Leon Turnbull Photography

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.

So it begins. This week we are finally receiving our first big snow storm of the season. Over six feet of snow on the mountains in just a single storm. Wham! This will help our snow pack tremendously though we will still be well below average after this week. Let’s bring it on for the rest of this season. Please!

Speaking of beginnings, we bought a white Jeep Grand Cherokee this week. We named her Yeti. I’m not really sure the name will stick like the Gator but anyway it’s a nice car. I like it. Where should I take her on her first adventure? Foresthill of course! It is my favorite place, it would be a great choice for Yeti’s first time in the mountains. That is not the main reason I went back to Foresthill, however.

I wanted to return to this waterfall because of a couple reasons: I thought it would be flowing really well and I wanted to explore further downstream. Also, after this week the area will be inaccessible until spring. It snowed four inches earlier this last week. The snow levels were very low elevation. The road was very icy and snowy. Yeti’s first time in the snow. She handled it well. I drove up to Tadpole and parked there. Interestingly, the only other car up there that early was a dark green Ford Expedition. Wait, is that the Gator??? No it was not. That car continued up the road to the top of Canada Hill. My plan was to go to West New York Canyon.

I was walking through 4 inches of snow for the entire hike down to the waterfall viewpoint. There was snow all the way, 1500 ft. below where I started the hike. A couple stupid things: I should have worn my big hiking boots instead of my hiking shoes. My feet were frozen for the whole hike. Secondly, I should have brought my spikes. I did not really need them (fortunately) but it would have been good to have them in case. I was not expecting any snow at all down at the waterfall.

The very last part down to the viewpoint is steep and I had to be careful but it wasn’t too bad. I was not able to explore further. It was far too dangerous to continue because of the snow. Perhaps if there was no snow I could have gotten down. I don’t know but I’m sure I will be back to try sometime in the future. There is definitely another waterfall down there.

The flow in the creek was low and not as nice as I hoped. I think that is because all the precipitation from the last storm fell as snow not rain and the snow is not melting. Still, it was very pretty. The snow around the waterfall was gorgeous. It was a great day in Tahoe National Forest and Yeti agrees.

I am calling this one Far Upper Wabena Creek Falls. It is a pretty little thing, 32 ft. high. A little cutie pie. It was surprisingly easy (or not difficult) to get down to this one (and the big waterfall as well). I was expecting a lot of cliffs. There were not any cliffs at all. (if you go the right way – which I did). I was also happy to see the creek still flowing decent. My backup plan was to go down to the river at Palisade Falls, which I really did not want to do. That would have been a hard hike.

When I discovered this waterfall on Wabena Creek in summer 2020 it went right to the top of my list for visiting this year. I knew it would be an incredible waterfall. If I could get to it…

The plan was to try to go there in the spring of this year but it just never worked out. I never had a chance to go. I guess it is going to have to be spring of 2022, I thought. However … it is December. We still do not have any snow. It did rain a lot in October. Would Wabena Creek be flowing now? It seemed a bit unlikely but perhaps worth a try anyway. I had a backup plan if I got all the way out there and found the creek was dry.

It was to be the last adventure for Gator. That is the name of our dark green SUV. It is a name that fits the beast perfectly and stuck for 17 years. It is time for her retirement now. I am glad I picked Foresthill for her final outing with me. It is without a doubt our favorite place to go. It is shocking that I can drive up there in December. I have never been able to do that before. As I drove the last 10 miles on the rough dirt road from Robinsons Flat I suppose I even got a little bit emotional. I’m strange. It was a good last drive for her. There was no snow, but there was mud, creek crossings, and steep sections to drive up. I did not put it in 4 wheel drive because she has been having trouble with that in her old age. It was not needed anyway. The only thing missing was a bear sighting. Ah well.

The first order of business was to go to the Far Upper falls. (next post). It is a quick jaunt from the road down to the creek. I could see that the creek was flowing decently. Perfect. This is going to be a great day. It was not difficult to get down to this waterfall, a pretty little 32 ft. drop.

Now I had to climb back up and traverse the ridge down to the big waterfall. Surprisingly there was a path. I think it must be a bear path. I don’t know of any humans that have ever been down here before. How would anyone even know about this waterfall? It has never been documented by anyone (before now). Not even the late Russell Towle made it here as far as I know (and he went everywhere). I am the last adventurer. The path seemed to abruptly end at a wall of thick brush or perhaps it went through it. Must be bear. Now I had to drop straight down to the creek. Would it be too cliffy? As I descended I came to a terrific viewpoint of the big waterfall and I took some photos from there. I was not sure if I’d be able to continue, getting down to the creek and then up to the falls. I definitely had to try. Getting all the way down to the creek was easy enough. No cliffs. No problem. I worked my way upstream to the falls and got blocked out by a mini waterfall but I was not to be outdone. I crossed the creek and climbed up above the cascade on the other side. That was the only obstacle. I made it!

Upper Wabena Creek Falls is absolutely magnificent. 143 ft. high. It is a monster. Being able to stand right at the bottom of this incredible waterfall is so utterly amazing. It was a very awesome day in Tahoe National Forest for the waterfall madman and Gator.

This is a bonus 20 ft. high waterfall I found on West Cherry Creek in between the other two falls. I had no idea this one was here. I was thinking there would be another good one above my camp; that one turned out to be nothing however this one is a pretty nice drop. In the past I have skipped waterfalls such as this one. It is just a minor falls and I do not have time to stop and photograph it. I was still a long way from camp and it was almost sunset. I have always regretted not stopping in the past. I will likely never be here again in my life. So now I always try to make the time to photograph these ones. Sometimes also when I am at a waterfall I get my shot and think I could get a different angle if I go over there but I don’t because I am out of time. I have a good shot of it, do I really need another one? Again, I always regret doing that so now I try to take the time to get that other shot if I can.

Thankfully this one was right by my path and easy to get up close to. I took a “couple” quick shots and hurried on back to my campsite.