On Tuesday, I took the day off work and went back to Knickerbocker Falls in Auburn. I wanted to get back there and try to get to the upper falls in that canyon while it was still flowing well. Knickerbocker Falls is a 500 ft. waterfall with 3 major waterfall drops. The lowest falls can be viewed easily from the other side of the American River. The upper sections are so enticing but yet so unreachable. I was determined to change that this day. But I was denied. Knickerbocker Falls would not give up its secrets to me (this time). I started hiking from Cool at the Olmstead Loop trailhead. Once I hiked over to the top of Knickerbocker Canyon, I was on my own. No trails lead down into this canyon. I was doing some cross country solo down the canyon, battling through brush, down steep and sometimes dangerous terrain. Hoping beyond hope to catch a good view of the upper falls of Knickerbocker Canyon. In some places, I was following some old trails and old roads so the going was not too difficult. But in other places, I was scrambling down very steep sections. Knickerbocker Canyon is in a very steep recess with a truckload of heavy brush all around it. I could not get very many glimpses into the canyon itself, where the waterfalls were. Whenever I got to a new potential viewpoint, I thought to myself, yeah, I’m sure I’ll be able to see it from here no problem. Then I was yet again denied. I only caught one glimpse of one of the 2 upper waterfalls, but not a good one at that. It was definitely rather frustrating. I did eventually get down to the bottom of the canyon and was able to get to a good viewpoint of the lower falls (shown above), so it wasn’t a total loss by any means.
What goes down must go back up. Right? After scrambling about 800 ft. down the mountainside, I had to then of course go back up. So while I was hiking back up the mountain, it happened … I saw a cougar!!!! Now as an aside, I have always found it interesting that Americans usually call this animal a “mountain lion” and Canadians call it a “cougar”. Same animal, different names. Strange. Well, since I am a Canadian by birth, I will be calling it a cougar. Anyway, so this was the first time I have ever seen a mountain lion – er, I mean cougar, in the wild. I saw him first. He was just sitting up on a hill about 100 ft. away from me, hunting for some lunch (really). When he saw me, we just stared at each other for a very long time. I could not continue forward, or I would be walking right in front of it. I could not really go back down the trail, because then I would lose sight of it, and he could easily come right after me. All I could do was just wait … and wait … and wait. I thought I would be waiting all afternoon there. I amazingly had cell phone reception, so I called my wife and told her about the situation. That sorta freaked her out, especially because the phone reception was not great, and it cut out a couple times. I guess the Verizon guy has not been to Knickerbocker Canyon. Can you hear me now? While we were talking on the phone, she was looking on-line to find out what to do when you spot a cougar (or when one spots you). But I already knew all that. Finally, after a long while, the cougar saw some other animal and stalked slowly towards it and pounced on it. I was praying God would provide him some lunch to eat (that wasn’t human tasting). But he missed. He immediately turned around and looked at me to see what I was doing. I think he was as wary of me as I was of him. A few minutes later, he walked off slowly, and I lost sight of him. I was then able to continue hiking up the trail. I was still being very wary in case he looped back around. But he was gone. Whew! What a crazy adventure.
Now truthfully, I thought I acted fairly calm throughout this ordeal. I was definitely very nervous and anxious on the inside, not knowing what the cougar was going to do. But my knees were not shaking and I did not pee my pants, or anything like that. I was definitely doing a lot of praying to God. And God did protect me, thankfully. If the cougar had come after me, I had my hiking poles to fight him off, which may or may not have worked. I should have had my bear spray, but I had left that at home on this hike. Oops.
Posted in Uncategorized by leapin26: February 27, 2008
Saturday was our kids’ birthday parties. I had a bit of time before the party to go out for an early morning hike. Not much time, though. So I chose a destination close to home that wouldn’t take too long: Codfish Creek Falls in Weimar (near Auburn). This is quite a popular hike and an easy access point to the North Fork American River. I decided before I left that if I was to go back to this waterfall, I wanted to try to get a different photo of this falls (than that which is normally shot of it). It is not an overly photogenic waterfall, and there are not many different ways to take a photo of it. So I took my water shoes, hoping I could hop into the creek, to get a different angle of the waterfall. And so I did. Brrrrr …… The water was darn cold. To take this shot, I was at the bottom of the waterfall, standing in a pool of water up to my shins. It was freezing, but I got the angle that I wanted. And it was darn fun too. It would have been too easy just to hike to the falls, take the standard shots from the side of the creek, and hike back. Boring. I’ve done that before, but I wanted something different this time.
I did not see anyone else all morning. I thought for sure there would at least be some fisherman around when I got back to the car. But nada. That’s what I love about hiking early in the morning. But the weatherman almost messed me up this time. The forecast was calling for overcast skies all morning, and rain starting in the afternoon. But when I woke up, it was completely clear skies! Since it was supposed to be overcast, I wasn’t overly concerned about getting there at the stroke of dawn. If I had known it would be clear, I might have gone earlier because I know this waterfall gets the early morning sun. If the sun is striking the falls, it creates a lot of contrast and it does not create good conditions for photography. It is better in shade or overcast conditions. So I was worried about being too late. But alas, as it turned out, I had plenty of time before the sun came up over the mountains onto the waterfall. So it turned out to be a wonderful morning, and I had plenty of time before I had to be back in Folsom.
Posted in Uncategorized by leapin26: February 25, 2008
After shooting the lunar eclipse on Wednesday, and after getting the kids tucked sweetly into bed, I wanted to get down to the river to shoot the Folsom bridges at night under a full moon (ok, technically it was one day short of fullness). So off I went. It was quite dark walking down by the river, and I did not see anyone else walking around down there. There are two bridges over the American River in Folsom (and one pedestrian bridge). I thought the new bridge would make for a better night-time shot, and I think it would make for a good one earlier in the evening, but it was a bit dark this late at night. The old, historic Rainbow bridge was also quite dark, but I saw the full moon reflecting in the river in the foreground, which I thought was pretty cool, so I tried a long exposure. I think it turned out rather well. This photo was shot at iso 100, f/8, 176 secs.
Posted in Uncategorized by leapin26: February 24, 2008
Here
Posted in Uncategorized by leapin26: February 22, 2008
I just purchased a SPOT Satellite Messenger. This handy dandy little device will take quite a load off my wife’s stress level when I go out hiking alone. It works in a similar way as a personal locator beacon, but is cheaper and has more functionality (though not necessarily as reliable). It uses GPS satellite signals to send distress 911 call in emergency situations. In addition to this, you can send a HELP (non 911) message to your contact, or just an “I’m OK” message. This sends an email message (or text message) to your contact with a GPS coordinate and link to Google maps, so they know exactly where you are. It is a pretty cool little device, and considering that I often hike alone, it is really important for my (and my wife’s) sake. I have long considered getting a personal locator beacon type device, but the price of that has put me off. This seemed perfect for me. I have read that it has troubles getting a satellite signal with partial overhead cover (trees etc.), but I tested it in my backyard and it worked perfectly fine. It does have a lot of different flashing light combinations that are weird and tough to figure out exactly what they all mean. Anyhow, we’ll have to see how it works out in the woods. I am kinda excited about having it now. Peace of mind and all that jazz. I especially like the idea of the “I’m OK” message. I can let my wife know at any time exactly where I am and that I am okay. A couple years ago, my bro-in-law and I went on a backpacking trip. We were very late getting back to the car (after dark). We were fine (though extremely tired), but our wives were beyond crazy because we were past due checking in. This device would have saved us all a lot of anxiety.
Posted in Uncategorized by leapin26: February 21, 2008
