So long story short … yada yada yada … we had to get rid of our Jeep and buy a new vehicle. We bought a new Kia Telluride, shiny dark red. It is sweet and fancy. I am naming her Pepper, short for Dr. Pepper (the can is the same color). Tara does not like this name, although she was the one that suggested it. Go figure. Of course for her first adventure I had to go up Foresthill Road to the New York Canyon area. The last adventure for our old Gator was here. The first and last adventure for our Jeep was here. So the first adventure for our new car will be where? You got it.
I wanted to try to get to the lower falls on West New York Canyon Creek below the main waterfall. I thought I could do it. Huh.
There was still a little bit of snow left at 6600 ft. elevation but not much. Descending down into the canyon there is a lot of brush. My legs got all scratched up. Is it my imagination or is there a lot more brush than before? I was just here last year! I was scared of all the brush. What I mean is I was scared of stepping on a rattlesnake. I have already almost stepped on four of them this year. I have hiked down here a few times before and never given it a second thought but this time I am freaked out of my mind of stepping on a snake. Thankfully the brush gets a lot less the further you go down. It is a 1500 ft. descent.
I got down to the viewpoint of the main waterfall. I thought that if I could just get past the first cliffy part at this spot then it would be a cakewalk. According to the Topo maps it should be pretty easy. Well, I got down past the first part all right. Then I hit a real cliff. No further entry down into the canyon was possible. Dang. I retreated to the main waterfall viewpoint. I had two hours before it would be in good light. I did not want to wait here two hours. I already have a decent shot of this one. I went back up the mountain.
On the way down, there was another waterfall I saw on the eastern branch of the creek. I had not been to it before and it looked like a real nice drop. It was much easier to get down to this one and I got right to the brink of the waterfall. I only had to wait an hour for the sun. I sat down on the rocks and ate my dinner along with the ants and mosquitoes. (actually, there were only a few mosquitoes but I did put on bug spray to keep them away).
The waterfall is 38 ft. high. It is a very lovely cascade and especially nice because there were pretty wildflowers along the edge of the cliff in front of it. I took a few photos from different angles. It took 1.5 hours to climb back up the mountain to my car. It was a fantastic first adventure for Pepper in Tahoe National Forest.
