Leon Turnbull Photography

An old photo from 2020 but a new and very interesting story. I had a plan to return to Mud Creek Canyon Falls at Mt. Shasta and see it closeup. I had a good route mapped out and I figured Journey would be able to do it as well. Indeed I thought this would make a good one night backpacking trip. It would be Journey’s first ever backpacking trip. The plan was set.

We arrived at the trailhead late morning. It was only a 4.5 mile hike to our camp but with 1100 ft. elevation gain. Not too bad. I knew Journey could do this … except … I bought her a little backpack so she could carry her food and water. She was really dragging on the climb up the mountain with the extra weight. I thought she did really well despite going a lot slower than usual.

We stopped for lunch at the first water source: Squaw Valley Creek. There was no water! The creek was completely dry. I was not expecting this at all. We continued to the second water source where we would be camping. This was dry as well! This was officially a disaster. I was sure that these two creeks flowed year-round. It is not a drought year. Why are they dry? Well we would not be able to camp here now and we certainly would not be able to continue up to the waterfall. Journey was almost out of water. I was counting on there being water in these two creeks. We would have to retreat. She did not have enough to get back so I had to give her some of my water and we were bone dry by the end but there was plenty of water in the car. She was also extremely tired. I realized now that her pack was too heavy. I should have had it half the weight. It was a big mistake on my part and a lesson learned. She is a real trooper though and did so well keeping up to me on the hike. Nonetheless on the way back down I took the pack and carried it for her. This really helped but she was still very tired.

Once down I decided that instead of going home we would find someplace to sleep in the car and do a different hike in the morning. We drove to McCloud for dinner and I got Journey her own hamburger. This perked her up. Then we went to the local park where we relaxed for a couple hours. It is a nice big park and there was no one there. Journey did a bit of exploring on her own and snoozed a bit as well. Then we drove out to the place where we would hike in the morning. It was the first time for Journey sleeping in the car and I think she got more sleep than I did. We woke up very early and started hiking in the dark. I should have let Journey sleep some more but I thought that since I was awake we may as well get up and get going.

This hike was very interesting and mysterious …

The area has been officially closed for years. People still go here anyway. And why the heck not? So the bridge and dam are out. That is no reason to keep it closed. So there was a fire here some years ago. That is no reason to keep it closed. There is an alternate way to go here that is not closed. I am sure that is what we must have done. It was an easy route. A perfect hike for Journey after the difficult one the previous day.

There was no waterfall. I have not been here before but I know I was in the right place. The waterfall was gone. Destroyed. It was a huge mystery. I suspect it must have happened during the glacial flood event of 2021 (which also took out the bridge). It was a huge bummer and I was quite disappointed. It just goes to show that nothing lasts forever so if you have something on your bucket list then do it now. Don’t wait.

I wanted to continue on to the Lower Falls (photo shown here) but it required crossing the creek and Journey refused to cross it even though it was not too bad at all. I think maybe because it was muddy and she could not see where she would be stepping. She is funny about crossing creeks. She is awesome on rocky steep stuff but she needs to do better on creek crossings. Well I did not want to force her so we turned back. I saw a bear. I don’t think Journey saw it. It was only for a couple seconds and then it clambered down the steep bank to the creek and out of my view. We got back to the car and I made Journey her breakfast. Then we made the long drive home to see mama and of course she was ecstatic to see her and tell her all about the awesome trip she had with daddy. It was a very mysterious and fun trip to Mt. Shasta.

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