I did not sleep well. It was not because of the new quilt. I was quite warm. The new quilt is a winner. I also had my sleeping bag liner which I always bring when it is below 40 degrees. For the first part of the night I was in fact too warm with the liner so I had to shed it but I put it back on when it got colder. I think the reason I could not sleep was because it just got dark too early (5PM). Even though I tried to do some reading I still was not tired. Eventually I drifted off late in the night.
I woke up at about 5:30AM and packed up all my gear. As soon as I exited my tent, all of a sudden the temperature was much colder. Significantly colder. The new Durston tent seems to hold a lot of my warmth. Interesting. I never noticed that with my old tent.
When I got back down to the brink of Chilnualna Falls it was still dark but it would start to lighten up soon.
My goal #3 for this trip: View the massive Chilnualna waterfall unlike anyone has done before. You can view Chilnualna Falls from the main trail but it is a long distance away. When you come to the top of the falls on the trail there is no view of it to be had. I have wondered for a long time whether a better and closer view is possible. My initial idea for this weekend was to attempt to get up to it from the bottom. It seemed an impossible task. I don’t know if it is or not but it definitely would be extremely difficult. When I got to the brink of the falls the previous day I came up with a better plan. Hike down the ridge on the opposite side of the creek. It looked do-able. Very do-able. Crossing the creek was easy. I did not even get my feet wet. The route was brushy but I found a way around it. I descended the ridge to find this amazing viewpoint.
The main drop of Chilnualna Falls is 231 ft. high. At this time of year it is a magnificent and stunning waterfall. I could not quite see the bottom of the falls from here. It would have been possible to continue further down the ridge but I knew the further down I went the less I would see of the bottom of it. This was the best viewpoint that could be had. I have seen just one other photo of Chilnualna Falls from this side but they rapelled down the cliff. Admittedly they had a better viewpoint but rapelling is not in the cards for me. No rapelling needed! My route was steep but not cliffy. This trip was a massive success in my books.
It was very cold and windy on the ridge as I took my photos. I did not linger. I still had to go back and photograph the middle falls before the sun came up. I hiked back up and made my way over to it. I got right up to the base of the middle falls this time which I did not do before (and would have been impossible at high flows). Afterwards I made some coffee at the brink of the big waterfall before hiking back down the trail to my car. I saw just one group coming up the trail and there were no cars in the parking lot at the bottom. When the sun came out it was very warm and I was hiking in shorts and a shirt. It is funny because when I got back home it was so much colder! I needed long pants and a jacket! That darn Tule fog has been lingering in the valley for a long time now. I wish it would end and we would get some rain and snow instead. This winter has started off horribly. The snow pack is currently at 7 percent of normal (north), 23 (central) and 63 (south). Please God, let it rain! We have a weak La Nina but only the northwest is getting the rain so far this winter. Send some of it down south please. Anyway, it was an overwhelmingly successful overnight trip at Yosemite National Park.
