Leon Turnbull Photography

It was late in the year but perhaps I could get in one more quick backpacking trip before winter. How about going back to Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Eastern Sierra? Sounds like a good plan to me.

It was a very strange morning. I made a pit stop in Lee Vining for the bathroom. I had considered “holding it” until I got to Mammoth Lakes, but it turned out to be a darn good thing I stopped. I had already decided to fill up with gas in Mammoth because I knew it would be cheaper there (over $5 in Lee Vining!). Well, I got to Mammoth Lakes and drove into the gas station. It was closed. You could not even pay at the pump. I drove to the next one, same thing, and the next. What the heck? It is 8am on a Saturday in Mammoth Lakes, and nothing is open. What a strange town! As I drove back to the visitor center, I finally realized what was going on: The power was out in the entire town of Mammoth Lakes! It must be that new PG&E  policy of turning power off for wildfire prevention. It was not even windy!

Anyway, I began to wonder if I would even be able to get my backpacking permit since the power was out. Well, there were a few people in line, and a ranger was there doling out permits. Since they did not have power, they had to call in the permits to their headquarters. The problem: There was only cell service for those with Verizon. Apparently the ranger’s phone did not work, and my phone did not work, and neither did the lady in front of me have any cell service. Thankfully, the guy who came up behind me had service and let myself and the lady in front of me call in our permits. It was quite an adventure (and I have not even started hiking yet!) But I got my permit and I was on my way to Devils Postpile National Monument.

There were a lot of people on the trail, but as soon as I got off the main trail and onto the Fern Lake trail, I saw zero people. On the way up the mountain, I only saw some day hikers. I do not even know where they would be coming from for a day hike (what they told me made no sense – Bayshore?). It is a tough climb up to King Creek, gaining over 2000 ft. in elevation, and it took a lot longer to hike than it seemed it should. I was struggling with the high elevation as well, and I was very tired. This was strange because I was at the same elevation as last week, and I did not have any problems on that hike. My pack was also a lot lighter this time, since I was only going for one night.

I arrived at King Creek in the early afternoon, and looked about for a campsite. There was nothing on this side of the creek, so I decided to cross the creek. This was not difficult because the creek flow was low. I was hoping the flow would have been much higher because it is a big creek and we had a big snow year. It is late in the year, however, so I guess I should be happy it is flowing at all. I found a nice spot on the other side, and setup camp. I had cell service  (here, but not in Mammoth!), so I chatted with my wife via text and made dinner. After dinner, I made my way down to the lower falls. There are three waterfalls on this creek. I camped by the middle falls, and I would hike to the upper falls in the morning.

It was not very difficult to get down to the lower falls. In fact, I was ecstatic. It was easier than I thought it would be,  it was already in shade earlier than I thought it would be, and it was much much prettier than I thought it would be! I expected the lower falls to be more of a cascade, and with the low flow on the creek, the cascade would not be very interesting. However, it was not a cascade, but it was a drop dead gorgeous 70 ft. high double drop in a narrow canyon. It was absolutely stunning.

How many people have ever seen King Creek Falls or even knew it was here? I suspect some people have been here, I guess, but no one has ever documented this waterfall before. The waterfall madman, the king of the waterfalls, is the first to document beautiful King Creek Falls.