Leon Turnbull Photography

After running out of daylight last week, you know I was going to be back here again the next weekend. I was anxious to get to the upper tier of this waterfall while it was still flowing. I think it would have been better last week, though. I estimated the flow in Cascade Creek was about 3/4 of the flow from the previous week. It was still ok, but this upper section especially would look much more impressive with more water flowing in the creek.

I had a big agenda again for my hike this week, and the timing would be paramount. I hiked straight to the upper falls. I made nary a glance at Cascade Falls as I hiked by it, continuing on to the Upper Cascade Falls, and completely bypassing the lower tier. I crossed the creek, and climbed up the granite slope and back over to the upper tier, where I found a great viewpoint as I expected, though it was slightly tricky to get over to it. You don’t want to be sliding down the slick slope to the bottom, if you can help it. That might hurt. I measured the upper tier to be 37 ft. high, exactly the same as the lower tier. Go figure. As I said, it would look pretty amazing at higher flows, but will I be able to cross the creek (twice) at higher flows in order to get here? I will definitely be trying it someday in the future. Not this year, obviously.

After shooting the upper falls, I continued my hike up into the wilderness where I found yet another waterfall. It was a pretty one indeed, and I will be sharing that post next. You won’t want to miss it. It did take a bit more of an effort than I expected, so it was a good thing I was quick getting to Upper Cascade Falls. I made it back to my car just as it got dark. Perfect timing. It was a great hike into the Desolation Wilderness.