Leon Turnbull Photography

Took a quick trip up to Lion Slide Falls in northern California this past weekend. I met my friend Brian there at about 5:30AM, and we walked up to the falls to take some sunrise shots. Only a photographer is insane enough to get up this early in the morning, and thus Brian is about as insane as I am. He’s a pretty decent photographer too, or so he thinks (just kidding, Brian!). He is also completely paranoid about wild animals such as cougars and the like. So much so, that he bought a long hiking stick that is actually a spear, in order to combat any such animal that thinks he would be tasty enough for breakfast. He has yet to use it (which I guess is lucky for him, and lucky for the animals as well).

Anyway, Lion Slide Falls is a nice little 24 ft. high waterfall along Hatchet Creek near the town of Montgomery Creek. It is a popular swimming hole in the summer, and Hatchet Creek flows well throughout the year. When the creek is very high, you can’t even get up to the falls. But if not, it is easy to get up to the falls without getting your feet wet. But of course, I (and Brian too of course) did get my feet wet, in order to try to get a better photograph. The creek was not all that cold, surprisingly. Compared to freezing Eagle Creek at Tahoe, Hatchet Creek was like putting my feet in a hot tub (well, not quite). I also managed to lose my lens cap in the creek here, and had to watch as it floated nicely down stream and out of my sight. Well, at least it wasn’t my camera (or my camera bag, like that lady at Eagle Falls).

The big log in the middle of Lion Slide Falls is a “trademark” feature of this waterfall. It has been firmly entrenched on this waterfall for a very long time, and I suspect it will be there for a long time to come. I may be wrong, but I think it got situated there as a direct result of the forest fire that occurred here in ’96 and/or the huge floods of ’97. But that was slightly before my time.