Leon Turnbull Photography

One evening last week, I went on a wild adventure to Wentworth Springs up on Ice House Rd. This was the 3rd time this year I have tried to get to a waterfall up there. Would the 3rd time be a charm?

The first time, I got stopped by too much snow on the road. The second time, there was still too much snow on the road, but I tried snowshoeing in from Loon Lake instead. I did not get very far that way. The only option was to wait until the snow had melted on the road. Would it be melted now?

Wentworth Springs is about 9 miles from the turnoff to Loon Lake, so I started counting down the miles the closer I got. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 … now there was snow on the road. I was thinking “uh oh”, but it wasn’t too much to stop me yet. 3, 2 … and then I came to a dead end.

There was a sign on the road for the Rubicon Trail, followed by a huge puddle and a fast rushing creek flowing over the road. I did not realize that the road to Wentworth Springs was actually part of the Rubicon Trail. Easily passable if you have a high clearance jeep, but not so much with a low clearance SUV. There was no way to continue further in my vehicle. But not too hard to continue on foot … or bike … and I was only two miles from the waterfall. I just happened to have my bike with me, for this very reason. And it would be a lot faster on bike than foot, so I thought.

So I put on my water shoes, packed my camera gear into my bike pannier bag, strapped my tripod onto the bike rack with bungy cords, and set off on the wild adventure. The first item of business was crossing the creek, so I just had to lift my bike above the rushing waters and wade across. It was not too difficult. Soon after, I came to a second fast rushing creek. Would this be a frequent theme? I crossed again, and continued biking. There were no more rushing creeks to cross after this, but there were a heckuva lot of huge puddles, very deep, and stretching right across the entire road. I had to frequently get off my bike, walk through the huge puddles carrying my bike over them as best I could, then get back on the bike on the other side. It was slow going.

Finally I came to a crossing of Jerrett Creek (where fortunately, there was a bridge). According to my GPS, this was where the waterfall that I was looking for should be. There was a small waterfall on Jerrett Creek just up from the bridge which looked like a pretty nice cascade, but this was not what I was looking for. I was looking for a waterfall on Gerle Creek, but I did not see Gerle Creek anywhere. According to my GPS, Jerrett Creek dumped into Gerle Creek downstream from here, and that is where the waterfall should be. So I ditched the bike, and started scrambling down the creek. But it was very difficult. Firstly, there was a heckuva lot of brush. Secondly, Jerrett Creek was going every which way but loose. The entire area was flooded and it was very swampy, so I essentially had to splash my way through the swampy area and try to follow the main branch of the creek downstream. The creek was ice cold, and my feet were starting to get numb. I knew that I could not continue like this for very much longer and considered turning back. Finally I reached Gerle Creek, but there was no waterfall there as my GPS was telling me there should be. So I had to turn back. When I got back close to the road, that is when I saw the waterfall. There it was, on Gerle Creek, and right beside the road! If I had just continued biking up the road a short distance after passing Jerrett Creek, I would have seen it! Well, talk about wasted effort (but good exercise at least, I guess). Anyway, I retrieved my bike and walked up to the waterfall.

By now it was getting quite late, very close to sunset (and I still had to bike all the way back to my vehicle). I scrambled down to the creek as quick as possible and took my pictures. Then I went back to the waterfall I saw on Jerrett Creek and scrambled up there to shoot that waterfall as well. When I was all done, the sun had already set. I did not even take the time to measure the height of the waterfalls. I had a 30 minute bike ride back to the car, and I knew it would be dark by the time I got back. So off I went back down the road as fast my legs could peddle. It was actually much faster going back. I biked right through some of those puddles instead of walking through them (for the big ones though, I still had to walk). Along the way, I met up with some folks parked on the side of the road with their jeeps. They were trying to drive the Rubicon Trail. They probably thought it very strange to see a bike rider coming along in the near darkness. I talked to them for a couple minutes, but I had to get going quickly. I got back to my car just as it was getting quite dark. An excellent evening, and I was very glad to have found these two waterfalls. But I think there is a lot more in this area, and I will have to get back there to do more exploring some day.