RE-DO
So after my hike at Mile Hill Creek, I decided I just had to go see 144 ft. high Canyon Creek Falls after all. I am still looking for that monster flow at Canyon Creek. Would I finally get it?
It was wet and rainy, a perfect day for a hike. The rain was mostly light though, so I did not get too wet … until I slipped on a log while crossing over a stream, and ended up with both feet planted right in the water. Doh. Why I thought that flimsy log would hold my weight, I have no idea.
It is a pretty easy hike down to the overlook at Canyon Creek, and I made it in good time, picking up a couple ticks along the way – which I promptly sent along their way, over the cliff. I hope they had a nice flight.
It is a bit difficult to know exactly what the river flow was when I arrived because there is a delay in the water reaching the gauge at the North Fork Dam. The North Fork American River peaked at just over 10,000 cfs from the Rain-Ocalypse Part II, but that was in the middle of the night. By the time I got down here, I estimate it was around 6000 or 7000 cfs. We picked up 8.5 inches of rain in the Northern Sierra foothills, but it was all spread out. The river level was up and down all weekend. The river looked to be raging and much higher than when I was here in December (when it was around 4000 cfs), but Canyon Creek Falls looked exactly identical to how it looked in December. I could not even tell any difference from comparing my two photos. I guess I was hoping it would look a lot more impressive with higher flows, but it seems not. Nonetheless, I will still keep coming back here in the future. It is an amazing place. Unnamed waterfalls were streaming off the mountains. I could barely make out Lovers Leap in the distance through the fog. The Big Waterfall itself was almost in fog and I was fortunate that I was able to see it. It was an incredible day in the North Fork American River canyon.