Bomb Cyclone 2024. Over 10 inches of rain in 3 days. The waterfalls should be rockin if I pick the right place. I was definitely going to hike on Saturday. But where? My initial plan was to go the Bay Area, however I learned on Friday the road was closed to the place I was wanting to hike. Now what? Somewhere else in the Bay Area? It had to be somewhere that Journey could do fairly easily. I decided to return to Phantom Falls in Oroville.
How would the Phantom be flowing today? It should be pretty amazing. It should be incredible. As I drove up to the trailhead I always look to Schirmer Cascade. This will tell me how the rest of the waterfalls on Table Mountain are flowing. I could not see Schirmer Cascade at all! It was completely enveloped in fog. I think God wanted to surprise me at Phantom.
I arrived at the trailhead 30 minutes after sunrise. There was already a car here! Who else other than the Madman would be out on the trail so early? There is another crazy person around here? I wondered.
I realized I forgot my tripod at home! Oh that was stupid. I usually always keep it in the car but I took it out for a certain reason and forgot to put it back. Ugh. How am I going to take photos of the waterfalls today? I wondered.
Journey was ecstatically happy. The previous day she had been cooped up in the house all day. Not able to go outside because of the rain. Not wanting to go outside because of the rain. I promised her we would have fun on Saturday. She was so excited to start the hike! There were no cows at the beginning so I let her off leash. I had to keep a close watch. It was foggy which made it more difficult to see and you can quickly come up to cows if they are hiding just over the next hill. Before we reached Ravine Falls we came across a big conglomerate of them so I put her on the leash. They were right on the trail so we had to go a bit cross country to get around them. At this time I saw someone coming back on the trail. He was talking to himself or someone on the phone or to the cows. I don’t know. We chatted a bit when we reached each other. I quickly realized I knew this person! It was my Facebook photographer friend Bradley. It was very cool to meet him. He had been out at Phantom Falls for sunrise. That is what I should have done but Journey woke me up a couple times in the night and I slept in a bit too long. I would have gotten some great shots of the waterfall in fog had I been up in time but now the fog was all gone. When Bradley realized I had forgotten my tripod he very generously offered to let me borrow his but I declined. I would figure out how to get a decent photo without a tripod.
There is a big creek crossing at the bottom of Ravine Falls. The waterfall was flowing very strong. I was worried Journey would not be able to cross the creek. I thought I might even have to carry her across it. She does not really like creek crossings and this would be a big one. In fact, it was her biggest creek crossing yet. The water was up to her belly and she crossed it like a trooper. I was very proud of her.
Before we reached Phantom Falls the rain started. It was not supposed to rain for another two hours! Darn those forecasters again. It was raining hard and it was also windy and cold when we reached the viewpoint. Journey is usually extremely patient with me as I take photos but not today. She was cold and wet and not wanting to stand around waiting for me. I do not blame her. We did not spend much time at Phantom Falls and were soon on our way back to the car. I managed to get a decent shot. Not too bad for no tripod in the rain and wind!
Phantom Falls was amazing. It is not the biggest I have ever seen it though. After more than 10 inches of rain I thought it might be even bigger. Nonetheless, it was a terrific and very wet morning at North Table Mountain.
