Leon Turnbull Photography

My night at Waterwheel Falls was my coldest night of the trip. It did not get down to freezing like it did at Harden Lake (though it was probably a bit under 40 degrees) but it felt much colder probably due to all the mist from the waterfall. Once I put on all my layers I was quite warm in my sleeping bag so it is definitely a very good thing that I brought my extra clothes. Of all the gear I brought with me in my 46 pound bag the only thing I did not need were my spikes and a second can of fuel and my rain gear. (it never did rain on my trip though it was in the forecast). All in all I think I packed very well.

One of the major waterfalls I wanted to see on this trip was Cathedral Creek Falls, a monster 350 ft. tiered waterfall dropping straight into the Tuolumne River. It is 3 miles downstream from Waterwheel Falls so I needed to get up early and hike back down the trail as quickly as possible in order to make it there in good lighting. I arrived at the falls at 8AM. Cathedral Creek Falls was definitely one of the highlights from my trip, an absolute beauty. You cannot see the upper tier from the river side so the photo shown here only shows the lower tier dropping into the river (I did take a photo of the upper tier also).

After photographing Cathedral Creek Falls I could finally relax and I made my breakfast with coffee here enjoying the sight of the waterfall in the warm sun before continuing on my journey. Of course I still had to make it back across Register Creek.

I got back to Register Creek at around noon, right on schedule. The creek may have been a bit higher than the day before but it was not noticeable and I safely made the crossing. I suspect that one day later the creek would have been significantly higher. The river flow jumped up from 980 to 1080 cfs on 5/3 (and continued to rise even higher on the days following). Whether it would still be crossable or not I don’t know but I am glad I planned my trip the way I did. Safety first.

My destination for this day was Piute Canyon, a very interesting side trip from the Tuolumne River with questionable access. Who ever said the most beautiful things are easy to reach? The trail is seldom used but it is not hard to follow at first. Until you reach a massive swamp. The trail seemed to go straight through the swamp. It was deep and ugly. I did not (and could not) hike through it. I tried to find a way up through the brush around it and with great difficulty I did. Now on the other side of the brush I could continue on the trail easily again. Until I came to the section where I needed to go off trail and down to my camp along Piute Creek. This part was extremely brushy and difficult. I do not remember it looking so brushy on Google Earth. Indeed it was supposed to be nice and open. Well I made it down to the creek and I was happy to find a nice camping location right beside a gorgeous 50 ft. cascade (this was a nice bonus waterfall on my trip). Piute Canyon is a very beautiful and seldom seen canyon in Yosemite and I had a very lovely evening.