Leon Turnbull Photography

Before we move on to the Ireland part of my overseas trip, let’s take a break and go back to my favorite area in the world: The North Fork American River. I have not been idle since I got back from the U.K., and indeed will not be idle in the near future. This is the best time of the year in California. The snow is melting, the waterfalls are raging, and the mosquitoes are not out yet. Since it is a big snow year, you know I will be out there enjoying it. How about you? By the way I still have tons of Scotland waterfall photos to process as well!

I first heard about these big waterfalls on Big Granite Creek thirteen years ago. Yes, that is correct. Thirteen years ago I started planning (or thinking about) this trip. It took me that long to get there. It was one of the most grueling and strenuous hikes I have ever done, and I am already planning a return trip. It was so incredibly amazing.

In 2006, the late Russell Towle and waterfallswest friend the Gambolin Man (Tom McGuire) came here. Tom almost died (literally) crossing the creek at the top of the waterfalls. You can read about their adventure if you do an internet search. When they were here, the flow in the North Fork American was at about 1800 cfs at the North Fork Dam. This past weekend the flow was about 50% higher than that (around 2500 to 2800 cfs). My best guess estimate was that Big Granite Creek itself would have a flow of at least 200 cfs. I think in actuality that it was quite a bit higher than this (at least 300 cfs). You do the math. Crossing Big Granite Creek would be out of the question. And yet … to get here you MUST cross Big Granite Creek. Was I foolish or suicidal or both to try the hike this weekend?

My 13 year plan in the making was to *NOT* go the same route they did. Obviously, I could not go the same route they did. I was hiking earlier in the year because of a couple big reasons: I would like to see the waterfalls at a bit higher flow. Also, and more importantly, I thought that with snow still on the ground, it would be easier to hike because the route is so very brushy. There is no trail. With snow covering up the brush, it should be easier. In retrospect, I think I picked the most perfect time to go. If there was any more snow, I don’t think I would have made it. But that creek crossing!

There was 5-10 feet of snow on the ground when I began the hike, climbing up to about 6900 ft. in elevation. The snow was very hard packed. I did not need my snow shoes, yet I carried them up anyway. I anticipated needing them, and indeed I would need them. My pack was much heavier than usual for this hike. I was carrying about 8 pounds of extra gear that I would normally not carry, but I expected that I would need all this gear: snowshoes, water shoes for the creek crossing, rope, and extra food. I thought I was prepared enough, but should have brought more, and this is one of the reasons I want to go back.

When I got to the top of the mountain, you need to descend down the other side. It is a 1900 ft. drop in elevation down to the waterfalls. It is a very steep descent in some places. I came to the first steep part, and I realized I would need to put on my snow shoes. I should have had my micro spikes! I left my spikes at home, thinking snowshoes would be good enough, but spikes would have been better. However, on the return trip the next day the snow was much softer. Snowshoes were much better in that situation. I should have had both. I was very careful on this first section of the descent with my snowshoes. Plant one foot solidly in the snow at a time. I made it down the steep section. My snowshoes broke. Well, not exactly. The binding on one of the shoes was hanging on by a thread. If it broke off, I would be screwed enormously. Would it hang together until I got home the next day? (it did, thankfully).

I continued on. I came to the end of a little (still frozen) lake at which I needed to cross the outlet stream. There were steep snow dropoffs on both sides of the creek. It was with great difficulty and after much scouting, when I finally found a way across. On the other side, I needed to climb up the side of a steep cornice. This was very hairy. Again, spikes would have been better than snowshoes. I almost turned back at this point. Not because of the cornice or stream crossing, but because I knew things were about to get much worse. There were going to be two more very steep and probably cliffy descents, much worse than the first one (when I first put on the snowshoes). I was almost certain that it would be far too treacherous to go down these in my snowshoes. I decided to just continue on to the top of the cliffs, and see what it was like. And then….

The snow disappeared! Now that I was on the south side of the mountain, the snow was all melted. I was able to walk down the cliffy sections in my hiking boots. It is a good thing too, because I certainly would not have been able to go down if there was snow, but with no snow it was very easy. This was a huge blessing, and an unexpected one, because I thought there would still be a lot of snow at this point. I carried my snowshoes all the way to the bottom. It would have been nice to leave them at the top, but there was no good obvious place to do so, and I thought I still might need them further down. As I got to the bottom, I was still not confident I was going to make it all the way to the waterfalls. That creek crossing!

