Leon Turnbull Photography

I tried a new hike this weekend and it was almost really great. That is, to hike up above Horsetail Falls in the Desolation Wilderness without actually hiking up Horsetail Falls. That could be a challenge, yes? But I hate, really hate, the route up alongside Horsetail Falls. Of course I have done it before many times, but it freaks me out now in my old age. So how can I get up to the amazing area above Horsetail Falls without going up Horsetail Falls? The answer: Rocky Canyon.

Rocky Canyon is a steeper route and more difficult, but not so crazy treacherous and dangerous. In fact, it is not dangerous at all. The only problem is the brush, the awful brush. Indeed, I almost turned back, but persevered and found the way through, and after that the rest of the hike was easy smeasy.

However, I arrived at my destination, Ropi Lake, much too late. According to my calculations, the waterfall still should’ve been in shade, but it was clearly not. This is the second time in a row that the Photographers Ephemeris program screwed me over. Has anyone else found issues with this program recently? Well, I’m sure it was user error, and I will not be making this mistake again (he says so confidently). The sun still should have been behind the ridge, but it was well above it, for at least an hour or more, and I was not that late in arriving. Anyhow, I climbed out on the very slippery and dangerous logs to get in the middle of the creek, in order to get this shot of the lower part of the falls, which is certainly not a particularly good one.

On the way back, I passed through a campsite. The backpackers were gone off on a day hike, I saw them heading in the direction of Pyramid Peak. What amused me about their camp site, was the way they hung their food. It was horrendous! The food was strapped on a rope over a branch, only a couple feet off the ground. It would not have been able to prevent squirrels from getting into it, let alone bears. Seriously, you may as well just lay out all your food on a table cloth complete with napkins and utensils for the bears. A royal feast for them I would say.

I did hike back down along Horsetail Falls. I have never had trouble before going down that route, only going up. I knew there was one sketchy section but I was certain that I would have no troubles getting down. But alas, I was wrong again. There were a couple other sketchy sections that I did not remember even seeing before. One of them in particular was pretty crazy to get down safely. It was also darn hard on my old knees. Well, I did make it down and all in one piece. I’m definitely not too excited about trying that again. I would definitely do the Rocky Canyon route again though, if I can figure out a way to get around that awful brush.