Leon Turnbull Photography

The fires this year in California have been horrendous, seemingly much worse than a normal year. For the first time ever, all the national forests were closed for a couple weeks. Some are still closed. Some parks are still closed. (Sequoia National Park, in particular). So what caused the increase in fires this year? Do not say “climate change”. Honestly, this is a personal opinion, but I hate when people say that, and people say it all the time. Climate change does not cause fires. It may play a factor in the fires (one of many factors), but it does not cause them. I will tell you what caused the increase in fires in 2020: COVID-19. When I say that, I do not mean the virus causes the fires. (that is as dumb as saying that climate change causes fires). It is people! Over 90% of all forest fires are caused by people. And this year, with COVID-19, a much larger number of people than normal have been out in the forests, hiking and camping and recreating. And that means, a much larger than normal amount of stupid people have been out in the forests. And that means, a much larger than normal amount of fires. Am I wrong?

Speaking of fire, I figured it was time to return to the Pool of Cold Fire, an absolutely magnificent canyon with very difficult access.

Actually, though, I had no intention of returning here this Fall, but I bought a new raft. My old raft had a number of holes in it. I fixed all the visible holes, but it was still leaking. It was time to buy a new one. I had big plans to go on a particular rafting adventure this Fall, and after I bought the raft, that area caught fire and is still burning right now. I will not be able to do it this year. (and that is not the only one of my Fall plans that have gone up in smoke – literally).

I really wanted to try out the new pack raft, so I decided to return to the Pool of Cold Fire, which is pretty easy introductory rafting adventure, but not so easy hiking adventure. I started the hike at 2PM on Saturday afternoon, finally arriving at the pool at 4PM. (it is only 2 miles). It is a big descent down to the river, then you need to hike up the river, crossing it, wading through it, hiking through poison oak, and finally you arrive at the Pool of Cold Fire. I was tired by the time I got there. My legs were actually shaking from exhaustion. I guess it has been too long since I’ve gone on a tough hike. I had my dinner and rested, and then blew up the raft.

I found it was a bit difficult to maneuver the new pack raft with the new paddles, more difficult than I anticipated, but I managed to get to the end of the pool, where there is an obstacle you cannot paddle around (rocks in the middle of the river). That required me to get out of the raft in the middle of the river, trying not to dump myself and my gear into the river, and drag the raft up over the rocks. It is a bit tricky. On the other side, I left the raft and walked up to the waterfall, Lower North Fork Falls.  It is also tricky to view it as you need to climb up on a very steep slope with a very steep drop-off into the river. It is an absolutely beautiful little waterfall, even though it is small.

I took my photos, got back to the raft, paddled back, packed up, and scrambled back down the river to the main trail. My legs, as I mentioned, were very tired. I tried to be careful, but I fell a couple times. No injuries, but it could have been worse. One time, however, I slipped on the wet rock and started sliding into the river. I was certain I was going in for a swim. There was nothing to stop me. Yet somehow, I managed to stop myself just in time. The truth is, however, that it was God that stopped me in time, because I was definitely going into the river. If I had, I think my camera and phone probably would have been ruined. Thank you, Lord. I got back to the trail. It was 6:20PM. Sunset was 6:50PM. I grossly underestimated how long it would take to hike out of the canyon. It is only 1.5 miles, so I figured it would take 30 to 45 minutes. I forgot about the elevation. It is a 1300 ft. ascent to the top. I should have known it normally takes about an hour to climb 1000 ft., so this hike out would take well over an hour, and it would be well after dark when I got back to the car. It took exactly one hour to climb out (better than I thought), but it was still dark when I finished the hike. It was a magnificent hike in Tahoe National Forest.