Leon Turnbull Photography

So remember a couple weeks ago I said I was really bummed because on the day I was planning to go to this waterfall they turned off the tap? Well they turned the tap back on this week. I figured this would be my one and only chance this year to see this waterfall. It was Memorial Day weekend.

What the hell was I thinking!!! I never go anywhere on Memorial Day weekend. There are too many people. I hate crowds. I hate horrendous traffic. Driving down to Shaver Lake the traffic was absolutely horrific! I was stuck going 5mph for about 50 minutes. I had enough. I was ready to go home. Once I finally got past this section I exited the freeway. I needed a break. I needed a bathroom break. I needed a dinner break. I needed a reset. Well after checking my map I figured it would be a two hour drive back home. And it was two hours to Shaver Lake. Going back the traffic would definitely be bad. Continuing on it did not seem there were too many more slow spots. I felt recharged a bit after dinner. I decided to continue.

When I arrived at Shaver Lake I needed to find a place where I could sleep in my car. Off the beaten path. With no one else around. On Memorial Day weekend. I drove to the place where I would be starting my hike in the morning. It was a good spot to park and sleep. No one else was around. Indeed I saw no one at all out in this area the entire weekend. I was shocked. It is Memorial Day weekend! I definitely expected to see some people out camping or hiking somewhere the next day. Nada.

I got up at 4AM to start my hike in the dark. I had until 7:30AM to get to the waterfall and I figured it would take 2-3 hours to get there. I had to make sure I had enough time. So off I went in the dark.

In very short order I came across a massive road block. Actually, it was a road massacre. There was no road! A flood had completely wiped it out. There was a small stream running down the middle of the road with 30 ft. canyon walls on each side. I am not exaggerating. This new canyon was probably created in just 2 or 3 days. I had the understanding that this road was closed due to damage from the Creek Fire and that may have been the case but now it has been destroyed by a flood. I suppose it could have been from 2017 floods but I suspect it was from this year considering all the other damage that has occurred this year, especially in Sierra National Forest (where this is). It is incredible what a small flood lasting just a couple days can do. I wonder what a massive flood of 40 days and 40 nights could create? Oh yeah, we can see the result of such a flood now, can’t we? It’s in Arizona.

Anyway, I was really wondering if I could even get by this little canyon, in the dark. Fortunately I was able to. After this, however, the road did not get any better. Every small stream coming down the side of the mountain (whether it was still flowing or dry) had taken out a massive chunk of the road. The damage to the road overall is unbelievable. I was able to get by all these sections, however, there was one spot that was very narrow and I had to crawl on my hands and knees. Coming back across this section later was a lot sketchier than I thought it would be, with a big drop-off to the side of it. Crawling would not work so I had to jump across the drop-off. Do you think I am a Madman now???

As the sun came up I could now see across the canyon to my left and hear the river roaring. Oh wait, that is not the river. That is Stevenson Creek! The views along here were spectacular. I had no idea Stevenson Creek flowed through such a beautiful canyon. It would be a great place to camp. The upper falls was looking very impressive from a long distance but I would not be going there today. I continued down the battered and beaten road.

I had to exit off the road now and descend about 500 ft. to my viewpoint. I could see the waterfall from near the top and could have taken pictures from there but I could not see the bottom of the waterfall so I wanted to make the effort to get all the way down as planned. It was not cliffy or brushy but the foxtails were horrendous. I should have been wearing gaiters. I was not wearing gaiters. Ugh. I made it down to the viewpoint. It was 6:30AM. (an hour ahead of schedule).

Stevenson Creek Falls was massive! Wow! What a view! What a waterfall! The flow in the creek was 500 cfs coming out of Shaver Lake. This upper drop I measured to be 518 ft. high. I could also see the lower falls dropping onto the bridge from here. I could see the entire 1175 ft. waterfall from here. I took many photos. This is the first one, just showing the upper massive drop. I could see the waterfall overflowing onto the bridge below. I did not see any people down there (I wondered if there would be any but I guess not at 6:30AM). I have seen recent posts from people going to the lower falls and then not being able to cross the bridge because of all the water overflowing onto it. I have done that before myself. It is funny to me. Everyone hikes to the lower falls but you cannot see the upper waterfall from there (even if you can cross the bridge). No one hikes to the upper falls as I did on this day. Indeed, I expected there to be a good path down to the viewpoint but there was none. I’m sure someone must have done this before but I have not seen any photos from anyone. This is the only place to see Stevenson Creek Falls. I win!

I spent an hour at the viewpoint and ate my breakfast here. Afterwards, I felt I should have stayed longer. An hour did not seem to be enough to enjoy this spectacular waterfall. I climbed out of the canyon. Once back on the road I spent a good 30 minutes removing all the foxtails from my socks and boots. I hiked back on the massacred road to my car. I drove to Pizza Factory for lunch. I drove home. (the traffic coming in to Sacramento was horrible – ARGH). It was an absolutely spectacular morning visiting Stevenson Creek Falls in Sierra National Forest.

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