Leon Turnbull Photography

I have been planning this hike to Waterfall Camp at Lake Aloha all spring and watching the snow depth very closely. The snow in this area lingers a long time; I was surprised about this as I waited impatiently for it to melt. Whereas the snow on the east side of Lake Aloha has been long gone for over two months now, the other side was completely snow covered only two weeks ago. I certainly could not have made it there two weeks ago. Last week perhaps I could have gone, but the mosquitoes would have been bad. This week was the perfect, and I mean perfect time to go. Sunday was to be a very windy day. Actually, it was an extremely windy day with gusts over 50 mph. There would be no mosquitoes. It was supposed to be very cold with below freezing temperatures at night. Well, I can handle the cold. I cannot handle the mosquitoes. They are out in squadrons right now in the Sierra Nevada. This would be my last hurrah. The last backpacking trip I would take before the Fall. It was a dandy, to say the least.

I was as much prepared as I could be for this hike. I brought my spikes in case there were still snow patches to cross. I brought my old tent because it stands up better in the high winds. I brought my sleeping bag liner and warm clothes. I brought my rain jacket just in case. All this added up the weight in my backpack and I needed all of it (except the rain jacket). There were some things, though, that I was not prepared for.

There were ZERO parking spaces available when I arrived at the Echo Lakes trailhead at 7:30AM on Sunday morning. This was shocking. Even the secondary parking lots were full. Are all these people backpacking to Lake Aloha? There could not possibly be that many people backpacking there. There are permit limits in Desolation Wilderness. Now if I had prayed for a spot, I am certain God would have saved me a space, but I was not expecting this to be an issue whatsoever. My mistake! What could I do? There was honestly no place at all I could park for an overnight trip. I figured I only had one other option: Start my hike from the Horsetail Falls trailhead.

The route from Horsetail Falls is shorter but it is MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. There is a lot more elevation gain. It is pretty much all off-trail hiking and it is very rocky. Compare that to starting from Echo Lakes, where most of the hike is on the very well groomed Pacific Crest Trail with minimal elevation gain. Let’s not forget that getting up to the top of Horsetail Falls is extremely sketchy and I would be doing it with a heavy backpack. I have done this 2 or 3 times in the past couple years, and am somewhat comfortable with the route now, but it still freaks me out. It is much more difficult with a backpack. There is the one very narrow section where you need to hoist yourself up and through. When I arrived at this spot, there were some backpackers coming down. They decided not to go down this narrow section but instead go down a MUCH sketchier section beside it. I cannot do that route (I have tried before). It freaks me to the bone. They were having a lot of trouble with it. There was one other backpacker coming down the narrow section, but it was too narrow to come down with his backpack on. He told me to go the sketchy route. Umm, no thank you. I managed to hoist myself up through the narrow section with my backpack on, but the next day coming down, I found it is impossible to do so with a backpack on (as this other person also learned), so I had to take it off and slide down, dragging my backpack behind me. It worked, but it was not easy.

Once at the top of Horsetail Falls the going is easier, but it is still all off-trail and very rocky. It is very slow going. It is also up hill, and so not really that easy. The wind was strong. Some gusts almost blew me off my feet (literally). You hope you are not on a sketchy cliff section when a strong gust comes. I arrived at Pyramid Lake at about noon and had my lunch there. I had hoped to be at camp by now and if I had started from Echo Lakes, I probably would have been.

The entire hike is incredibly beautiful, and the views are magnificent, but when I finally arrived at Lake Aloha, I was awestruck. It is such a stunningly beautiful lake (I have been to Lake Aloha before, but it has been many years). No wonder everyone wants to backpack here. I did not see anyone at all, however, after climbing up Horsetail Falls. Everyone would have been on the other side of the lake, but nonetheless, I prayed I would not see anyone at my camp and that I would have it all to myself.

Now I had to work my way up the west side of Lake Aloha to Waterfall Camp. I could see a waterfall in the distance. Was this my waterfall camp? No, it was a new and unexpected waterfall, and it seemed to drop right into the lake. Would I even be able to cross it? As it turned out, it was easy to cross, but then I reached the snow field. It was a big snow field and there was no way around it. Was it stable? Would I slide into the lake and drown? Would I posthole 10 feet through the snow and not be able to get out? I put on my spikes here. The snow was stable and crossing it was easy and safe. I did not really need the spikes today, but the next morning coming back it was icy and spikes were definitely required. I saw one set of boot tracks in the snow. Someone had already been to Waterfall Camp this year, and quite recently, probably the day before. It looked like they had gone back, so hopefully that meant no one was there today.

