Leon Turnbull Photography

It was supposed to rain all day on Saturday. At first it looked like I would not be able to hike at all on Saturday but by the end of the week the forecast had changed. The rain would not be starting now until a bit later in the morning. Maybe I could get a quick hike in before it started. Not to just one waterfall, but two waterfalls! Two brand new waterfalls in fact.

The first one was quick and easy (picture is forthcoming). The second one was about a one mile hike and I got to the trailhead at 8AM. Depending on which forecast you believed the rain was supposed to start at 8AM or 9AM. (they were both wrong, actually). I really hoped to get to this second waterfall before the rain started. I did not care if it was raining on the hike back out, I just wanted to be there before it started so I could get some nice photos. I felt a couple drops on the way in so I wondered if I was going to make it but a couple drops was the extent of it. I even saw a bald eagle on the hike.

I discovered Lower Mooney Flat Falls on Google Earth awhile ago but I was not sure about my planned route approaching the waterfall from below. It seemed very steep and very brushy. Indeed it was steep and brushy. Too steep and too brushy. Both of my mapped options were an absolute no go. I could not find any way down to the creek. Worse than that I ended up getting into the poison oak. Even though I did not make it down to the creek I did see a third possible option. It looked like if I could get down to the top of the waterfall then there was a good chance I could find a view of the falls. I retreated back up the trail and looked for a way down to the top of the falls. I found a trail. It was a beautiful well trodden trail. It was a very easy trail! It led me all the way down to the creek at the top of the falls and down to a perfect viewpoint. Just as I suspected. Oh man I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had found this trail straight away (and I could have avoided the poison oak!).

Obviously people have been here but no one has ever documented this waterfall before me. It is a bit smaller than I expected but it is still over 20 feet high (25 feet high to be precise) and certainly incredibly pretty. It was a very beautiful morning in Nevada County. I even got back to the car before the rain started.