As of Mar 1, the snow pack in California is 92% of normal (north), 77% (central) and 76% (south). Rain is at 91% (north), 75% (central) and 76% (south). In the southern Sierra we are still quite a bit below average as of Mar 1. Certainly we have gained much ground since Jan 1 when the snow pack was 30% but March is going to be the make or break month. With the Great Blizzard happening this first weekend in March, I suspect we will end up slightly above average for the year. This makes me quite happy. DISCLAIMER: I wrote this post before the Great Blizzard. This past weekend has indeed put us over the top for snow pack this year. We are now above average overall but there is still a full month to go, so the final stats could still change for better or worse (if we don’t get any more snow this year).
It would have been nice to get into the snow this weekend but it didn’t seem very intelligent to do so, and the roads were closed anyway. I thought about going to Oroville again but I did not feel like getting up and doing that. Instead, I took Journey for a good long walk in the morning before it was to start raining again. After that I decided to go on a drive by Folsom Lake in search of a new waterfall. You may be thinking, well that is stupid. Folsom Lake does not have any waterfalls. That makes logical sense but it is not quite correct. I actually had this one on my radar for many years but never bothered to go check it out. It did not seem worth it. Much rain would be needed. Folsom does not usually get a lot of rain. Well, after this weekend there has been a lot of rain, right?
I found the waterfall. It was not difficult to get down to it. Parking was a bit of a problem but I found a spot. The waterfall is 76 ft. high in total, with two separate tiers. This lower tier is 32 ft. high. The upper tier is 44 ft. Both are nice but I thought the lower one was slightly prettier so I’m showing it here first. As for the creek flow, I was disappointed. It was not good. After all the rain I thought it would be much better. I would definitely come back if I knew the creek was higher. It is a pretty one, though. The only bad thing is that it seems to be a place where people dump all their old tires. There were a whole bunch of them, including some right beside the upper waterfall. Definitely a bit perturbing. I also found a better waterfall nearby on a different creek but it could be tough to get to it. That will be an adventure for another day.