After the snow field, the rest of the route was relatively easy. The anticipation inside me was getting intense. I knew I was close. The hike along the lake was so beautiful, but it was about to get even better. As I rounded the last corner, Waterfall Camp finally came into view. Wow! There are no words to describe this place. There are five incredible waterfalls right at the camp, but there are actually more than this. Waterfalls are streaming down the cliffs above the camp in all directions. This is Rivendell. I was alone at Rivendell. I was … well, no words can describe how I felt.

Setting up my tent at Waterfall Camp proper proved to be impossible. The wind was intense. There are some tent pads, but they are on rock, so I could not get my tent stakes into the ground. If it was not windy, it would have been perfect with stunning views of the waterfalls and Lake Aloha, but there was no way to get my tent secure here. There was another spot just down from the waterfalls that was in the trees and more sheltered. It was beside a mini waterfall and I could see the upper falls from this camp, but no views of the lake. No matter. I was able to get my tent set up securely. I ate my dinner, then afterwards went to photograph all five of the main waterfalls. All of them were spectacular. I took my time. I was in Heaven. I was in Rivendell. I was in the Desolation Wilderness.

You may have heard that Squaw Valley Resort is now looking into changing its name. (along with a whole bunch of other companies). Why ??? Because the word “squaw” is derogatory, and they are now being immensely pressured into changing it. You may think this is a good thing, but I have mixed feelings. If they were an honorable company, they would have changed the name decades ago, when they first learned it was derogatory. Changing it now is just cowardly. This is just my opinion. Are they also going to change the name of the mountain? the valley? the road? the creek? the waterfall? No, not very likely. (I know Squaw Valley Resort has nothing to do with these other names, but the exact same thing applies to them as well – so why shouldn’t they have to be changed?). As an aside, the ski resort where I grew up in British Columbia had a trail named Squaw. They changed the name of it some years ago. It is a lot different in changing just a trail name than a company name, but it still took them quite some time before it got changed.

Anyway, by pure coincidence, guess where I went hiking this past weekend? Oh yes, Squaw Valley Resort, soon to be called … ? Madman Valley Resort. And I went hiking to Squaw Creek Falls, soon to be called … ? Squaw Creek Falls.

My goal was to try to get to the upper falls on Squaw Creek. It was a failure. I hiked up the Granite Chief trail. This is a very difficult trail. Even though it was a Saturday, I expected to see zero people on this trail (or maybe, just one or two). Nope, I saw tons of people. Over 50 for sure. There was one huge group of about 20 people coming down the trail (and NOT social distancing, I might add). It was all a bit annoying. I thought this trail would give me a lot of solitude because it is so difficult, and I wanted solitude.

I climbed 2100 ft. up the mountain. There was still snow up there. The high elevation took a lot out of me, and it was a struggle, but I made it. Unfortunately, there was no waterfall. It looked very promising on Google Earth, but in person, it was just a minor cascade, and not worthy to photograph. I decided I would try to get to the other one on Squaw Creek that I have not been to before. It took too long to climb up the mountain and now it was getting late, so I ran back down the mountain as much as I could. I have tried to get to this other waterfall before, but it was just too brushy. I thought I could possibly do it from the other side this time, but again it was just too brushy. I did get a view of it, but it was impossible to get up close to because of the brush.

Interestingly enough, there was a trail here. Instead of climbing back up to the Granite Chief trail, I thought I would just follow this trail. It should lead me back to the main trail on the other side of Squaw Creek, and save me a lot of time. And bonus, I should be able get to the lower falls on Squaw Creek before dark. It worked. Crossing Squaw Creek was a challenge, however. There was still a lot of strong flow in the creek, and most spots were impossible to cross, but finally I found some rocks that I could use to jump across the creek.  Easy.

I got down to the lower falls just before sunset, and took my photos. The day was not a complete bust after all, and I had a very pleasant hike at Madman Valley Resort.

I slept much better the second night. It was warmer for sure, but also I always sleep better on the second night of camping. The first night I can never sleep well, no matter what, even if I am very tired. I woke up at 5:30am (sunrise), packed up, ate my breakfast, drank my coffee, and started the big hike up the mountain. Goodbye North Fork American River. Until next year.