This is where I planned to cross Big Granite Creek. I was a few miles upstream of the big waterfalls, and somewhat near (but not precisely near) the creek source. I did not even get my feet wet! It was simple to just rock hop across the creek. Easy smeasy!

After crossing this creek way up near the source, my plan was to just follow it all the way down to the waterfalls. At first it was pretty easy. There was even snow down along the creek, and since it was hard packed it was easy (easier) to just walk on top of it. I had left my snowshoes at the creek crossing. I would not need them anymore. And then …

When I came to the first of the waterfalls, things became much more difficult. It became extremely brushy. I am not referring to the big waterfalls, but there are a couple others much further upstream. I knew about these waterfalls and I planned to photograph them – which I did (these are new discoveries, and were not seen by Towle/McGuire). It looked easy enough on Google Earth to get around them, however they were NOT easy to get around whatsoever. Once again, I almost turned around here. I could not figure out how to get by the waterfalls. It was just far too brushy, and I was also well past my physical limits. It is only a 6 mile hike one way. It took 8 hours to hike this 6 miles (each way). That is over 1 hour for each mile. It was grueling, and I was absolutely exhausted. I was going to just find a spot to camp along the creek somewhere (but it was so brushy, I did not even see any possible campsites).

So in fact, I actually did turn around and start heading back upstream to find a campsite. I took one last look back over my shoulder. Wait! Is that an opening through the brush? I may as well go check it out. It was an opening indeed. Right around this point, I saw two bears, the first two I have seen this year so far. They looked to be juveniles, perhaps brother and sister, and when they saw me they ran away from me, leading me on the path through that brush. Thank you, my friends. And they were my friends. All bears are my friends: I LOVE seeing bears in the wilderness. We were way high above the creek, but there was a good opening through all that brush. I then had to drop back down to the creek, away from the bears, and down to the bottom of the waterfalls, a couple hundred feet down. I got down, but still there was no place to make camp.

I continued downstream, looking for a campsite. It was still very brushy down here and difficult hiking. I finally found a decent place. There was not much room for the tent because it was very rocky, but it was a nice open area near the creek. It would do for me.

At 5PM, after dinner, I went downstream to see the big waterfalls. Big Granite Creek was absolutely raging, and as I knew, there would be no way to cross if I came the Towle/McGuire route. Now for the crazy part …

I came to the first big waterfall. I knew it was a dangerous and tricky descent to get down. This is why I brought my rope. If your name is Russell Towle, you may have no need of a silly rope, but for me, I always play it safe. I did not know if I would need the rope, but I did need it, and I did use it. I do not think I would have tried it without, but with a rope, it was not too horrible getting down.

This first big drop on Big Granite Creek (shown here) is my favorite.  It is absolutely spectacular, about 150 ft. high, and just so incredibly powerful and magnificent. Below this, there are more big drops. I needed more rope to descend down the next sections. You can also see the tall and majestic West Snow Mountain Falls free falling into the main channel. It is an overpowering experience being at this location. You can see why I am already planning the return.

 

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After last weekend’s tick disaster, I said I would only be hiking at higher elevations for the rest of the year. I figured I should go between 4000 and 5000 ft. in elevation this weekend. I found one possible hike I could do, so I set out in search of gold (and a new waterfall).

Starting at 5400 ft., I was surprised there was still so much snow on the ground. CNRFC said there was no snow here, but indeed there was snow, and I found up to two feet, even more in some places as I hiked down the forest road. There was snow all the way down to the waterfall, which was 1000 ft. in elevation lower than I started. I did not use my snow shoes, but I probably could have used them, as I was sinking in some spots. But overall, it was pretty solid snow. The hike was good.

It was also mostly easy, though I took a wrong turn which made it a bit harder than it should have been. I finally arrived at the creek, where I was expecting to find a waterfall about 100 ft. high. That is what I was hoping for. Actually, I did not even know if there would be any waterfall here at all. However, instead of a 100 ft. high waterfall, I found a 20 ft. high waterfall. I measured it precisely 20 ft.  (though it did seem a bit bigger than this as I stood in front of it). There was just the one decent drop on this creek, and below this there was a bit of a cascade, but nothing very interesting. It was tricky and steep to get up to it, but you can stand right in front of the falls and enjoy the spray. Speaking of spray there was a lot of it, so taking photos from in front was impossible; I climbed up the bank to get a side angle shot of the falls.

