SEVEN
Seven. That is the height of this new waterfall I found on upper Otter Creek. Give or take. It was a heck of a lot of work to get down here, and the poison oak was abundant. All for a seven foot high waterfall. But hey it was an interesting hike anyway.
I was certain that there would be at least a 25 footer on upper Otter Creek, or even more than that. My topo map shows a 50 ft. drop here, so I figured a good 25 foot drop would be a sure thing. Google Earth seems to show a possibility of a waterfall here as well. The problem, as I figured it, would be that it would be impossible to get down here. I had little hope of making it down due to the steep cliffy terrain, and the crazy brush. I decided to give it a shot anyway. Indeed, I almost did not make it due to the aforementioned crazy brush. Which, as you may think, was crazy thick near the top of the canyon. I could not find any way through the stuff, and in fact, had given up and was on my way back to the road when I saw a gully that was clear. I decided to head down the gully. It worked. It was quite steep but it was a decent path and free of the brush. Not free of poison oak. That was crazy too. It was strange but it seemed people had been down this path before. Way out here in the boony docks? Who would even think of going down here except me? And why? There also were a lot of bear trails crossing the gully here and there on the way down. Where were they heading to?
I made it all the way down to the creek, then realized the “waterfall” was quite a bit downstream from where I ended up at the bottom of the gully. There was a lot more poison oak to negotiate (unsuccessfully, I might add) but I managed to work my way all the way downstream, and what did I find? A 50 foot waterfall? No, just a couple very small ones, both under 10 feet. Ugh! All that work for nothing?? Well, I took a picture of one of them anyway, then made my way back to the gully and back up the mountain. It was tough going. The good news about it is that my back held up very well from this crazy hike. Even though it was just a tiny waterfall, I still enjoyed the hike. I love exploring new places, and being out in the wilderness where few people have ever been before. When I was down in the canyon, I felt so remote and alone. It was a great feeling. It would have been awesome though with a bigger waterfall.