Leon Turnbull Photography

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.

I slept to the sound of the roaring waterfall. I would have slept better if I had brought electrolytes with me but I stupidly forgot. Nonetheless I still slept all right. It was supposed to be 38 degrees at night but I’m not sure it even got that cold.

The flow of the creek was noticeably lower in the morning. The creek is very wide with multiple channels and I had to go to the very far channel to get my water (which I did not have to do the previous day). The waterfall still looked good even if the flow was a bit lower. I estimate it is 30 ft. high. The kayakers call it the Pothole and I don’t know that any of them have ever run it. I’m sure they would just slam into those rocks at the bottom if they tried (at least that is what it seems to me). The kayakers may not like it but I sure do. I took more photos, ate my breakfast, drank my coffee, packed up, and then headed up the hill at 8AM.

I quickly shedded my clothing once the sun came out. It was another very warm day. About halfway up I stopped to check out another cascade on the creek. (which I thought would be more impressive than it turned out to be). Continuing the tough climb up the ridge, I finally reached the top, then down the other side and eventually back up to the main trail. I arrived back at the car at about 11am. It took just as long to hike back as it did going in the previous day. There were no new tracks in the snow so that means no one else came up on Saturday.

I believe now I have seen all the waterfalls on West Cherry Creek. That does not mean I will never come back here again, it is such an amazing place, but I don’t really ever want to come back to this same trailhead because the road is so awful. I still have a couple waterfalls to see on the other branch (the main Cherry Creek) so perhaps I will be back to Emigrant Wilderness next spring. It was another glorious trip to my precious place in West Cherry Canyon.