Leon Turnbull Photography

Rain rain don’t go away. Stick around for a few more months and days! After a much too long dry spell, we finally have our first winter storm of the season. On Thanksgiving Day! Praise the Lord. I will have more to say about the rain at the end of the month. In the meantime, I was looking forward to going hiking on Thanksgiving Day in the rain.

Our family dinner was on Wednesday night (get it in early, right?) so I was free on Thanksgiving Day to go out. Thursday looks much better than Friday for weather, and I also have a big hike planned on Saturday. So for Thursday, I wanted something close by. It did not matter what, or if I had been there before. But there was only an inch of rain on Wednesday, so nothing would be flowing yet. Normally, in this situation, I would pick my yearly go to waterfall: American Canyon Creek Falls, but I did not really feel like going to that one this year. I decided to go up to East Fork Falls.

It was raining pretty good when I arrived at the trailhead. I was hoping it would let up by the time I got down to the river. There was supposed to be a bit of a break, but that never happened. It basically rained the entire hike, though it did let up briefly now and again.

Even though there was only an inch of rain thus far, the river was much higher than I expected it to be. It seemed to be crossable, but quite deep. In order to get up to the falls, you have to cross the river, and wade up to the waterfall. I anticipated this part to be very tricky in the higher water. It was much lower when I was here before (and not raining).

All the way down, I kept thinking I should turn back and do a hike somewhere else. Yet I kept going, and finally arrived down at the river soaking wet, and still raining hard. Now maybe I should give up. I did not want to wade up to the river in the rain, or try and take photographs in the rain. Nonetheless, I put on my water shoes and started up the river.

There is a little baby waterfall you have to get up and over. Last time, I just climbed right up beside it, but today it seemed a little too strong to do that, so I had to climb up and around on the hillside, which was quite tricky with dangerous dropoffs, and the ground (of course) was wet and slick. I used my rope for safety. I got back down to the river above the little falls, then crossed over to the other side, and started up river to the waterfall. It was quite deep in places, but I made it. The last section requires wading through a deep pool and then climbing up (or jumping up) on a rock to finally view the waterfall. It is an amazing and very special place, and the falls were rockin strong. It was spectacular. I’m not happy with my photos, it is very difficult to photograph in the rain, and I was not properly prepared, which I should have been, but it is my first rainy hike of the season, so that is my excuse.

Anyhow, I would have liked to stay here much longer, but right after taking photos, the rain really started to come down. I still had to cross back over the river, and down that difficult slope, and then back up the mountain and through all the wet brush. It was time to get out of there. Once back up to the road, I did not mind hiking in the rain. Bring it on. It is just a bit too wet and uncomfortable when you are in the brush and off trail. I was a wet sloppy dog by the time I got back to the car. It was a very fun and very wet hike on the first rainy day of the season.

I honestly did not think I could get to this waterfall.

This is the same waterfall you see in my photo from last week, from a mile away. I determined to return to it this week, and try to get up close to the upper two drops on this river. I said I was going to wait until spring, but after examining the maps, I realized the only possible way to get to these falls would be to cross the river. No way that would be happening in the spring. It is go now or go bust.

I came down to the river crossing. The crossing looked very easy, thankfully. From a mile away, it is hard to determine how strong the river is flowing. However … it is daunting to look up above you and see a huge dam. They could release water at any moment. If I am on the wrong side of the river when that happens, I am skumped with no exit point. Do not release! Please! Well, I figured that on a Saturday afternoon in late Fall with no rain yet, it would be a safe bet to make the crossing.

On the other side, the route becomes extremely brushy. It is no cake walk. I came down to the upper falls, which was a bit smaller than I hoped, 21 ft. high (a generous measurement). I took some photos of it and continued on to the next one, the one I did not think I would be able to get down to. I came to the brink of the waterfall, but it was too steep to drop down from the brink. That meant I had to head up the canyon and find an easier way to drop down. The problem is, the brush! It was thick and nasty. I have quit hiking over less brush than this. But I was right there! I could see the falls! I had to find a way through this schmuck. I found a way. My legs were scratched up all the way from here to kingdom come, but I found a way through it. After this, it was a pretty easy descent down to the bottom of the falls, but the granite rock was slick, so I had to be careful. If it was wet, I would be sliding right into the river.

