A few weeks back my wife shared me a map of the current location of one of the wolf packs in northern California. The map seemed to show them very close to Lower Deer Creek Falls in Lassen National Forest. I said to her, this will be a great hike for Journey and myself to go see the wolves. She said, no way! I said, why not? I would love to see wolves in the wild.
Fast forward to Black Friday when our family was up north for Thanksgiving. On the way home I thought this hike would be a good one for myself on Journey. It is sort of on the way. Of course I knew the wolves would probably be 100 miles away by now. But hey, you never know. It is a good little hike and Journey has not done it before. The last time I did it was in 2012 with my previous dog Kaya.
It was another very cold morning, about 28 degrees. We stopped at the upper Deer Creek Falls first, took a quick photo and then drove down to the Lower Deer Creek Falls parking.
According to the national forest website this trail is currently closed due to the 2024 Park Fire. However, that fire never even touched this area so there is absolutely no reason the trail should be closed. I thought it would be worth taking a chance on it. I was right and it was perfectly fine. There were no signs at the trailhead indicating a closure and the trail itself was in perfect shape.
Lower Deer Creek Falls is only 10 feet high. It is a cute little thing but not exactly a magnificent waterfall; the trail, however, is a beautiful one following Deer Creek the whole way. It is really a great hike and not difficult. The trail continues past the waterfall and Journey made it very clear she wanted to keep going. Daddy, however, did not want to go any further. We took our photos and then went back. Sorry, Journey. Next time, perhaps, we will go a lot further.
Sadly, we did not see any wolves. The only wildlife we saw was a squirrel that made a fantastic leap of about 6 or 7 feet from one tree to another. All the while Journey watching it closely and hoping it would not make it. It was another beautiful and brisk morning in Lassen National Forest.
