Leon Turnbull Photography

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.

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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.

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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.

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Many years ago someone told me about a waterfall on the North Fork Cosumnes River, but he was extremely vague about its location. Nonetheless, at that time, I went down to explore the area where he had told me to go, and searched the river up and down and found nothing, except for a 5 foot high falls. I figured that was all she wrote, as has happened often before when people tell me about waterfalls which are not waterfalls at all. A 5 foot drop is not a waterfall people! Indeed, my wife just recently showed me a picture of a little so-called waterfall where she took a photo of our daughter. It is a beautiful photo, but it is not a waterfall! Yet she insisted it was.

Well, fast forward to this summer. As I explored Google Earth during the off season, as I always do, I discovered what seemed to be a potentially big waterfall drop on the same river. I decided to check it out. This would be a scouting mission for the spring, because I was not expecting the waterfall to be flowing too much in mid October. As it happens, it was very close to where my friend had told me about many years before. Could this be what he was referring to after all? I suppose it is possible, but I am thinking not. This waterfall was extremely well hidden, with very difficult and cliffy access. It was no cakewalk, and I saw no evidence that people were ever down here before. I only saw a bear trail along the cliff side (and why they would be going down here, I have absolutely no idea).

I tried to get here last week but failed miserably. It was pretty easy to get to the top of the waterfall, but you cannot view the falls from there. I tried to get to the bottom, but there was no way. There was a cliff ledge on the other side of the river across from the falls. If I could get there, then maybe, just maybe, I could view the waterfall, but crossing the river at the top of the falls was not an option. It was not because of the flow in the river, but because of the cliffs on the other side. This is one crazy location. The waterfall is tucked in between these cliffs on both sides of the river, and it was not going to give up its views very easily. The only possibility I saw was to approach it from the top, on the other side. I would have to come back another day to try that, but I did not have much hope. It looked extremely steep and cliffy.

I tried again the next week. No surprise, the descent from the other side was crazy steep. The drop-offs were severe. The waterfall, as I said, is extremely well hidden, especially from this other side. You cannot see the falls, or even see where it is located. I could not see the cliff ledge that I wanted to get to either, as it is also hidden. I definitely did not want to approach the river above or below the waterfall because I would be cliffed out and then have to backtrack. As I got closer to the river, I finally saw some clues to where I should be, and then finally got a view of that hidden ledge. I used my rope to be safe, and lo and behold, and shockingly, I found a way down onto that cliff ledge. From there, I was looking down on the waterfall, and I could see the entire drop, a beautiful 47 ft. high falls in two tiers. I was standing on the very edge of the cliff to get this view. What a sweet view. Now THIS is a waterfall. I will definitely be returning here in the spring when the river is much higher.

 

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It is summer. Hot, muggy, mosquitoes, and now smoke from fires. It must be California.

It also means it is time for my annual trip to Horsetail Falls. Horsetail is the only waterfall around here that flows well late in the summer. There are not many mosquitoes here either. And it was warm but not overly hot up in the mountains. That just leaves the smoke, but surprisingly, when I arrived at the trail head it was not that smoky at all. There was a bit of haze but not too bad at all.

It was Friday. I left after work. The traffic was horrendous. There was a truck along the highway that was completely incinerated. Traffic was backed up for miles. Fortunately, the firefighters got the fire out. This is somewhat similar to how the Carr fire got started. I almost turned back because of the traffic but I continued on.

So I arrived at the trail head later than I hoped, but I did not rush on the hike because I was taking a video along the way. There was no one on the trail, which is the nice thing about coming on Friday evening. I got up to the bottom of the lower Falls at about 6:45. The waterfall was flowing quite a bit better than I expected it to be. I took some quick photos and decided how I would accomplish my next feat.

I have been up to the top of Horsetail Falls a number of times of course, but the last two or three times I have had to turn back. There is one very steep and slick section just above the lower waterfall. It is freaky. I think that in my old age it has just psyched me out too much. All you young bucks have no trouble I’m sure. Anyhow, this time around I managed to squeeze and squeeze and wedge myself up through a crack to get on top of the ledge above the slick granite. I made it! I was in shock because I was not expecting to make it up. I wondered what I should do next. This was a big major mental obstacle for me to overcome. Now I am confident I can do the same thing again in the future. I was feeling ecstatic.

The thing I wanted to do next is get over to the bottom of the upper tier of Horsetail Falls. I have never been to the spot before and have wanted to do it for quite a while. Once above that slick ledge, it was pretty easy-going. There were a few big rocks to walk over and some brush to go through but I made it over to the base of the huge cascade. So Awesome!

It was now very late in the day. I had very little time to take photos and video and get back down the mountain, and I did not want to go back down that ledge in the dark. Thus I did not spend much time here at the upper tier, not nearly as much as I wanted to, but I took my photos and left. Going down that ledge is much easier than going up.

It was after sunset when I got to the bottom of the lower Falls. I still had to hike down to the trail head which is another 45 minutes. The entire hike was in the dark. But I did not mind, I had my headlamp, and it was an awesome experience at the Falls today.

Even with my headlamp, it was very difficult to make out the trail because there were particles in the air making it hard to see. I don’t know if it was just dust, or smoke particles. I think it was the latter, but as I said the smoke was not bad at all. Thus it was not surprising when I tripped over a root (or ruut as Americans “think” that Canadians say) and landed in the dirt. No harm done, just a dirty leg. All in all, totally worth it for this short hike to Horsetail Falls in the Desolation Wilderness.

 

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