Leon Turnbull Photography

It was not one of my best days in Yosemite. Too much sun, non existent waterfalls, long hikes, blisters, no sleep. In fact, out of all the times I have been there I would have to rank it right near the bottom. But hey this is Yosemite, right? Even the bottom dwellers are good days at Yosemite. And so it was.

I left work early on Friday afternoon. Traffic was a nightmare. This can’t be good when it takes longer to drive to Yosemite than ever before. I wanted to try to hit three new waterfalls outside the park in the evening, so I couldn’t arrive too late or I would not have time. It is good that I left work earlier than I was initially planning to leave but I struck out big time on the waterfalls anyway. The first one was completely dry. Well, I was not expecting much from that one anyway. Move on. The second one, the one I really wanted to see, I could not get to. Access was all on private property. I tried to find a way around the private property, driving on rough dirt roads, getting my SUV all scratched up from the brush, but I could not find any way over to the waterfall. At least none that would not get me arrested. I tried the third waterfall. I found an old road leading up beside the creek, then I bushwhacked my way down to the creek when I got near the waterfall. There was an old old trail, overgrown, but at least it made things seem promising. When I got down to the creek, however, guess what? No waterfall. Nada. I was in the precise location that it was marked on the USGS topo maps, but nothing was there. Strike three. So what could I do? I drove back down the mountain to the great place I found last year, at the confluence of the south and middle forks of the Tuolumne River. I arrived there at sunset, barely enough time to take a few photos. It was enough to salvage the evening.

After very little sleep in my vehicle, I got up not so bright, way too early, and very coffee-less, to drive up Tioga Pass to Tuolumne Meadows. I did this big and very awesome hike down to Waterwheel Falls last year. This year, I was not going all the way down there again. I just wanted to take the very short hike down to the one waterfall I missed last year because I was too tired on that hike. It was just a short 6.5 mile hike. One way. Oh I forgot I have to hike back as well. That makes 13 miles. Maybe it’s not such a short hike, after all. But at least it’s not 19 miles or whatever the heck it was last year. Now according to my fine calculations, I had plenty of time to do this hike. I wanted to photograph Tuolumne Falls, White Cascade, and the new waterfall (Lower Glen Aulin Falls) in good light. White Cascade should be out of the sun until 9AM, and the new waterfall should be good until 10AM. Something did not seem right about that but my calculations must be right. I am never wrong. When I arrived down at Tuolumne Falls, it was still in shade, but just barely. I took my photo, then hurried down to White Cascade. It was already in the sun. How could this be? It was only 7:30AM. I trudged sulkily on down the trail for another mile thinking I should at least get to the new waterfall in good light with plenty of time to spare. Not so. It was already in full sun as well. It looked as though it would have been in sun shortly past sunrise as well, not even close to 10AM as I calculated. What went wrong? I am always usually spot on with my calculations. I do not know what I did, but the truth is I would not even have gone on this hike if I knew I had no chance of getting to this new waterfall in good light.

Well, it’s not like it is not a great hike though, and at least I got to one of the waterfalls in decent light. Last year I was here at the end of May, and so this year the river was flowing a bit stronger. Not a lot stronger. Just a little bit stronger. I was hoping the “rain” we had on Thursday would push the flow up quite a bit, as I would sure love to see these waterfalls flowing at full tilt, but it seems Yosemite got nothing from that system at all. Bummer. Well, there is always next year. I think it’ll have to be on a cloudy day next time though, so I can get some better photographs.

On the hike back up I saw quite a few people coming down the trail, including one group of backpackers that lost a couple in their party. They ran back up the trails looking for the couple, but to no avail. They were good and lost. I am really not sure how you could get so lost on this trail. There are signs at all the trail junctions, and it is pretty clear which way to go (ie. just follow the river downstream – and don’t go IN the river). They asked me to keep a lookout for the couple, but I saw no one on my way back. All I saw were deer. No bears, no coyotes. I do hope they found them eventually. I got my blistered feet and sunburned face (did I mention that I forgot my hat) back to the car around 1PM, ate my lunch, and 3 bananas (which my wife told me would prevent me from getting cramps – and it worked – thanks hun!), then made the long slow drive back home. Fell into bed at 7PM and slept right through to morning, which is a good thing because I had to get up for the early church service to play drums. It was a very good day in Yosemite. But I need to go back again.

