Leon Turnbull Photography

One thing I can tell you is … You go to be free … Come Together … Right now … Over me.

So what happens when one incredible creek splits into three significant channels and then comes together at three separate waterfalls? Absolute magnificence, that is what.

The middle falls on West Cherry Creek looks huge from below. It is a strange thing. I thought there is no possible way I’m going to be able to climb up it. When you get up to the bottom of it, I found that it is not that big and it is not difficult to climb to the top. I suppose the actual drop is about 50 ft. or so, but it is hard to gauge the actual height. As I said the creek splits into three separate channels up at the big waterfall, and flows separately for quite a while until it comes to the middle falls, where it joins back together at three waterfalls. My favorite waterfall of the three was the one on the 3rd channel, on the other side (shown above). I got to this spot at the bottom of the falls on the 1st channel, and used it as a foreground for my photo. It is an amazing location. In order to see the main waterfall on the middle channel, I had to climb up above the falls, then cross the first channel. I had to go quite a ways above the falls before I found a safe place to cross the first stream, then hiked back down to the main falls (I have many more photos to process).

I slept very well, and took my time packing up in the morning. I was not in a rush to leave. I did not want to leave, it was so beautiful. But alas, eventually it was time to hike out of the canyon. It is a steep 1300 ft. climb back to the logging road. It took two hours (1.5 miles), the same as coming down. I felt good, and did not even feel that tired until some point along the long downhill slog of five miles on the logging road back to the car. Now I was tired and ready to go home.

There were hundreds of butterflies along the road. It was very cool. They would fly all around me as I walked along. They were smart enough to get out of the way before I would step on them. It made the boring walk on the logging road quite entertaining.

Finally, I got back to the car. I saw that someone had been up the road, and cut back some of the downed trees blocking the road. But he missed one of the trees, which I thought very odd. Why did he not cut this one, and how on earth did he drive by it? So weird. Anyway, I made the long drive home, stopping of course at Pizza Factory in Groveland, as I always do. It was a glorious trip into the Emigrant Wilderness.