Leon Turnbull Photography

My sleeping bag zipper busted in the middle of the night. Toasted. Kaput. The temperature was less than 40 degrees and I had no sleeping bag. Well thankfully I had my sleeping bag liner with me and I put the useless sleeping bag over me like a blanket so I was not cold. Now for my trip next week I am going to have to use my summer sleeping bag (hint: it is not summer).

I wanted to sleep in a bit but I was awake at 6AM anyway. I made breakfast and coffee, took some more photos of the waterfall and was on the trail by 7:15AM.

I did not see any animals on this trip but I did see quite a few animal tracks in the snow: bear, coyote, and some absolutely huge cat prints that could only be from a mountain lion. All the tracks were fresh. So where did that mountain lion go? He is probably watching me from somewhere close by. Hmmm …. lunch time …

On the road back to where I was parked I came across an interesting sight: a big truck was stuck in the snow. You would not think that someone with such a big truck could get stuck but there it was. They had already tried pushing it out to no avail so I could be of no help to him but thankfully his friend was already on his way to rescue him. I continued on my merry way and arrived back at my car a short while later. Maybe it was a good thing I did not attempt to get past that snow patch the previous day. It was a fabulous couple days in the Desolation Wilderness.

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I have been to Crystal Basin Falls before but I always wanted to return at peak flow in spring and camp here as well. I envisioned it being very spectacular in spring. I put it on my list to do this year.

The timing for my vision was critical and after checking the snow maps and satellite images I thought this weekend might be one or two weeks too early. However, the next couple weeks would not be possible for me so I decided to go now. There would likely still be a lot of snow here but it still should be good.

The road to Wrights Lake on Highway 50 was still closed and gated (at least, that is what the website indicated) so my idea was to go from Ice House Reservoir. It is 10 miles to Wrights Lake from there and there would be snow but I figured I would drive as far as possible and hike the rest of the way. I hoped to drive at least 3 miles on the road. I drove 5 miles before I hit the first snow bump on the road and decided to park here. I think I could have driven a little further but I wanted to get in a decent hike. It would be 5 miles on the road plus 3 miles on the trail to Crystal Basin Falls. It would be a fairly easy hike which I certainly needed after the huge one I did in Yosemite last week.

Wrights Lake was closed in the summer for the Caldor Fire which raged through here. You might expect the entire lake to be burned but in fact there was no burn through this area at all. It was as beautiful as always. That is a good thing for sure. I did see badly burned areas along the American River canyon (highway 50) but nothing in Ice House or Wrights Lake area.

I reached the trailhead for the Rockbound Trail. This is where I expected things to get very difficult with the trail being very snowy and very muddy. Instead I found the trail to be almost all clear and very easy. This was shocking. The snow must have all melted off in just one week. Now I am thinking I was not 1 or 2 weeks too early but perhaps 1 week too late.

I arrived easily at Crystal Basin Falls at about 12:30PM. The waterfall was nice for sure but definitely not what I had envisioned. Even if I had been 1 week earlier I don’t think it would have made much difference. I now think I probably need to come back during an above average year at peak flow. Anyhow I setup my tent right next to the waterfall and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. It was an incredibly beautiful spot.

In the evening I decided to hike up to Twin Lakes. Normally I would hike on the south side of the creek but the creek was too high to cross without getting very wet and there was quite a bit of snow on that side so I tried the north side of the creek instead. It was a little difficult getting up above the waterfall but once I was able to do that it was mostly easy going up to Twin Lakes. However, the closer I got to Twin Lakes the more snow there was to traverse. It was soft but I was not postholing. Twin Lakes was very gorgeous and still iced over. The waterfall was flowing but not as well as I had seen it before. I did not stay for sunset to take photos. If I had stayed then I would be hiking back down in the dark back to camp and I did not want to do that. I already have good photos of those waterfalls. I would much rather go back down and take photos of the lower falls in the evening. That is what I did.

Part 2 is on the way …

 

 

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Awhile ago my friend Jeremy told me about a better road to Bowman Lake than the horrendous Bowman Lake Road. I decided to try it out. I wanted to get back to Weaver Lake and I thought a backpacking trip there would be a great idea.

The new road is absolutely awful. Sorry my friend, it is awful. Well, I guess it is better than Bowman Lake Road, but that just tells you how horrendous that road is. I got to within 4 miles of Bowman Lake before I hit snow. I knew there would be snow and was hoping I could get to within 3 miles, so I figure 4 miles was pretty darn good. It would be a 7 mile hike from here to Weaver Lake. (6.7 miles to be precise). It is an easy hike and I arrived at Weaver Lake by about noon. It was a glorious day.

