Leon Turnbull Photography

After work on Friday, I headed up to Lake Tahoe for a quick hike. My goal was Meeks Creek Falls, a new waterfall that I had heard about and wanted to check out.

I arrived at the trailhead in good order and headed out. A couple with some dogs had just started out on a short hike there as well, and one of the dogs was clearly very old, as he was just hobbling along trying to keep up with everyone else. I asked how old the dog was, and the lady said 14 years old. Wow, that is old, but the dog was out in the wilderness and having fun. I like to see that. Anyway, I passed the old mutt by quickly, and continued on. One thing I was not expecting at all: mosquitoes! They were already out in force and biting me. I could not believe it, as it is only May 11. They should not be out so early in the season. Argh! Fortunately, I had bug juice with me, and once I put that on they left me alone.

It is a short and easy two miles to the waterfall, and the creek was flowing strong from snowmelt. When you arrive at the top of the waterfall, it does not look at first glance to be a very big one. The creek makes a straight drop off some big rocks for 21 ft. down, then continues in a very long and steep slide. If you were here in the summer when the creek is just trickling, you would think the waterfall is only 21 ft. high, but the rest of the cascade must certainly be considered part of the waterfall. That makes the entire falls 85 ft. in height. The part pictured above is the upper section, which is 51 ft. I also went down to the lower section as well and photographed it too. After this, it seems the creek levels out for a short distance, but then it looks like there might be another significant drop further down; however, it was getting late and I did not have time to explore downstream. I will have to save that for another day.

As I biked down Fallen Leaf Lake Road I came upon this scene as the almost full moon was setting behind Mt. Tallac with a stellar reflection in the lake. Well, it was not a waterfall so I did not stop. Yeah, right. I could not not stop and take a shot of this glorious scene. The little bit of clouds coloring just prior to sunrise also added to the beautiful scene.

This was a semi half planned shot, actually. I knew the moon would be setting behind the mountains at sunrise, and I was thinking of shooting it as I hiked up to Glen Alpine Falls, but I was thinking of shooting from a different location, not behind Tallac. The scene at Tallac did not occur to me beforehand, though it should have because it is a much more magnificent scene then the one I had in mind. Well, it was a gorgeous morning indeed.

This week is looking pretty good. By the end of it, we could have 4 or 5 feet of snow in Tahoe, and double that in northern California maybe. About time, I say.

But four feet of snow is nowhere near enough. As I drove up to Tahoe on Saturday, looking for some snow to play in, I did not find very much. At Kyburz, where that huge snow measuring stick is that goes up to 12 feet high (you know what I mean, if you have driven by it), it was measuring a big whopping zero. I essentially did not see any snow until 6500 ft. elevation. I was initially hoping to find a nice snowy waterfall, and I was beginning to wonder if I would find any snow at the falls at all.

Upper Glen Alpine Falls was my destination. I was here in the winter a couple seasons ago, and it was completely buried in the snow and could not be seen at all. I was pretty sure that would not be the case this time around. The road on Fallen Leaf Road is gated two miles in during the winter, so that means you have to hike the remaining three miles along the road, and then it is an additional mile to the falls. I did not want to hike that three miles, so I brought my bike along, which would make that section go by very quickly. My calculations showed that the sun would be hitting the falls very early, around 7AM (30 minutes after sunrise), so I tried to arrive very early. It was still dark, but it was 15 minutes later than I wanted to be. I packed everything onto my bike as quickly as possible and set off down the road. I purposely left my snowshoes in the car, as I did not think they would be necessary with so little snow. It was 20 degrees outside, but I was warm and toasty in the brand new winter jacket (and much needed) I just bought on sale at REI.

Along the road, I noticed that the almost full moon was setting beside Mt. Tallac with a beautiful reflection in Fallen Leaf Lake. Well, I just had to stop to take a picture of that! (and I will share that photo soon). That took another 15 minutes, and it was now almost sunrise. I would have very little time to play with but I figured I could still get to the waterfall in time. At the end of the road, I locked up my bike to a tree, changed into my winter boots, and set off up the path. There was a beaten track through the snow from other people all the way to the Desolation Wilderness trailhead (the spot where you would drive to in the summer), so the going was very easy. But at the trailhead, the tracks stopped there. No one had gone any further up the trail, so I had to beat my own path. It was only a half mile to the falls from here, and should be easy because there was not much snow, right? Well, it started off easily enough, but as I got further in, the snow got deeper. It was now 3 to 4 feet deep in places, and softer as well, not hard packed. Maybe I should have brought my snow shoes after all! Indeed I should have, but I just trudged through the snow, more slowly now, but I kept going steadily enough. It was not very far to the falls.

As I approached the waterfall, I could see the sun was already on it. It was only 7AM, but I was already too late. But God does provide! I made my way down to the bottom of the falls, and as I did so, clouds rolled over in front of the sun. I now had plenty of time to photograph the waterfall. Thank you Lord! It was an awesome morning at Upper Glen Alpine Falls. The snow around the waterfall was really nice, and it was flowing a lot more than it was when I was here in the Fall. That is because all that snow we received last week is already melting. I took my time, enjoyed the view of the waterfall, then hiked back down to photograph the lower falls. The bike ride back to the car was much more tiring, as it is more uphill; I am sure out of biking shape. I was quite tired by the time I got back to the car. Time to go get some breakfast in Tahoe. Phew.

This is Upper Glen Alpine Falls, 32 ft. high. In the spring, it is a little spitfire, roaring down the canyon. But in the Fall, it is actually still quite a pretty little waterfall. Since it is pretty much a straight drop, it does not need a lot of water to look good, so even with very little flow in the creek, it is still lovely to visit. Compare that to Lower Glen Alpine Falls, which was not even worth seeing (on the same creek with the same amount of water flow). It is also quite easy in the Fall to get right down in front of the waterfall in the middle of the creek; I would not be able to shoot from here in the Spring, that is a certainty.

I have shot sunrise at Eagle Falls before. The well known location from the top of the waterfall overlooking beautiful Emerald Bay, made famous by the late Galen Rowell. Many others have photographed from this spot since Rowell, and many have taken fabulous photos from this location, but for me, I have not ever taken a photo that I really really liked. I am a lot closer to it now.

I drove up to Lake Tahoe early early Saturday morning. When I started out, I was not sure where I was going to end up. The forecast said overcast in the morning, and it sure looked that way as I drove up Hwy 50. When I got to the summit, I stopped. Got out of my car. Looked at the sky. I saw lots of clouds. I saw stars. It seemed that there was a possibility at least of a decent sunrise at Tahoe, so I made my decision. Eagle Falls. It was a good decision.

There was no one else at Eagle Falls as I drove up. I saw one other photographer shooting Emerald Bay, but he was on the wrong side of the bay for a sunrise shoot. I can’t imagine he got any decent shot from where he was. There was definitely a break in the overcastness on the other side of the lake. It looked like a sweet sunrise was definitely on the agenda. Thank you Lord.

When the water level is lower at this time of year, your composition choice here is extremely limited. If you want to include any part of the water or falls, this is essentially the only option. But it does work, and it works quite well. Nonetheless, I kind of want to come back in the spring and try again. For an even sweeter sunrise, and an even sweeter waterfall. Sounds like a plan.