The hike starts out with a bang, the crossing of Big Granite Creek. I expected this crossing to be deadly cold first thing in the morning, but it wasn’t too bad at all. I took one more photo of the lower falls on the other side, then continued on up the hill.

There is just one more waterfall to see along the way. Little Granite Creek drops 60 ft. into the confluence of Big Granite Creek. It is a very pretty thing, sort of shaped like a heart. I love you NFAR. (sorry, couldn’t resist saying that).

I was certain the mosquitoes would be horrendous once the temperature warmed up, but really, they were not bad at all. This was an answer to my prayer. It would have been a horrible hike if the mosquitoes were bad (the elevation gain is bad enough). There were a few strange spots where they seemed to be more prominent, but mostly they were non-existent, and I did not need to put on any bug spray.

I was carrying more weight than I should have been for the hike back up. That is because I picked up some trash down at the river. In particular, a pair of old water shoes that probably weighed 2 pounds. They were obviously there for years, yet no one else ever bothered to carry them out. It is always me that has to do it. Why is this? I’ve been thinking about this recently. It seems to me there is a small percentage of the hiking community that are the a$$holes, that trash places and don’t give a crap. These people will continue to trash and there is nothing anyone can do about it. I would not even call them part of the hiking community because they should not be allowed to hike. Then there is an equally small percentage that care deeply about the wilderness (like myself), and will always pick up trash as much as possible. There are not enough of these people. The rest of the hiking community, the vast majority, may not litter and may leave no trace themselves (hopefully), but they will not or do not want to be bothered to pick up other peoples’ trash. If you are in this group, I urge you to please consider this, and help to clean up our trails. I honestly believe that if EVERYONE picked up just 3 pieces of trash on every hike, then all our trails would be completely clean in less than one year. I posted an appeal recently to a very large hiking group to do just this, and I was thoroughly disappointed in the response. It was only that very small percentage that responded (who are already doing it to begin with). Everyone needs to help out. It is so easy. Just 3 pieces. Let’s do this, people!

Anyhow, back to my hike: It was a killer hike, obviously: 3500 ft. elevation gain. I made good time, about 1000 ft. per hour. The last 500 ft., however, were particularly grueling, I was just so darn tired. I made it back to my car at about noon, ate my lunch in the car, and drove home. It was an amazing two nights on the North Fork American River, my favorite river in the world.

It was a very cold night. The temperature was supposed to be 39 degrees, but I suspect it was colder than that. I woke up early. I was planning to hike to Big Valley in the morning. I was hoping this would not be too difficult, but unfortunately it was worse. I thought it would be a simple walk along the river bed. Nope. It is only two miles. The first mile is great. There is a fantastic, easy to follow Forest Service trail. Then it just ends. Oh come on, Forest Service. Why would you end the trail here? After the trail ends, it becomes extremely brushy, extremely steep and extremely cliffy. I made a good attempt to get to Big Valley, scrambling for a couple hours along the dangerous cliffs, and through the extreme brush. Eventually, I ran out of time, and decided to go back. There is no point in going there if I cannot get good photos. Someday, I may try again.

When I got back to camp, it was noon. I was dead tired. There is no way I could hike back up the mountain, so I decided to stay the second night. There was one more waterfall I wanted to see in the evening, anyway. I hoped I could get to this one, but again, I was not sure.

I spent the afternoon at camp. I started a campfire to keep the mosquitoes at bay, I took a nap, and enjoyed the scenery. I saw an interesting thing on the other side of the river, high on the cliff, and barely seen in the far off distance. It was a cross. On the edge of a cliff. It was quite big, perhaps 50 to 100 ft. high. It was not anywhere near the trail on the other side, but right on the cliff. I thought it highly unlikely anyone could have put it there. My wife had various theories, ranging from rock climbers to Sasquatch to Aliens. Frankly, I think Sasquatch is probably most likely. Perhaps God put it there, just for me to see it. (apparently, it was put there by some people quite awhile ago – no idea why).

I saw a couple snakes. One was a garter snake in my camp. The second one freaked me out royally. I went to the river to get some water. As I bent down to scoop some up, I saw a snake swimming right for me, about a foot away. It was just a water snake, not a rattler, but boy did it scare me! I jumped two feet in the  air.

