Leon Turnbull Photography

I decided to return to Antelope Creek to attempt to get up to the main waterfall. I only got to the small lower falls the previous week and was a bit disappointed. Now I knew what I had to do. Back into the poison oak. Back into the horrible brush. This time I was determined for redemption.

I only managed to start 30 minutes earlier than before. I wanted to have more time than that but it should be ok since I now knew where I was going. It took a full hour to just get up to the lower falls. So much brush. So much oak. And today, so many bugs! It has been much warmer than it should be this week. It is supposed to be winter, for Pete’s sake. Also, there were many ladybugs along the trail. It was hard not to step on them as they were all along and over the trail.

At the lower falls I climbed up above it and then crossed the creek and continued up the mountain. The old trail also continued. What is this old trail anyway? I do not think it is a trail just to go to the waterfall. I can’t imagine anyone at all has been on this trail in many years. Maybe decades. Perhaps it is an old miner’s trail. It is the only thing that makes sense to me. On this side of the creek it seemed the trail was more difficult and there was more poison oak. Perhaps it was just my imagination. I was battling through the brush and it was now a lot steeper going up the mountain. After another 30 minutes I finally reached my destination. Waterfall!

This is the true Antelope Creek Falls. 39 ft. high. It is slightly smaller than I thought and for some reason I thought it would be more spectacular. (only because it was so hard to get to – I am aware that is illogical, ha ha). Anyway it is still a fantastic waterfall, although a bit hard to photograph. I had to climb down a steep section to get to the bottom of the falls and then cross into the middle of the creek to get a good angle. It was definitely worth the effort but oh my was it a doozie to reach. I returned to the car at 5PM and ate my dinner sandwich before driving home. It was a killer tough day at Antelope Creek.

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I was not really into watching the Super Bowl this year. I don’t even know who was playing (well, maybe I know that at least). I would rather go hiking. So that is what I did after church on Sunday.

I have been wanting to try this hike for awhile. Access is difficult to say the least. I arrived at the trailhead in the early afternoon (there is no trail so I guess I cannot really call it a trailhead). I found the creek to be flowing very strong. I was not expecting there to still be so much water. My plan was to wade up the creek but that was not going to be possible now. So instead, I crossed the creek and climbed up the other side. I did not think I’d get very far now but I had to try it. Well much to my surprise I found an old trail following the creek upstream. This was very unexpected. It was very difficult to follow. It was very overgrown. The poison oak was treacherous, but I continued all the way up to the confluence of the two creeks. I was literally shocked to get this far.

This was about as far as I could go. There was a small waterfall here on Antelope Creek, barely 20 ft. high (being generous), but it was a nice little cascade. There was a smaller waterfall on the other creek. My wife would think it was a waterfall but I did not think so as it was only about 10 ft. high. I took photos of the 20 footer.

I am sure there is a bigger waterfall upstream. I climbed above the small waterfall. I could see another small drop but no big waterfall. I could not find a way to continue any further. At least not very easily. I decided to call it a day and turn back. Perhaps if there was less water I could make it further. I may return some day but it was very difficult just to get this far. It was a good Super Bowl Sunday for the Waterfall Madman.

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Bassi Falls in the spring? Very awesome. Bassi Falls in the winter? Not very good. What about Bassi Falls in the winter after a Pineapple Express with 11.5 inches of rain? I wondered what it would be like this last weekend after the storm. Would it be flowing as well as it does in the spring? Or perhaps even better than spring?

I was actually planning to go to Table Mountain in Oroville on this day but I was just so tired and I could not wake up. I slept in until 7:30am (for me that is incredibly late). I blame my kids. I stayed up with them on New Year’s Eve and the lack of sleep caught up with me two days later. So I slept in on the holiday Monday and did not feel like going to Oroville when I woke up. Instead, I thought about going to Bassi Falls in the afternoon. Heck, why not?

There were a lot of people on Ice House Rd, going up there to play in the snow, but no one was hiking to Bassi Falls. Nonetheless, there were a lot of tracks and the trail was well trodden down. I did not need my snow shoes as the snow was hard packed and easy to walk upon. It was quite icy, however, and I wondered if I should have brought my spikes. I especially thought it was going to be very icy at the falls (and it was).

Bassi Falls was indeed spectacular and it was very much like spring flows. The ice around the waterfall was incredible and obviously not something you will see in the spring. To be honest I did not really think it would be flowing like this on Monday. This really made me wonder what it would have been like on Saturday in the rain. I imagine it would have been much tougher to get there but the water flows would have been out of this world (it would have had at about 10 times the flow on Saturday). Perhaps for the next Pineapple Express I will try this one.

By the way, to the assholes who left their graffiti all over the area this past summer, thanks so much for making Bassi Falls look like those southern California waterfalls that have ugly graffiti everywhere. Please leave your address below so I can personally thank you.

On the hike back to the car I did see a couple people. Apparently they only went to the lower falls and were on their way back already. Why would you hike all the way to the lower falls and not go to the big waterfall? I have seen that a lot. People only go to the lower falls and don’t even know there is a big waterfall just a short distance further. You people need to check out waterfallswest.com. It is a pretty good website, you know. Anyway, as I passed by this couple I definitely let them know they missed out on seeing an incredible waterfall. It was an awesome winter day in Eldorado National Forest.

