DAY 2. THE BIG BOY
It was a very cold night. The temperature was supposed to be 39 degrees, but I suspect it was colder than that. I woke up early. I was planning to hike to Big Valley in the morning. I was hoping this would not be too difficult, but unfortunately it was worse. I thought it would be a simple walk along the river bed. Nope. It is only two miles. The first mile is great. There is a fantastic, easy to follow Forest Service trail. Then it just ends. Oh come on, Forest Service. Why would you end the trail here? After the trail ends, it becomes extremely brushy, extremely steep and extremely cliffy. I made a good attempt to get to Big Valley, scrambling for a couple hours along the dangerous cliffs, and through the extreme brush. Eventually, I ran out of time, and decided to go back. There is no point in going there if I cannot get good photos. Someday, I may try again.
When I got back to camp, it was noon. I was dead tired. There is no way I could hike back up the mountain, so I decided to stay the second night. There was one more waterfall I wanted to see in the evening, anyway. I hoped I could get to this one, but again, I was not sure.
I spent the afternoon at camp. I started a campfire to keep the mosquitoes at bay, I took a nap, and enjoyed the scenery. I saw an interesting thing on the other side of the river, high on the cliff, and barely seen in the far off distance. It was a cross. On the edge of a cliff. It was quite big, perhaps 50 to 100 ft. high. It was not anywhere near the trail on the other side, but right on the cliff. I thought it highly unlikely anyone could have put it there. My wife had various theories, ranging from rock climbers to Sasquatch to Aliens. Frankly, I think Sasquatch is probably most likely. Perhaps God put it there, just for me to see it. (apparently, it was put there by some people quite awhile ago – no idea why).
I saw a couple snakes. One was a garter snake in my camp. The second one freaked me out royally. I went to the river to get some water. As I bent down to scoop some up, I saw a snake swimming right for me, about a foot away. It was just a water snake, not a rattler, but boy did it scare me! I jumped two feet in the air.
After dinner, I made the waterfall attempt. This requires multiple creek crossings of Big Granite Creek. Again, no possible way to do this any earlier in the year. The waterfall is hidden, tucked away in an incredible alcove with towering cliffs on each side. Access is blocked on both sides of the creek. The only way there is to cross the creek at the end of the waterfall pool, and at the top of a mini waterfall. The water was deep, and would have been up over my head I suspect, but there were big rocks in the creek to stand on. Just don’t slip off them, madman. After this little section, I had to continue across the top of the mini waterfall. Slowly and surely, but I made it. What an amazing location! The waterfall is drop dead gorgeous, about 60 ft. in height. The surrounding cliffs and pool are absolutely stunning. This is the Big Boy of the waterfalls at the confluence. I only know of one other person that has been here before. It is a hidden masterpiece.
After photographing the waterfall, I reluctantly went back to camp and to bed. It was a much warmer night.