Leon Turnbull Photography

It was my kind of weekend. Rain. And lots of it. The storm is not over yet as I write this, but so far it has been enough to get the waterfalls flowing pretty good. When the waterfalls are flowing, you know I am going to be out finding some.

My destination was Emigrant Gap. I knew it was going to be a wet morning hike, and it was. I was out hiking for about 3 hours, and I was pretty soaked by the end of it. I was looking for some new waterfalls out in the Emigrant Gap area. I did not find any new ones, but I know there are some and I know where they are, so I will definitely be returning in the future.

After my first hike, which was a strikeout, I went to North Fork Falls which I have been to before. What I would really like someday is to photograph this waterfall in the snow, but I think it is pretty much not possible to get to it when there is snow here. Nonetheless, there was snow on the ground here as I hiked down to the falls. Very wet snow. I was surprised to see it, but there was not any around the waterfall, unfortunately. At the North Fork campground, I scared up a heron, which was the only thing alive I saw all morning. No other wildlife. No humans. I don’t even recall seeing any birds. They were all taking cover from the rain. Only I and the heron were crazy enough to be outdoors on this dreary day.

The North Fork of the North Fork American River was flowing quite strong due to the rain. This is actually the biggest I have ever seen this waterfall. And this made the river crossing below the falls a bit tricky. Usually you can just rock hop across very easily. There was one big step over a deep section of the river that I needed to make. I tried to roll a big log across to make the crossing easy for me, but the log ended up floating downstream instead. Doh. Well, fortunately, I did not really need the log, and I was able to step across on the slick rocks without incident. On the other side of the river, you need to work your way up the slope and then down to a viewpoint of the falls. This part is very difficult and quite dangerous, especially on the very wet and slick rocks. But I came prepared. With rope. I almost always take rope on my hikes in case I need it, but up to now, I have never used it. I really wanted to get down this section to get to a better viewpoint, so I looped the rope around a tree, and used it to make my way down the slope. It worked. Once down, I had to figure out how to photograph the waterfall in the rain, which is always the hardest part of going waterfallin’ in the rain. I had my wife’s umbrella with me, and was careful not to drop it over the cliff into the river as I held it over my camera as I took my photographs. On the way back, I decided to stay on the same side of the river instead of crossing back. There is no trail, but it is not hard. In fact, I think it is actually a much easier way to get to the waterfall. I’m sure I will be using that same route next time I am here. In the snow.

When my friends come hiking with me, they know that they may not always get what is advertised. Plans can change on a dime. Strike outs happen. My friend Rob knows this, or at least I hope he does by now.

The plan was to hike down to Heath Falls from Soda Springs. It was going to be an epic hike. However, when we got to Soda Springs we found that the road was snowed in! We were forced to turn around or risk getting very stuck. This snow was from the big storm a couple weeks ago, and it was still not melted. I was shocked. I figured for sure the road would be clear by now. Not so, and I was quite disappointed. I think Rob was disappointed as well, especially since I made him get up at such an ungodly hour to go on this hike with me in the dark.

Plan B was suggested by Rob, to go on a different hike at Blue Canyon (which I had been on before, but Rob had not). It was a very good idea, however, I did not have my maps with me for this hike, and I could not remember exactly how to get to the trailhead. There was a very tricky turnoff, and I did not know where it was, and I could not find it in the dark. Strike two.

Plan C was to go back to the South Yuba River, and down to the Emerald Pools waterfalls. I knew I could get to these waterfalls again. Secretly though, I was not sure I could find them without my maps. I had only been down this route once before, and I had some doubts as we hiked along, though I did not share those doubts with Rob because I did not want to have a complete strike out this morning. In the end, I found the spot, thankfully. The river was flowing at about 80 cfs, which is quite low compared to when I was here before. Even yesterday (after the rain this week), it was flowing at about 150 cfs, and it dropped by about half in just one day. But at least it was flowing, and at least we had something to photograph. No strikeout.

Nothing new to report this weekend. Our daughter had her first dance performance of the season this weekend at the Folsom Community Center. Their group name is the Diamond Girls and they sure rocked! We are looking forward to this year for her, and she has a number of dance performances. She will be dancing at a pre-game show at the Sacramento Kings NBA game vs. Chicago Bulls in March. I am quite excited about this! 🙂

Anyway, here is yet another view of Lower Horsetail Falls from a couple months ago. I really liked that crack in the foreground and tried to use it prominently in this shot.

After my last day of work at my old job and getting off early, I drove back up to Fuller Lake in order to get back to Fordyce Falls. My plan was to bike the trail this time in hopes of saving a lot of time and in hopes of it being much easier. It is 4 miles one way, and it took me about 1.5 hours to hike it. When I hiked it, the terrain seemed quite bike-able, except for a couple big hills, and I know other people frequently bike this trail. I figured biking to the falls would take 45 minutes max. I could get there in good time, shoot both of the waterfalls, and be back at the car by dark. Easily.

So how long do you think it actually took me to bike to the falls? It took 1.5 hours, essentially the exact amount of time to hike it. It was also very difficult and much harder; it would have been easier to hike the trail. How is this even possible? Well, the terrain is actually extremely technical (which is not something I figured it would be, after hiking it). I was constantly having to get off the bike and walk sections, due to steepness, or very rocky terrain, or other obstacles. There were certainly long sections where I could go at a good fast clip, but the technical sections slowed me down way too much and too often.

Wow, when I got to Fordyce Falls I realized I had not much time to shoot the waterfalls if I wanted to get back to the car before dark. I certainly had no time to shoot both waterfalls. I decided to skip the lower Split Falls, and just shoot the upper Fordyce Falls. I waited until the waterfall got into the shade at 6:45PM, took my shot, then quickly packed up my bike and headed back at 6:50PM. It seemed to take longer to bike back and it was well past dark when I arrived back at the car. Fortunately I had a headlamp, but I did not get back to the car until about 8:15AM. I was dog tired but I made it.

One more from Palisade Falls. To get to this spot, you need to scramble down to the river from the viewpoint, then walk along the rock edge to get to an outcropping with this view of the falls. It required me to take one step into the water. It was not difficult, but would have been impossible to do earlier in the summer when the river is higher. That is one good thing about the low flow in the river, because this was a sweet spot to get to.

In other news, I start my new job next Monday. Yay. What does this mean to me? No more lousy commute. Much better pay. I am really looking forward to it, and this opportunity just fell right into my lap, after much prayer. Clearly this was all God’s doing. He is so good.