FRIEND OF THE DEVIL
As of April 1, the rainfall is at 80% of normal (northern CA), 79% (Central CA), 64% (South). The snowpack is at 47% of normal (northern Sierra), 64% (Central Sierra), 55% (Southern Sierra). March was the fifth wettest March on record, thanks to three very big storms. With those 3 storms, we went up from about 20% snow pack to 50% snow pack.
So was it a true Miracle March, as many people are saying? I would say yes and no. First and foremost, I thank and praise God for all the rain we received in March. Many people were praying for rain, and He answered that prayer. The snow pack more than doubled in one month, as did the overall rainfall. It would have been very depressing indeed without that March rain. Nonetheless, overall, a 50% snow pack is still very dismal and awful. The good news is there is rain continuing into April. This rain will probably bring us up close to 100% of normal for precipitation, but it will not add much to the snow pack, unfortunately.
All right, on to the waterfalls …
I have been sick recently and I have not been out hiking much. Also, I just had dental surgery and now I am out of commission for this weekend in recovery. However, in between those things, I did manage to get in one new visit to an old friend. The Devil is most certainly NOT my friend. However, his waterfall is not too shabby, mostly because it is very easy to get to. Except for that darn road.
I have not been down here since the storm damage of 2017. The road was closed for most of last winter, and only opened again in the summer. I was dreading the drive down. It was an awful road before. What would it be like now? It seemed maybe a slight bit narrower and a slight bit rougher on the way down. Or was that just my imagination? It was probably the latter, I suppose. The main thing I hate about the road is that it is so narrow, unfathomably narrow in some spots, with horrendous dropoffs. If any cars are coming in the opposite direction, there is no way to pass. Thankfully, I saw no one.
However …on the other side of the river, the half mile up to Devils Falls, the road was most certainly much worse. There are huge ruts in the road now where there was none before. A four wheel drive seems a necessity now.
In addition to seeing Devil’s Falls, I also tried to get to the upper falls, and also down to Shirttail Falls. When I did those hikes before, it was shortly after the fire, and pretty easy to get to them. No brush, no poison oak. Now the brush is back and the poison oak is back. In force. The poison oak was humongous. I did NOT want to get into any oak. It was not worth it. I decided to turn around. I finished photographing Devil’s, then drove went back up the mountain. There was a big storm coming in, and it was good to get off that crazy road before it all started.