 

 

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It may not look it but this waterfall is about 30 feet high. It is all about the angle, my friends. And for this shot, the angle was extreme. I have been wanting to return to this waterfall viewpoint for some time now. When I was first here seven years ago, I did not get a very good photo. According to my notes, there was literally no place on the edge of the cliff to set up my tripod so I had to hand hold the camera, and in addition to that the view was obscured by trees/brush. UGLY. Since that time, however, I went down to the top of the waterfall (I could not get down to the bottom), and when I looked up to the top of the cliff it seemed to me there was a very nice ledge to take photos from. Why couldn’t I get a decent photo the first time? I decided to return and try again. Probably I would have the same issue. We would see.

We had our first winter storm this past week and more was on the way this weekend. I was expecting to find 8 inches of snow on the ground which would make the drive in a bit challenging if not impossible, but I figured I would try it. As it turned out, there was only 3-4 inches of snow. It was easy to drive but I took it slow. I did not want to end up in the ditch. Or off the cliff. I got to the trailhead and began my hike up the road through the snow. No one had been up there. Except the deer. Would there be snow down at the waterfall? Would it be too treacherous to get down? I had rope and I had my spikes. I did not need either. Even though it is a big 700 ft. descent it is not difficult to get down to the viewpoint above the waterfall. The snow disappeared along the way down and the route was not slippery. I arrived at the infamous cliff edge, the exact same spot I was at before. This time, I found that I was able to get down onto a ledge overlooking the waterfall and it was a perfect spot to set up my tripod. I must have been too scared to get down onto this crazy ledge the last time. It was a bit hairy no doubt: it is only about a 100 ft. drop off the cliff to the bottom, but this time I got my shot. GOOD.

After taking my photos, I tried looking for a way down to the bottom of the canyon. Again, in my notes from last time, I said there was absolutely no way to get down the cliffs. I don’t know what I was thinking. I found a perfect way to get down all the way to the river. Rope may be needed or not. I did not actually go all the way down. I did not feel like doing it because of a big winter storm that was on its way. Once down I would have had to wade up the very cold river to get to the waterfall. I had time, I suppose, but I just did not feel like it today. I will definitely be back but it will probably have to wait until next summer now.

I climbed back up the mountain and then back to the car. Usually I see quite a few hunters in this area but today I saw absolutely no one … except for a couple people that were driving down the road in their two sports cars. Ummm, can you say stupid? Driving down a snowy and icy road in your sports cars with no winter tires or chains. BAD. They were parked on the side when I passed them. I asked if they needed help as I wasn’t sure if they were stuck or not. They did not need help, thankfully, but I would not be surprised if they didn’t make it back out. Such was my fabulous day in Tahoe National Forest.

 

 

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I was last here five years ago but did not get to the lower falls. The lower falls is quite a bit away from the other waterfalls so I would have needed an extra day to go to it. I considered it at the time but I was just too tired. I vowed to return. Then the Creek Fire happened in 2020, which literally devastated the entire area. Many of the trails are still closed, and the Isberg and Cora trails only just re-opened this summer. It was finally time to go see the Lower North Fork San Joaquin River Falls.

It is a very long 5 hour drive to the Isberg trailhead but I was on the trail by 10AM. I expected the hike to be fairly easy and I should be at camp by 2PM. Yeah right, but it should be a good test for me. I have not backpacked in 3 months and have done very little hiking. I am still way overweight from the summer, but I have been working out a lot and I felt strong.

There were quite a few cars at the trailhead. It was surprising considering how far out of the way this trailhead is. Even so, I only saw a couple day hikers on the first day. I saw zero people on the second day.

A couple interesting things: Firstly, I noticed there was a lot of water flowing in all the creeks. When I was here 5 years ago (a wet year), they were all dry or mostly dry. I certainly was expecting them to be dry this year, indeed I was worried they would ALL be dry and I might even have problems getting water to drink from the big creek. There had been some recent rain but I honestly did not think it had rained very much here. Yet even the trail was muddy in quite a few places. They must have received more rain than I had thought.

Secondly, the devastation: it was massive. The entire canyon was scorched. I felt like I was on a barren planet. When I got off the Isberg trail onto the Cora trail I was expecting to encounter a lot of blowdowns. That was not the case, however. The trail had been completely cleared by the NFS. This was a good thing. Perhaps this is why it took so long to re-open the trails and why many trails are still closed. They don’t want to re-open them until they have cleared them. Compare to the Dixie Fire and Caldor Fire from last year. The trails there are all (mostly) re-opened already (and certainly not cleared yet). The trails in Stanislaus NF could be closed many more years if they are going to wait until they are all cleared. I don’t think that is a good thing, but at least they are actively working on clearing them. Unlike at Yosemite National Park, where they have let the trails go to rot after a fire many years ago. (I’m still upset about that – if you can’t tell – ugh).

It was much harder getting down to the river than I expected. I really thought it was going to be a cakewalk except for maybe one small section. It was difficult and steep and rocky and brushy. I made it down to the river at 3PM, one hour longer than anticipated. I found a nice spot to camp at the top of the waterfall, made my dinner, then went down to see the falls afterwards.

Lower North Fork San Joaquin River Falls is a gorgeous 51 ft. high plunge into a big, beautiful, magnificent pool. It is a stunning oasis in the middle of the devastated canyon and well worth seeing. I took many photos and enjoyed the waterfall immensely.

I returned to camp. It was still early so I relaxed on the rocks by the river (where there were no gnats). After I was attacked by a water spider, I decided to retreat to my tent and then watched a movie before bed. It was a warm night and I slept fairly well beside the sound of the rushing river.

I got up early, made my breakfast and coffee, and was on the trail by 7:30am. I found an easier way back out of the canyon, which saved a bit of time (well, slightly easier – it was still a tough 2000 ft. climb). I was back at my vehicle by 12PM, and home by 5PM. It was a fantastic, short weekend in Ansel Adams Wilderness.

 

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