After dinner, I made the waterfall attempt. This requires multiple creek crossings of Big Granite Creek. Again, no possible way to do this any earlier in the year. The waterfall is hidden, tucked away in an incredible alcove with towering cliffs on each side. Access is blocked on both sides of the creek. The only way there is to cross the creek at the end of the waterfall pool, and at the top of a mini waterfall. The water was deep, and would have been up over my head I suspect, but there were big rocks in the creek to stand on. Just don’t slip off them, madman. After this little section, I had to continue across the top of the mini waterfall. Slowly and surely, but I made it. What an amazing location! The waterfall is drop dead gorgeous, about 60 ft. in height. The surrounding cliffs and pool are absolutely stunning. This is the Big Boy of the waterfalls at the confluence. I only know of one other person that has been here before. It is a hidden masterpiece.

After photographing the waterfall, I reluctantly went back to camp and to bed. It was a much warmer night.

Last year I attempted to get down to Big Granite Creek at the confluence with the North Fork American River and failed miserably. Four weeks ago I tried again, going down from Loch Leven Lakes, and failed miserably. (due to the trail being too brushy). Little did I know at the time, I would not have made it even if the trail was not brushy. This last weekend I tried it again, via a different route. And finally, success! Yet … I almost failed again.

I did not go up to Loch Leven Lakes, but started from a different point; it was a long and bumpy dirt road which seemed to take forever, but at least it was drivable. I finally made it to the trailhead. It was June 7 and the temperature was 31 degrees. There was snow in the forecast for the morning. Yes, you heard me correctly. It was cold, and yes it did indeed snow a little on my hike this morning. There was another couple going from here to Loch Leven at the same time (it was very early). We said our hellos and goodbyes, and then I was off and running in a different direction. It is a 3500 ft. descent in elevation down to the river. This is not for the faint of heart. This is the Big Game.

I missed the trail marker. I walked right by it and did not see it. (I only saw where I went wrong on my way back up). I have no idea how I could have missed it, as it was very obvious. The actual trail is right beside a clear cut area, which is what confused me. Nonetheless, I wandered around in the bush for a full hour trying to find the trail. I lost my blue foam sitting pad somewhere during the bushwhack. I was this close to giving up completely, and then I stumbled upon it. Salvation! What a relief. I really really did not want to have to turn around and go home.

Even though I finally found the trail, I was still very unsure how far I could go on it. I have heard it is overgrown and brushy, and on my attempt last year, that was my analysis also. Well, not so. The trail was in perfect condition the entire way down to the river. It is very steep, for certain. Otherwise, it was perfect. Again, I don’t know how I could have missed it on my trip last year. The trail is so obvious! I guess it is only obvious when you are on it. I saw a sign saying that the trail has been cleared by a motorized group. I do not know who or when, but I sincerely thank you, whoever has cleared this trail (it “should be” the Forest Service that maintains it). I honestly don’t know how anyone could ride a motor bike down this trail, however. It is so steep!

There are two crossings of Big Granite Creek. I expected them to be very easy, perhaps even rock-hoppable. Not so! In fact, the creek was just barely crossable. It was certainly do-able, but the water was up to my knees with a fairly strong pull. The second crossing down at the confluence was more difficult, and up to my thigh. The North Fork American River was flowing at about 380 cfs at the North Fork Dam. I think I could have crossed at a little bit more, perhaps 500, but probably not 600. Four weeks ago, it certainly would have been impossible, had I made it down this far. (so it’s a very good thing I could not find that trail four weeks ago).

There are no decent campsites on the east side of the creek at the confluence. That meant I had to cross Big Granite again. I was sort of expecting this, but was not sure. The reason the crossing at the confluence is more difficult is because Little Granite Creek joins up with Big Granite after the first crossing. On the west side, however, it is extremely rocky. I was definitely NOT expecting that. There was literally only one small spot to setup my tent. Well, it worked. It was 3PM. I setup camp, ate my dinner, and then set out to photograph the waterfall, which is found right at the confluence.

Big Granite Creek Falls is a beautiful 3 tiered waterfall, about 40 ft. high in total (only two tiers are shown in this photo – in case you are wondering – ha ha). I may have to rename it, however (story on that, tomorrow). In the evening, it started to rain. Thankfully, it did not rain too much and I had a very enjoyable evening.

But the best is yet to come … so stay tuned ….