You may think it was just a big waste of time to drive and hike all the way out here for a 20 ft. waterfall. I suppose if I had known it was only 20 ft. high, I would have gone somewhere else. Nonetheless, I had a very enjoyable hike. The weather was perfect. The hike was not too difficult. There was still snow on the ground. The creeks were flowing well. I found a pretty little waterfall. I had an absolutely awesome day in Eldorado National Forest.

However, if you want big waterfalls, stay tuned to this channel. The next one I plan to see will be over 400 ft. high, and I know that for certain. And you will not be able to guess which one it is…

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As of Apr 1, here are the final season numbers: Rain is at 132% of average for Northern CA, 127% (central Sierra), and 129% (southern Sierra). Snow pack is at 164% of average for Northern CA, 164% (central), and 155% (southern). This is terrific news for California! The final numbers are probably most similar to 2011, and not as big as 2017. Now that spring is here, I am definitely OK with people wanting the rain to end and spring to start. In fact, I would like to see that as well (are you surprised?). However, the rain is continuing to fall as we go into April. We are not seeing any more big storms, but nonetheless, we are still seeing very unsettled weather with many showers and rain and it looks like that will continue through mid month.

This past weekend, I tried to go on an early season backpacking trip down to my favorite river, the North Fork American. It was a nightmare on NFAR St.

My plan was to hike down the Mumford Bar trail to the river and along the American River Trail to New York Canyon. It would have been glorious. I tried this a couple years ago, and the trail was so horribly overgrown, I could not make it even anywhere close to Beacroft Falls. However, I heard that the forest service has now cleared this trail, and I wanted to try it again. So ..

This time around, it was much earlier in the year, so I had to start hiking from China Wall. This added 3 miles (one way) to the hike. There was 3-4 feet of snow on the ground. The first 3 miles is on the road, and it was packed down because it is popular for snowmobile riding in the winter. I did not need my snowshoes for this section, however, once I got to Mumford Bar trail head, snow shoes were required. The snow was deep, and not hard packed. I would not have made it more than a hundred feet down that trail without them.

This trail is a huge descent, 2700 ft. elevation loss in about 3.5 miles. The first 1100 feet were in the snow, so this made the hike extra difficult, and it took a long time. There were a couple very sketchy spots as well, where I had to cross a couple seasonal creek drainages. It was quite steep with big drop-offs from the snow bank down to the creek, and very unstable snow at the edge of the creek. If the snow bank collapsed on me, I would have a very big fall. I looked for a different way down to find a more stable option without any big drop-offs. It was difficult, but I found ways around these sections, and continued on. At 4300 ft. elevation, the snow was finally gone, and I ditched my snowshoes beside the trail, hoping they would still be there the next day when I came back up.

For this hike, I did something a bit different, wearing trail runners instead of hiking boots. This is the first major hike I have worn trail runners. (actually, it is the first hike, period). The reason I did this is because I knew there would be a number of creek crossings plus hiking in the snow, and I did not want to have to carry water shoes because I am trying to cut down on my backpack weight. Overall, wearing trail runners worked out fine, except for one thing: I kept rolling my ankles. In hiking boots, I am sure this would not have happened at all. I did not hurt my ankle on this trip, but it worries me for the future, because I was out of commission for 6 months a few years ago when I severely twisted my ankle on a hike.

By the time I got to Mumford Bar, it was much later than I wanted. I still had a long way to go to New York Canyon. I did not think I had enough time now, but I would re-evaluate once I got to Beacroft. The trail to Beacroft Falls is now cleared, and easy to follow. There were still a lot of downed trees to climb over. These could have been from the last winter or two, after the trail was cleared by the forest service. HOWEVER … I had a bigger problem …

THE TICKS ….

WERE ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS ….

