MORE FRENCH
I had thought there might be an upper falls on French Creek, but I had not planned to try to get down to it. The terrain looked far too cliffy and it seemed out of the realm of possibility, but mostly I was not even sure there was another waterfall there.
However, as I hiked back up the road from the lower falls, I looked down and I could see there was another waterfall down there. It did look very steep and cliffy, but I decided to try it. If I could do it, it would be so awesome. I descended the mountain for the second time. Down down down, I went. It looked like I was going to get cliffed out, but hey maybe not. I continued down, and soon enough, I was at the creek level, below the waterfall. From there, I was able to just work my way up beside the creek bed to get up close to the falls. And hey, there was no poison oak down at the upper falls. Bonus!
This upper falls is slightly bigger than the lower one, 54 ft. high. It was thundering over the cliff and down the canyon. It was utterly spectacular. Again, it was very difficult to photograph because of all the mist, in fact, the mist was far more intense at the upper falls.
Once again, I ascended back up the mountain to the road. Now I was very tired. But back on the road, it was an easy hike back to the car. I picked up a ton of garbage along the road and also some down in the canyon. My pack was way heavy because of it. Too bad I have a bad back, people! Thank you so much! But no worry, I picked up all your trash that you left (if you are reading this), and now French Canyon is once again pristine (until you go back in the summer).
As I drove back on the dirt road, I passed a truck that was parked just off the road. I saw it on my way in, and I found it curious that there would be anyone parked down here. Camping in the middle of nowhere? As I was wondering this, an old crazy looking lady came running out at me, flagging me down. Oh boy, what is this? Well it seems their truck battery died and they needed a jump. She and her husband were stranded there all night long, and then all morning until I came by. Geez, what if no one came by all week? It is winter, not many people go down here this time of year. Anyway, they were nice folks. Glad to be of service.