With The Fam
Codfish Creek Falls is not one I would normally go to on my own for a number of reasons. I have been to it many times before and usually I like going to new stuff. But on Sunday afternoon I wanted an easy hike that our whole family could go to and Codfish definitely qualifies.
I tried to go out to a waterfall on Saturday. With four inches or so of new rain in the foothills I figured Canyon Creek at Gold Run would be perfect. And it almost was. I like to call Canyon Creek, Tick City because it is infested with the little buggers in the spring. I once had to brush off about fifty ticks clinging to me after hiking about a mile down the canyon. I figured this trip would be no different. It is early in the season but the ticks are out already due to the warm weather and lack of precip this year. Out in force. I have heard it is the worst season for ticks perhaps ever (and I know that the last two seasons have been very awful). However, I did have some good news. This last storm brought low snow, about a foot to Gold Run. All the ticks were buried under it, making my hike more difficult but much more pleasant with no ticks. Unfortunately it also brought one more difficulty: that darn narrow freaky bridge crossing over Canyon Creek just above the first waterfall. As it was very early in the morning and very cold, the bridge was a skating rink, very icy, and very dangerous to cross. One slip and I would have plunged into the cold fast rushing creek below. Not good. I decided to turn back. A wise decision but it made me very disappointed.
So that is why I wanted to go out on Sunday. I needed to at least get to one waterfall this weekend even if it is one I’ve been to before. My family has been sick and didn’t really want to go, especially my daughter, but I managed to talk them into it and everyone had a really nice time.
There was a lot of people out on the trail to Codfish even though it was late on Sunday afternoon. This is another reason I don’t like to come here anymore and if I do it would be at sunrise before anyone else is out and about. Once we got to the falls I had to wait quite awhile for everyone and their dog to clear out of the way so I could have a view of the falls with no one in the way. In the meantime the kids had fun throwing plenty of rocks into the creek. I was able to easily get right into the creek to take this photo. After an inch or more of recent rain here I thought the creek would have quite a bit more flow on it. Not so.
The last reason I may not come here much in the future, though, is a new one: there is now a $10 fee to park here! What the heck? You have to now pay ten dollars to go on a one hour hike?? Let’s be honest folks, this is totally ridiculous. And let’s just consider how awful the access road down to the river is, which requires a high clearance vehicle to drive on, and the facilities consist of one small dirty outhouse. So what is my fee going towards anyway? I would not likely mind to pay perhaps a $5 fee (at most) but $10 for a one hour hike is way way over the top. Nuff said.