THE BEAV
We got back at it a couple days after Bear Creek, and next up was Beaver Falls, another one I really like going to. Tara came with me again. This was surprising, especially since I almost did her in at Bear Creek. She’s amazing.
Beaver Falls is a very easy hike. One mike along the rail road tracks. Very flat. No problem. Right? Not so much when there is snow on the ground. It was deep enough to make that easy mike hike quite difficult. We should’ve had snow shoes. We did not. Tara was cursing me once again.
The bears seemed to like the snow, however. We saw a few of their prints, including some from cubs that seemed to be playing along the railroad tracks. Aren’t they supposed to be sleeping in January? It is just so darn warm out, even the bears don’t know what to do. Did you hear about the one that was on the Lake Tahoe ski hill recently with all the skiers? Crazy.
Once at the top of the waterfall it is a steep and potentially deadly descent to the bottom. Tara wisely chose to stay at the top and wait. Actually, it is not that difficult. Even the bears went down to the bottom. Only the very last part down to creek level is particularly steep and there is not much in the way of hand holds, but I slid my way down safely.
Beaver Falls was rockin with snow melt. It is odd that Bear Creek was at a lower flow and Beaver Falls was at such a high flow. At this time of year, Beaver Falls should be low and iced over, but the warm weather has caused the snow to melt early, and Beaver Falls was going off crazy! This also made it especially difficult, actually impossible, to get right up close to the waterfall. The creek bed was coming right up to the side, and the snow cover over it was extremely sketchy. If you sink through that snow into the creek, you are in big doo-doo. But with the cliff blocking the view, you cannot otherwise even see the waterfall without getting into the middle of the creek. That is a big dilemma. I managed to make my way out onto a slippery rock and pluck my tripod as far out into the creek as I could reach it to take this photo. I got my boots slightly wet, but they are waterproof, so no damage done.
While I was down at the bottom, a train came by on the railroad tracks. The railroad goes right over the waterfall, and you can see the bridge from the bottom. I took video of it passing by overhead. Stay tuned for that Waterfall Madman adventure (I am SOOOO behind in my videos). Then on the hike back to the car, the same train came back and we had to boogie over to the side and wait for it to pass us. The conductor waved at us as he went by. In all the times I have been there before, I have never seen a train. In fact, I thought the tracks were out of commission, as I think I heard that from someone. Obviously not.