Leon Turnbull Photography

Last weekend I ventured up into the mountains to search for some snowy waterfalls. Amazingly, I had not even been up to Tahoe this winter yet. I was hiking in the snow earlier this winter up in northern CA, but not in Tahoe. This is odd for me because I always like to go up to Tahoe in the winter.

Anyway, I almost didn’t make it this time either. It seems that whenever I plan to get up very early and go out hiking, I have a lot of trouble falling to sleep the night before. This time was no exception. I had an awful time getting to sleep on Friday night, and in fact, got so little sleep that I almost considered turning my alarm off. And I would have turned it off, except that I missed out on hiking the last two weekends previously already. So when 4:30AM finally came around, I forced myself to get up and dragged myself out to the car.

My goal was Meyers, so actually not quite all the way to Tahoe. I considered going to Eagle Falls for sunrise, but since there were no clouds in sight, I knew it would be a boring sunrise there. I do want to go back to Eagle Falls and shoot it at sunrise again, but the conditions will have to be just right. So instead, I ventured out to the Upper Truckee River in Meyers.

When I arrived in Meyers, I stopped at the gas station there to use the facilities and get a drink. That is when I realized I had left my wallet back home! Geepers, I sure am having trouble with my wallet lately. Remember, I almost lost it hiking a few weeks ago. This time, I forget it completely. Well, at least I knew where it was this time. I was able to scrounge up enough change in my car to get a drink, but the lady in the gas station was sure unfriendly. Was it because it was too early in the morning and she had not had any coffee yet? or was it because I was giving her too many nickels and pennies? Who knows.

I was expecting there to be more snow melting here because of all the warm weather we had in March. I was glad to see there was still lots of snow around, but it also meant the waterfalls would not have as much flow (but they were still quite good). I had to walk through the snow to get to the falls, and though I had my snowshoes with me, I did not need them. The snow was hard and just perfect for walking on. I carried my snowshoes though, just in case I needed them later. I also was carrying all my lenses. Don’t ask me why. My load was very heavy, and at the higher elevation, I was huffing and puffing on the hike, and quite tired by the end of the morning.

I have been to this waterfall on the Upper Truckee River before. It is about 20 feet high, and is very easy to get to. It is a nice little waterfall when the river is flowing, but later in the summer, there is just not enough flow in the river to make it interesting. I wanted to return here though to see what it was like in the winter, and also because a co-worker informed me of another couple waterfalls on the river upstream from here. I will talk more about that in my next post. As for this one though, I had a very enjoyable time photographing it. All the snow makes for a very pretty setting.