Leon Turnbull Photography

This is easy to reach 69 ft. Potem Falls. I came here first thing in the morning before heading to Bear Canyon Falls (previous post). With the low flow it was easy to cross the stream at the bottom and get to the other side for a somewhat different sort of angle than the usual stuff from here. It is still quite a pretty waterfall and was flowing a bit better than I expected it to be. Of course it is an incredible waterfall when going at full tilt.

It seems that the dry weather will be continuing into January and the foreseeable future. There is nothing in the long range forecast. This is so disappointing and frustrating. This is the third straight year now, and this one is far worse than the previous two thus far. Folsom Lake is only at 19 percent capacity, and we already have mandatory water restrictions. If we do not get rain, we are headed for major drought next summer in California. But there is still time for a comeback. Pray pray pray. Please send us rain, Lord!

Well I didn’t have to spend Christmas alone at home like I did Thanksgiving, when I was laid out on my back all weekend. I thought it might happen, as my back was still not healed and driving up north had me concerned. It was going to be a painful trip. How on earth could I even think about hiking? But I WAS thinking about hiking. Heck, even if it was just an easy little one, I was emphatic that I would go hiking this weekend.

I went to Potem Falls first. That was certainly easy enough. Potem Falls was flowing ok, definitely not great, and it was easy enough to cross the stream, but nonetheless it was flowing better than I expected it to be. I will share that photo soon enough.

There is another waterfall near Potem that I have had my eye on for quite awhile. Bear Canyon Falls. Apparently it is only accessible by boat from Lake Shasta. But I was determined to get to it by land. And so I did. It was not exactly what I would call a hard hike … if I had a working back. However, it was harder than I wanted to do, all things considered, and it put my back to the strain. But I came out of it none the worse for wear and that was all I wanted. I did not want to make my back any worse than it was to begin with.

Like I said, it was not a particularly hard hike. However, there is no trail, there is poison oak, there are ticks, and at the end a very steep descent down to the creek. Well that is only partly true. There was only one tick. But that is because it was so darn cold out. And there was a trail. Actually there were two trails down Bear Canyon. They were human trails too, but they were very very old trails, and very very overgrown. They seemed to follow the canyon all the way down to the lake. I was able to follow them for the most part, but it was a challenge. How long ago did these trails see any usage? Years and years and decades and decades no doubt.

I made it down to a cliffy section and I could see where the waterfall was. Now how to get down this cliff to the creek? I found a path and carefully made my descent. It was not too hard, but there was quite a bit of oak to navigate through. Once down at the creek, I had to cross it to get any sort of view of the waterfall. I guess you could say the waterfall was BEARLY flowing. Haha, get it? Actually it was flowing not too bad though it would be very interesting to see it in high water. Nonetheless it is a highly intriguing waterfall, and highly challenging to view or photograph it. It drops through and under some huge rocks hanging over the creek in two segments, and it seems almost as if the waterfall falls underground. It is very dark under those rocks, and you cannot get up close to it or get a complete view of the falls. This is why I chose such a tight and zoomed in composition for my photograph. I think this best shows some of the intriguing-ness that I am talking about. It was a very nice hike to a very interesting little waterfall.

There was a bit more snow and ice at the Upper Iowa Canyon Falls. It was a magical setting. Quite easy to reach the upper falls because the water was so low but the shade and snow made the exposure difficult to handle. But I like the final result.

I did not spend too much time here because I had to get to the church. My kids were practicing for the Christmas play (the actual play was on Sunday). My son Jadon had one of the lead parts and he did a fantastic job. I was very proud of him. Nekoda did great with her part as well.

Please check out my latest Waterfall Madman Video (Episode 2 – Curtain Falls). Try to watch in HD 1080p if possible:

http://youtu.be/QoEdWdwupDA

25 degrees. That was the temperature. Brrr. My primary thought was how I was going to wade up the creek to the waterfall. My toes would freeze off in three seconds at that temperature. Literally.

I had another surprise though. Snow! I was certainly not expecting to find so much snow still left from last weekend’s storm. Even down at river level there was still quite a bit of snow left. I was very pleased about that. I love going to snowy and icy waterfalls. But would I make it?

It would have even been better if I’d come here last weekend with all the fresh snow. It would have been awesome. Nonetheless it was fantastic today with the ice around the waterfall. I needn’t have worried about wading up the creek either. With the low water flow, I could easily walk up the creek bed, in fact the creek bed was completely dry. It seems the water goes underground just below the waterfall, which was weird. The prickly brush was easy to navigate as well with the snow covering it. The only real difficulty was climbing up over the rocks right in front of the waterfall, which was slightly tricky but not overly terrible. It was so gorgeous at the base of the waterfall. Definitely a worthwhile effort.

My back held up very well as well, this being the first hike I’ve done in a couple weeks. It was so great to get out in God’s creation again.

Please check out my latest Waterfall Madman Video (Episode 2 – Curtain Falls). Try to watch in HD 1080p if possible:

http://youtu.be/QoEdWdwupDA

We are still waiting for the big rains to start. The last storm only dropped about 1.5 inches, and less in other areas. We are going to need a lot lot lot lot more before the waterfalls start flowing again. I was disappointed again when the forecasters backed off on the rain that was supposed to be here this week. This is exactly what happened all last year. Maybe next week?

This is Pheasant Creek Falls in Oregon. It is not on Pheasant Creek. It is not on any named creek. There is another waterfall very near this one. It is on Pheasant Creek. That one is not called Pheasant Creek Falls. Are you confused yet?

My 2014 waterfall calendar is now available. Get yours in time for Christmas!

http://www.waterfallswest.com/gallery/cal-2013.html