Leon Turnbull Photography

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.