I saw a couple people at Bowman Lake but I did not see their vehicle. Did they drive up Bowman Lake Road? Is that road open yet? Normally that road is not open so early in the spring but I did see a lot of jeep tracks on the road I came in on. These jeepers can drive in the snow without difficulty. They can also leave a lot of trash. I know it was them because the trash was on the top of the snow and no one else has been up here yet this year besides jeepers. It is so bloody annoying. They have a vehicle. Why can’t they take their trash back with them? I must have picked up about 4 pounds (no exaggeration) and had to carry it out with me (on my back, not in my jeep).

No one had been up to Weaver Lake yet (but that would soon change). I found a great campsite at the outlet stream of the lake. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a couple Canadian Geese living at the lake here and I enjoyed their company for awhile. I ate my lunch and setup camp.

It was early so I decided I would go check out Weaver Lake Falls to see if I could get to it. I was definitely unsure about it. To get to the waterfall you have to first climb straight up a fairly steep cascade. At low flows it is not difficult but at high flows it is impossible. Right now the waterfall is at peak flow for the year and it most certainly would have been impossible to get up … however … there was a rope. With the rope I could climb up that cascade without too much difficulty, walking right up the middle of it in the water. It was fun! I made it up to the big drop, Weaver Lake Falls, 94 ft. high. Behind me coming up as well were a couple guys, I think the same ones I saw at Bowman Lake. I still did not see their vehicle so I guess they must have walked from Bowman Lake. They did not have proper shoes for climbing up the cascade but I am glad they did not leave their trash behind.

Now that I knew I could get to the waterfall I returned to camp for the rest of the afternoon and relaxed. I would come back in the evening to take my photos. My peace and quiet filled afternoon was rudely interrupted by jeepers who came up to the Weaver Lake area. They are so darn loud. I am so glad I made my campsite a bit off the road beside the outlet stream. I could still hear them but at least I could not see them.

After dinner I went back to the falls to take my photos. This time I was the only one there. Interestingly, a small tree had fallen down the cliff beside the cascade that you have to climb up. Did those two guys do that? It seems odd if they did that on purpose (not to mention stupid and dangerous). I have no idea what happened and maybe it was unintentional but they must have done something to destabilize the tree. Anyway I had a beautiful time in the evening at Weaver Lake Falls.

I got back to my camp at sunset and went to bed. It was a COLD NIGHT. The wind picked up tremendously. Not only was it cold but the wind made it much worse. I got almost zero sleep. Whenever I dropped off for a bit the wind would blast through and shake my tent all to bits, waking me up. I was not comfortable but not all that cold in my sleeping bag; I was prepared for the temperature but not for any cold wind. There had been no wind at all for this night in the weather forecast. I had been planning to do another hike in the morning but decided to nix that idea sometime during the night. I think it was a good choice with it being so cold and getting no sleep (and it would have been a hard hike). I woke up in the morning, my shoes were frozen (from climbing up that cascade), it was still cold and very windy, and not even my coffee could warm me up. I got back to the car by noon and drove home. It was a quick but awesome trip to Tahoe National Forest.

 

 

 

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When life gives you liver, just take the onions instead. The philosophy of a madman. Ha ha.

I was not planning to go this waterfall at all. It was not even on the radar for this weekend but it turned out to be a pretty decent consolation prize.

I was planning to backpack down to the bottom of a certain secret canyon to see a certain secret waterfall. It was going to be awesome. The hike was about 9 miles one way. It was going pretty well. I had to make a couple detours and a couple off road bushwhacks but I made it to the top of the ridge. Now I just had to get down to the bottom. I had a good route mapped out. I was pretty sure I could do it but it is a 1200 ft. descent. It was killer tough. Very steep with lots of deadfall and bushwhacking. I made it down 1100 ft. I was cliffed out. You have got to be kidding me. There was no possible way to continue the rest of the way to the bottom. No possible route around the cliff. I was done. Oh man. I was bummed. I was beat tired. Now I had to bushwhack back up the 1100 ft. to the top and carrying my heavy backpack as well.