What a fun little waterfall! And so very pretty! I measured it 27 ft. high, but it seemed much bigger than that to my eye. I enjoyed it here very much, taking many photos. Then I headed back up quickly before they decided to release from the dam, arriving back at my car just before dark. It was a grand adventure at Bear River Reservoir.

So as you all know, more wildfires recently started in California. In particular, the Camp Fire ravaged through and destroyed the town of Paradise and surrounding area. Many homes were lost, including homes of people I know. Some lives were lost as well. I hike up in this area often. It is close to home. I’m not going to say much more but I feel this fire should not have happened. Most likely it was caused by PG&E power lines, which is also likely how the Napa fires were started last year (though neither is officially determined). Such unnecessary devastation in my view.

Anyhow, this past weekend I went on another scouting expedition in search of waterfalls that I will return to in the spring. The first one I found, the creek was pretty much completely dry. I was surprised by this. All the large creeks I have seen this Fall have still been flowing decent; this was a large creek, and yet this one was dry. I did find a waterfall here, but I did not take photos. Thankfully, it was very easy to get to, so I will definitely return in the spring.

The second one I went to was much more difficult to reach. The canyon below Lower Bear River Reservoir is incredible. Getting down to see it is more incredible, and even more difficult. The cliffs here are totally extreme and wild. I found a view of the waterfalls and canyon after much trepidation and fear, standing on the edge of a sheer dropoff of hundreds of feet. I had thought this would be one big waterfall, but it seemed more like a series of smaller waterfalls. I saw 3 or 4 drops with a big space in between each of them. So from far off, as I was, it was not as impressive as I anticipated. Nonetheless, in the spring, with the river raging, it might seem more like one big slide and much more striking. Thus I think that I will return. However, I may try a different route next time. I think I might be able to get up close to the first waterfall and (perhaps) the second waterfall (not the third and fourth – as those are way too steep). I will definitely try that, maybe even sooner than later.

This is the main Haypress Creek Falls, 32 ft. high. As you can see, it is a bit difficult to view it as the upper part is wrapped around a corner and out of sight. There is no better viewpoint of this one, nonetheless it is still an interesting spot. I think it would be much better at high flows, but then you would not be able to cross the creek, which I had to do to get to this location. The creek was extremely cold and my feet were numb, but otherwise it was not difficult to cross. It was a fun, short hike.

I do not like the drive from Nevada City to Downieville/Sierra City. It is just very long and very windy and very slow. I can get car sick even though I am the driver! Normally, I would go there maybe once per year, and I was not planning to go there this year until the rains started again. I still have quite a few waterfalls in that area that I want to see, and I figured it would be pointless to go now before the rains started. Or would it?

Upon further review, and thanks to waterfallwest friend Jeremy, I changed my mind about going to Sierra City. I decided I must go right now.

Haypress Creek Falls is a waterfall I had not been to yet, and it has been on my list for a long time. The creek was still flowing quite nicely too, and when I thought about it, I realized that I may have to cross the creek or get in the middle of it to see the falls, and once the rains start, that would be impossible. So actually, this would be a good and proper time to visit this waterfall.

I arrived at the trailhead at sunrise after a long drive at an awful hour or two of the morning, and I began my hike up to the falls. It is a quick hike, but then you need to descend the cliffs to get down to the waterfall. I only tried this once before and there was snow on the ground. It was far too sketchy to get down that day. Today, however, no snow. No rain. The ground was dry. It was very steep, with a couple severe dropoffs, but I did not need to use my rope to get down to creek level. Not too shabby, madman. Once I got down, I quickly realized that indeed I would need to cross the creek to see the falls, so I donned my water shoes and crossed the extremely cold but not too swift or deep water. Once on the other side I glanced up at the waterfall. What?

This was NOT the same waterfall that Jeremy had posted, though this was the main Haypress Creek Falls for certain. I realized there must be a second waterfall further downstream, though really I had no idea exactly where it would be. I took photos of this main falls, taking my time to warm up my numb toes, then I climbed back up the steep hill. I decided that I would explore downstream and try to find this other waterfall, though the light would most certainly be bad by the time I got to it.

The lower falls is shown here. The light was still good when I arrived, and it was actually not very difficult to find or get to. It is also much prettier than the upper falls, and that is why I am posting the lower falls first. I will post the upper falls next. They are both about the same height (30 ft. lower, 32 ft. upper), but definitely the lower falls is much nicer and as I said, much easier to get to. It is very gorgeous and I was so happy finding this second and very unexpected waterfall. It was a magnificent day in Sierra City.