On Saturday evening I dragged Jadon and Nekoda out to see Bassi Falls before it stopped flowing. I could not drag my wife. She gave multiple excuses like, it’s too hot, I’m too tired, I have to get up early and bike in the morning. None of these excuses I thought was very worthy, but what could I do? I cannot pick her up and plop her in the car, like I can with the kids (p.s. I’m just joking people!). Along for the ride I invited the Vicar from our church, and he brought his two year old, Heidi, who is the cutest thing ever. Well … at least the cutest thing since Nekoda was two. Our kids had fun playing with her on the drive. She would grab Nekoda’s toes and say, “daddy! I have toes!”

I was concerned as we passed on the bridge over Bassi Creek. I was here last weekend and it seemed to me there was plenty of snow on the mountains and plenty of water in the creek. I figured Bassi Falls would be flowing well for a few more weeks at least. Now, however, it seemed the snow on the mountains was almost gone, and the water level in the creek was significantly depleted. In only one week? I fretted in my head about this on the last part of the drive, not saying anything to Vicar, who had never been to Bassi Falls before. When I show off my waterfalls, I like them to be looking their best. You know, clean and shaved, their shirts tucked in, etc. It has been two years since I have been to Bassi Falls. Last time I was here, the road was a mess. It had been getting worse and worse every year, the potholes getting huger and huger, the ruts were starting to rival the Grand Canyon. Indeed on the very last section of road, I could barely make it up to the trailhead in my 4 wheel drive, and once I had to park before the end and walk. I wondered how much worse it would be now, two years later. Well glory be, the road is now fixed! Amazingness of amazingness. It is now a very easy drive, there were even regular cars up at the trailhead when we arrived. Well one concern was taken care of. There was one concern left (the flow in the falls), and as it turned out, one new one as well.

Bees! In all my years coming here, I have never seen bees at Bassi Falls. But there were hundreds of bumblebees when we arrived at the waterfall, and they were swarming us, they would not leave us alone the entire time we were there. At first, I thought they were after the ham sandwiches in our packs. Can bees smell through backpacks? But even after we removed said obstruction from their path (ie. ate them), they still would not leave us alone. They were everywhere. It is really a miracle that none of our group got stung. The funny thing is, when we arrived there was a group of oriental people there, and they asked Vicar, what are these things? Are they poisonous? Umm, they are bees he said. You don’t know what bees are? They will kill you if they sting you. Do not, I repeat, do not look into their eyes. (umm, ok maybe he did not exactly respond like that – I don’t want him to get in trouble with our Pastor for lying – though I think I got most of it right). Anyway, I did not like these bees around one bit, and it kinda ruined the experience there, but we still stayed until the end anyway so I could get my sunset photos.

As for the water flow, well it was just as I feared. Bassi Falls was much reduced in power. There was probably a third of the normal flow in the waterfall for this time of year. Indeed I would not have been able to stand where I was standing when I took this photo (under normal flows). But for the Vicar and Heidi, who had never seen the waterfall before, they were happy campers. Heidi, in particular, was ecstatic, yelling out repeatedly “wow” when we first arrived. It is indeed a magnificent waterfall. Even at a third of the roar.

This is another view of Iowa Hill Ditch Falls. It sure is a pretty thing, isn’t it. It does not look too hard to get up to the base of it from this angle. Ha, but it is killer steep!

It has been two years since I have been up on Ice House Rd. That year, I spent a lot of time up on Ice House, doing a lot of exploring. I love that area. Last year, I went up there zero times, however. Why? I think mostly because of the bad winter we had that year, there was not much in the way of waterfalls. Well what about this year, bonehead? We had an even worse winter. Why would you go up there this year? Hummm, I don’t know. I just felt like it. Maybe because it has been too long, and I missed being up there, exploring. The waterfalls *are* flowing up there right now. But they are past peak for sure, and they will not be flowing very much longer. Gotta get to ’em while you can, is what I say.

