Leon Turnbull Photography

This is a neat series of little waterfalls, found above the main cascade on South Fork Silver Creek (my previous post). It is called the “Tea Cups” by the kayaking community. When the flow is higher in the spring, the kayakers will come out of their winter holes and run this creek. This section may not seem so daunting, but right below this is that 77 ft. high cascade just waiting. That is just too crazy for me. If you think I am crazy, battling mountain lions and red-necks, and poison oak, and scrambling up steep cliff sides and crossing rushing creeks, and such, to get to some remote waterfall … well, kayaking is just one thing I will not do (anymore), no thank you.

I had a bad experience on the Trinity River in northern CA once. It was on a particularly easy section of the river (well, relatively easy compared to something like the South Fork Silver above). I dumped out of the kayak in a section of rapids, and basically, was going down the rapids without a boat, crashing along the rocks, and losing my wedding ring and paddle in the process. We had to quit (no paddle makes it tough to work a kayak), and hitch hike back to our vehicle. It is really all my wife’s fault, actually. She was into kayaking more than I ever was, and got me into it. But the kayaks that she (and her dad) have are for experts, not beginners like myself. So they are rather difficult to maneuver, even on relatively easy sections. Granted, it is a fun and exciting sport when you can do it correctly. But I now prefer to keep my feet on solid ground, relatively speaking.

Anyway, back to the South Fork Silver Creek. To get up to this viewpoint, I had to scramble up a very steep and difficult cliff, to get above that 77 ft. cascade. Just remember, scrambling up cliffs is not as crazy as kayaking, though it may still be crazy. I got to the top, and voila: the Tea Cups. It is quite a pretty section of the creek, and I was very happy to get up there to see it. I shot this photo with my 70-200L telephoto lens.