It took a long time to climb out. About 1 and a half hours. I was going very slowly. I bonked. Eventually I made it back to the top of the ridge. I certainly did not have energy to hike the 9 miles back to my car and go home. I had to find a place to camp. Near some water (which is quite lacking at the top of this ridge). A thought occurred to me. When I went to Onion Creek Falls last year I remembered hiking past a small stream on the way back. That would be a good place to camp for the night. It would be on the roadside (again) – another lovely camping location – not, but it was not far from where I currently was and there would definitely be water. In addition to this I could go to Upper Onion Creek Falls in the morning before I hiked back to my car. I had not been to this one before so it would be a good consolation prize.

The roadside camp was a little better than Breakneck Creek. At least this time I had a view overlooking the canyon. I setup camp, made my dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed.

The hike to Upper Onion Creek Falls in the morning was supposed to be very easy. So I thought. It would be an easy road walk to the top of the falls then a fairly easy descent down to the creek. Umm, not even close madman! I should know better by now, you would think. Firstly, there was no road. I had to traverse the mountain along a steep ridge through much brush. This is not what I wanted to do this morning at all. I was still tired from the day before. Secondly, when I finally made it to the falls I found not an easy descent down to the creek but instead an extremely cliffy hillside. There was no possible way to get all the way to the bottom of the waterfall. I very slowly and very carefully worked my way down the cliff. I had to use my rope at the end but I finally got down to a spot where I had a good view of the waterfall. Essentially I was hanging on to the edge of the cliff for dear life while I took my photos. But it worked.

Upper Onion Creek Falls is a fantastic waterfall and it is a lot bigger than I expected. I estimated it to be about 80 ft. high. It is a beauty but the access is crazy to say the least.

I hiked back up the mountain and found an easier way back to my campsite to collect my backpack. It was 9 miles back to my car and it was not easy with over 1000 ft. elevation gain but I made it back to the car by 2:30PM. Along the way I saw my first two bears of the year. They saw me first. I would not have even seen them but I heard a loud scratching sound and when I turned to look to see what the heck it was I saw one of the bears climbing down a tree. The second one was still up in the tree looking at me. They were young ones, perhaps a year old. I tried to get my camera out but he scampered down too quickly and then they were both gone. Ah well, it was a great ending to a very tough backpacking trip in Eldorado National Forest.

As for that secret waterfall? I will definitely be back some day to try again.

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I have lately noticed a lot of blatant disregard from hikers breaking the law. And then posting it on social media! I’m talking about hiking on closed trails and flying their drones in national parks. If caught doing these things you could get a very large fine. Or worse. The trails are closed for a good reason (due to fire damage or ice fall or whatever it is). If something happens when you are in there and you need to be rescued then you are making others risk their lives to come rescue you. And by posting your illegal hike on social media you are also now encouraging others to break the law. What happens if they get seriously hurt or die? These people just don’t care about breaking the rules. Am I being too much of a stickler? Perhaps but I don’t really think so.

Anyhow … we finally got a bit of snow this weekend. Unfortunately it was not much; we sure do need a lot more this month. The forecast indicated there was a good chance this first waterfall on Canyon Creek would have snow on Saturday morning. It is fairly low elevation so it is extremely rare that it has snow but I thought it would be awesome to see it covered in snow. So off I went.

It was a very sad day in our household. Our youngest cat Strider passed away suddenly. He was only five years old. He was perfectly fine the day before and we think he had an aneurysm or something like that. He was a very adorable cat and died way too young. But I did not know about this when I left for my hike in the morning. (he died while I was gone).

I arrived at the trailhead and it was indeed snowing, and it was sticking also. It snowed the entire hike down to the falls. I was definitely thinking that my wishes for a snowy waterfall were going to come true. The good thing about the snow is it means no ticks! The bad thing is that the trail is a lot trickier with some very dangerous spots. The first part seemed to be a better defined trail but there were also a large number of new blowdowns on it so this made it quite a bit more difficult and harder to follow (it is hard enough not to get lost on this trail). Before too long I arrived down at the creek crossing. I made my way easily across the cold creek (I do sure miss the bridge here), then up the other side and to the first waterfall viewpoint.

It was still snowing but down here at 2500 ft. it was not sticking. There was a little bit of snow on the ground but not on the rocks at the waterfall so my snowy waterfall wish did not come true. However …  across the canyon the waterfall was in fog and this made the scene very cool. An unexpected surprise indeed.

I decided not to continue down to the Big Waterfall because there is one extremely sketchy spot where you definitely do not want to slip and with the wet rocks it would have been very dangerous. I retreated up the canyon, across the creek, and got back to my car by about 11AM. It was a beautiful foggy and snowy day in Tahoe National Forest.

 

 

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