There is a lot of manzanita brush up on Ice House Rd. That is one thing I didn’t miss last year, but I was sure in the thick of it on this day. I was looking for a new waterfall on the South Fork Rubicon River, just below Loon Lake. It is only about a mile off the road, and from the looks of my maps, it did not look like it would be very difficult to get down to it. I could see the brush on Google Earth, but it looked open enough to be feasible to hike. Humm, well it was definitely crazy brush. Thick brush. Leg scratching brush. Man eating brush. Okay, okay, it was not really all that bad. I found a path through the stuff after all. I almost didn’t make it though. Actually I almost made it all the way to the waterfall and then had to turn back. I could see the waterfall below me. In between me and it was a mound of that crazy brush. And this part was the thickest yet and there was no path through it either. And the sun was coming. I thought I had only minutes to get down to it before the sun got there. I could not see how I going to make it through this brush. I backtracked a bit, and went over to the right, where it looked slightly easier. I still had to mangle my way through the thickest of the stuff, though. Finally I broke through. I was almost down to the river, but the last part was a steep dropoff. I got out my rope and climbed down this last section. Safe. I still had plenty of time too, before the sun got down onto the waterfall.

The river was flowing quite strongly as you can see. This will not last for long. The snow is pretty much all melted now. I was also a bit disappointed in the waterfall size. I was expecting a bigger waterfall and more of a vertical waterfall. Nonetheless, this one is certainly a very nice cascade, 37 ft. high. I kinda doubt I will ever be back here again, though. Just a bit too difficult for such a small waterfall. Despite the brush though, it really was a fantastic hike. I loved being back on Ice House, out in the wilderness alone, and exploring new places. It is my kind of thing.

I don’t know. This last hike I did on Saturday was only a half day, 8 mile hike, but it felt more like a full day, 16 mile hike. I was just as tired after this hike as I was after the Trinity Alps hike on Easter weekend, and it took me just as long to recover (ie. two days). Granted it was a tough 8 mile hike, with a lot of scrambling up and down mountain sides, so I’m sure this is the reason I was so tired. But I don’t know, it seems to me I shouldn’t have been so tired after it. Maybe my 45 year old body is finally catching up to me (or I guess I should say I am catching up to it). Maybe it won’t be much longer that I will be able to do tough hikes like this. The horrors, I am dreading that day. There are so many great places to hike around here, many I have not been to yet, and many of them have very difficult access. Especially the North Fork American River Canyon. It is such a beautiful and rugged and remote place. My favorite canyon. And the access is so darn difficult. That is a good thing, else it would not be so beautiful and rugged. I must keep going here though. I cannot stop going here. Ever.

Oh I guess I might mention I was also carrying a heavy pack all morning. I brought my big heavy lens along, thinking that I would be able to get a very good view across the canyon of Big Granite Creek Falls from the Iowa Hill Ditch. Unfortunately, this is not possible. You can only glimpse the uppermost part of that huge waterfall, and it is not possible to see the entire thing. I was disappointed about this, from what I had heard there was going to be a great view from the Ditch. You can, however, get a pretty good view of Big Valley Falls from the Ditch, but I did not take a picture because (1) that waterfall was not flowing super great, and (2) the sun was harshly shining on it. Perhaps another year and day will be better. So all in all, I took my big lens and did not even use it. I’m sure my back did not appreciate that too much. Nor my legs. Nor my entire 45 year old body.

Anyway, I am calling this waterfall Iowa Hill Ditch Falls. It is 93 ft. high. Good name, huh. I can’t think of a better name for it. It is an unnamed stream, in a remote spot and not near anything else of significance, but it needs a name because it is such a beautiful and large waterfall. It is located at the very end of the Iowa Hill Ditch, so the name does make sense. As much sense as anything else.

As I mentioned before, it is super hard to get up close to. The terrain is incredibly steep, and required much difficult scrambling to get up close to it. I did it, but it was not worth all the effort. Nonetheless, I do very much like this shot even though it is an in your face, straight on shot.