know that by now, you must be new here. LOL.

As you know, we had a horrible winter last year. You may be wondering what is in store for next winter. I know I am. The bad news is that it does not look very promising. We are currently looking at probable ENSO neutral conditions, the same as last year. However, there is also a possibility of a WEAK La Nina, but even if we have the weak La Nina, that still does not bode well for a good winter. So I guess we will just have to see what happens as it happens. And PRAY for a good winter and that we are not heading back into another big drought in California.

I hate having to beat a dead horse, but I keep hearing things about our trails that really disturb me. People are just leaving trash everywhere, at the trailheads, in the streams, on the trails. Please people, leave no trace. Pack out your trash. Pick up other trash you see. Leave the place in better condition than it was.

Have a great rest of the summer, everyone. Be good.

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Middle Waterfall Camp Falls, 30 ft.

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It was not too cold during the night. Of course I slept awful anyway, but it was supposed to be below freezing and it wasn’t. Perhaps it was 40 degrees, but I don’t think it was colder than that.

I woke up at sunrise, packed up, ate breakfast, and started hiking down the mountain. I wanted to get going before the mosquitoes woke up, and I did. I encountered a few of them on the hike back, but really they were not too bad at all.

I was super tired when I reached the bottom of Horsetail Falls. The terrain is very rocky and it is so hard on the feet. It took me 5.5 hours to get to the car, and it is only about 6.5 miles. That tells you how difficult the terrain is. I encountered zero people on the hike from Waterfall Camp to the bottom of Horsetail Falls (except for one person I saw camped at Pyramid Lake). From the bottom of Horsetail Falls to the trailhead, I encountered about 1000 people. (give or take). The parking lot was completely full. It is a Monday! Why are there so many people doing this hike on a Monday! It is not a holiday. Don’t you have to work?

And of course, I picked up all your trash as well, people. There was a lot of it I saw along the trail. One piece was literally within 10 feet of the garbage can at the bottom of the trail. What the %#$&*? All you hikers that passed by the litter along the way and did not bother to help clean up the trail, why can’t you please help out?  I found a sock which someone had dropped, probably accidentally, but someone else had come along and placed it in plain view with a rock on it so it would not blow away. Seriously, why would you not just carry this obvious piece of garbage down the mountain with you? No one is going to come all the way back up the mountain another day to retrieve their old sock. Really? Just three pieces people. Come on. Well, anyway, the Horsetail Falls trail is now clean (for one day at least). You are welcome.

This is Lower Waterfall Camp Falls, about 40 ft. high. It drops right into Lake Aloha. Such an amazing place in the Desolation Wilderness.

 

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