The section from Mumford Bar (a little before that) to Beacroft was unbearably tick infested. It was the WORST TICK EXPERIENCE I have ever had in my life. I was initially going to say it was the second worst experience (after Canyon Creek), but I changed my mind. It was the worst experience, and the reason I say worst is because once I got home I found out that I had about 4 or 5 small tick bites on my body. I had thought I escaped with no bites. Nopity nope. Nope nope nope. I had to pluck over 100 little buggers off my body on this section to Beacroft, stopping every few minutes to check my legs and body. It seems they were all over the ground, also, which is very unusual. They must have been hanging on very low brushes, because they seemed to get on my shoes as I walked along, and then climb up my legs from there.

By the time I got to Beacroft I was completely done with this hike. There is no way I could continue another 5 miles to New York in this infested terrain (and the trail was much more overgrown after Beacroft, so it would be even worse). I decided to camp at Beacroft instead, but one problem: there is no camping area here at all! Any flat ground I saw was not cleared of brush, and hence was infested with ticks! There is absolutely no way I was camping here amongst so many ticks. That would be very stupid indeed. I needed an open area, and there was none. I thought about going back to Mumford Bar. I did not want to, but it seemed I had no choice. Finally, I found one very small spot by the river. It was quite rocky, but there was one small place I could set up my tent. It was not too great, but there were no ticks there, and it would have to do.

After setting up and eating dinner, I wanted to go down to see Beacroft Falls. I was here in 2003, and I did not get a very good photo of it at that time, so it would be a nice consolation being able to get a good photo of Beacroft Falls. When I was here 16 years ago, it was very easy to get down to the waterfall. Now it is IMPOSSIBLE! Believe me, I tried. I gave it my very best effort. Even though the Forest Service cleared the trail to Beacroft, they did not clear any brush off trail (ie. down to the river or falls). Never mind the ticks, the area along the river around Beacroft Falls is completely overgrown and access to the river is literally impossible. Think of the worst brush you have ever encountered in your life. Multiply that by 1000. The brush at Beacroft is even worse than that. You think I am exaggerating but I assure you I am not. I could not get down to the waterfall. More disappointment. The photo here is taken from just off the trail from quite a distance away. It was the only view I could find. As you can see it is not a big waterfall, only about 15 ft. or so high. It is not a bad view, but would have been much better from close up.

I slept pretty well down by the river in my tiny little spot. I got up fairly early and packed up. I wanted to get back to Mumford Bar before the ticks woke up. Maybe they would be sleeping in. Well, that did not really work out too well. I still got plenty of ticks on me on the way back to Mumford, but I suppose they were not nearly as active as they were the previous afternoon.

I rested at Mumford Bar trying to prepare myself for the big climb ahead of me. I found my snow shoes right where I left them. The last 1100 feet climbing up in the snow was very tough. In particular, the difficult section where I had to cross the seasonal creeks was a lot more sketchy on this day because the snow was a lot softer. I had to be really careful on each step. It could have been disastrous if I slid down the soft snow. The last 3 miles on the road back to the car was also a lot tougher because the snow was so much softer. I was so tired when I got back to the car. It was time to drive home, eat pizza (thanks Tara), and sleep.

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It did not get down to freezing in the night, but it was cold, so I was actually glad I had both sleeping bags. I was very warm in my tent. I got up at sunrise, and went out into the cold. It was not really very cold, though. As I said, it was much colder at Llewellyn Falls in September. It was a very pleasant morning, I made breakfast and had some coffee, then packed up.

Instead of going back up the mountain the same way, I headed up the creek. There are two more waterfalls upstream from the big drop on Eleanor Creek, both of them are pretty nice, and access is much easier, so I was very glad to see them.

It took 3 hours to get back to Frog Creek in only 2 miles. The climb back up the mountain was killer. It was after 12PM when I got there. I had lunch and filtered water. I still had 9 miles to hike back to the car. At least it was all on trail now, but it was a long slog back. The last couple miles of road walking back to the dam at Cherry Lake is particularly painful (because you just want the hike to be over!). I finally got back to the car at 4PM. It was another 7 hour hiking day. I lost 3 pounds of weight on this trip, and that is after the huge pizza dinner I ate at Pizza Factory in Groveland. It was a fantastic trip into the Yosemite Wilderness just before Christmas.

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Twas the night before the night before the night before Christmas, when all through the national park, not a creature was stirring, not even a park ranger. The waterfalls were flowing by the lake with care, in hopes that the madman soon would be there.

And he was!

Yes, I was off to Yosemite National Park on the morning of the government shutdown for a one night winter backpacking adventure. I had my permit, and I was allowed to enter into the park. It was only a partial shutdown, and I would be walking into the national park from Cherry Lake. I would be hiking to Lake Eleanor, but not just anywhere at Lake Eleanor, I would be hiking to the very far end of the lake. It was going to be extremely difficult, and I was expecting snow and winter conditions, so my pack was much heavier than normal.

When I picked up my permit in the morning, I find it interesting to see who else is backpacking at the same time. There was one other permit there for someone hiking in the next day for 2 nights. Here’s the thing: there was a big winter storm coming in! Did he not know this? Even more interesting than this, however, is that I saw him! He was just starting out at the trailhead when I was finishing. This was 4PM on Sunday, only 45 minutes before sunset. He only had 3 miles to hike, but he would be arriving at his destination after dark for certain. I asked him if he knew there was a winter storm coming? He replied “there is? Well, I do have a rain fly”. He seemed a bit clueless and unprepared for a winter storm. I mean, if you are going backpacking, how do you not know what the weather conditions are going to be? In 2018, I went on 9 backpacking trips, and had zero days of rain. In 2017, I only had one day with an afternoon thunderstorm, no other rain on any of my trips. Is this just good luck? Or good planning? I think it is both, actually. I watch the weather very closely, and pick the best days to go backpacking. I may change my planned dates if the weather is not looking good. I just think backpacking is a lot more fun if you do not have to deal with a lot of rain. For this trip, I knew there was only a 10 percent chance of rain for the weekend. In fact, I was expecting a bit of a shower for the hike back out on Sunday, but that did not even happen.

I was expecting cold weather, though, and snow on the ground. That did not happen either, but I wanted it. You see, I have an idea for a winter backpacking trip in the near future, but it is a very hardcore trip, and I have not backpacked in the winter before. I wanted a first trip to ease into something that would be incredibly difficult. According to CNRFC, there was snow at Lake Eleanor, and the temperature would be about freezing at night. Well there was no snow, and although it was cold at night, it was not even close to freezing. It was colder at Llewellyn Falls in September. Thus, I did not really get the winter experience I was hoping for. I had brought my new Thermarest Neo Air X Therm winter sleeping pad, and I brought both my sleeping bags, tucked inside each other at night. That was a bit overkill I think, and added an extra 2 pounds, but if it was as cold as expected, I think it would have been needed.

It was a great trip nonetheless, and also extremely difficult. There is an easy trail from Cherry Lake to Frog Creek at Lake Eleanor. It is a long hike, about 9 miles. I started hiking at 9AM, arriving at Frog Creek about 1PM. From there, no more trails. I crossed the creek, and went up to Frog Creek Falls, a very lovely 30 ft. cascade. After this, I wanted to hike to the end of Lake Eleanor where there is a very large waterfall (in fact, you can see it from the trail along Lake Eleanor). I planned to camp somewhere along the creek above the falls. Getting down to the waterfall, though, was going to be a challenge. The cliffs are huge at the end of the lake, and I did not think I would even get to see the waterfall at all from up close. It was very tiring just getting to the end of the lake. You need to climb way high up above the cliffs, then back down to the creek. It is only 1.5 miles, but it took almost 3 hours. I finally arrived at my camp, a nice spot along the creek, at 3:45PM, just one hour before sunset.

I dropped my pack and headed straight down to the waterfall. It is not easy getting down to it. At the brink of the falls, it is extremely steep and cliffy, but amazingly I found a view of the waterfall from the side. It is not a great one, but I was pretty happy to get even this view. I was not expecting anything. However, I could not get any further down. It was just too cliffy. It was now very late, and I just had time to take some photos and get back up to camp.

I was almost back to camp when I realized that I forgot my Inreach device back at the waterfall viewpoint. Ugh! So stupid, madman! I had to go all the way back down to retrieve it. By the time I got back to camp, it was after sunset. I set up my tent in the dark. I was extremely tired. I had been hiking basically non stop for 8 hours. It was now dark and cold, and I did not feel like cooking my dinner, so I had a snack and hopped into bed. It was early, but I was so tired. I tried to watch a movie on my phone, but I was too tired even for that. Time to sleep!

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