It was not very cold this year in Canada. There was a bit more snow than last year (not too much though). We did not have very many days up there so I did not have any hiking plans, however I always have to go visit Marysville Falls. It is very easy to get to and very close to my sister’s house. I have probably been to it more times than my sister has. Ha ha! It is also very interesting to see how much snow and ice is covering the waterfall. This year it was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be like: decent flow in the creek and a little snow and ice but not too much. It was perfect.
After photographing the waterfall I took Journey down to the bottom where the creek meets the river. From there the trail continues on the other side of the creek but there was too much water in the creek to cross it without getting wet and I did not want Journey (or myself) to get the shivers from the ice cold water so we continued along the river on this side of the creek. The trail only went a short distance before the snow became too deep. We scared up a couple deer and they decided to escape from us by swimming across the river. It was fun to watch them cross. Journey was certainly interested in them. I saw some unexpected wildlife on this trip. A lot of deer. Only one elk this year (usually I see a lot of elk and a herd of them often come straight through my sister’s yard). I also saw a fox and a moose, both of which are quite unusual to see. It was a lovely short trip to British Columbia.
As of Jan. 1 here is the current California winter status. Snow pack is at 161% (north), 94% (central), and 72% (south). Rain is at 134% (north), 71% (central), 70% (south). As you can see the north is doing well so far but not the rest of California, and now we are heading into a 3 week dry period to begin the new year. La Nina is nowhere in sight. Argh.
We were on our way to visit my family in Canada near the end of December. It was a rain day. Streams were flowing out of nowhere down the mountain sides. When we go to Canada I do not usually like stopping too much, especially the first day because it is such a very long day and very long drive. Certainly there is no time for a long hike. However, it seemed like I should stop somewhere. All the waterfalls were going nuts. I made a couple quick stops. The first stop did not work out because there was a big creek to cross which would require getting wet and I was not prepared for that. The second stop was just to little Sweetbriar Falls. I have not been to this one in a long time. The waterfall was flowing crazy. The Sacramento River was flowing crazy. It was pretty cool to stop here. Too bad we are now heading into a stupid dry period. Sigh.
Christmas Day. The family was up at my mother-in-law’s place for the festivities. These days that means everyone sleeps in til noon before opening presents. It is especially hard getting my daughter out of bed. The problem: I wanted to take Journey on a hike in the afternoon. Normally I would go on the 26th or something and take it easy on Christmas Day. That would not work this year, however. A storm was on its way and it was going to rain every day for the rest of the week. The 25th was the only possible day to hike. Somehow I got my daughter out of bed. I bribed her with coffee from Starbucks. (why is Starbucks open on Christmas Day anyway?) We opened all our presents and were finished by 12:30PM. It was a Christmas miracle.
I’m not so sure Journey even wanted to go on a hike. She got a lot of cool presents which she was really happy about and just wanted to play with them all morning. Once we got to the trail though she was excited about the hike. Of course she was.
I have never been to this waterfall in Red Bluff before although I have known about it for some time. It is dry most of the year so the conditions need to be just right but we had quite a bit of rain recently. I was pretty sure it would be flowing and it seemed like a perfect day to try it.
There was water out-flowing from Hog Lake and quite a bit of it. Another Christmas miracle. The Madman was happy. Journey was happy. She got to be off leash for the entire hike. We saw no one else around (except for one other couple). There were bugs on the beginning section near the lake. Why were there bugs? It is winter! I thought it was a bit strange, it must be horrible here in summer.
It is an easy trail down to the waterfall. At the end the trail is a bit rougher and hard to follow but it’s not bad. Journey had no troubles. Once at the waterfall it is a bit dicey. You cannot see the waterfall unless you get right to the edge of the cliff but that is suicide. The cliff seemed very unstable. I did not want to get too close to it and I kept Journey well back from it as well. Fortunately there is a big rock that you can climb up and get a better perspective looking down on the falls. Journey waited patiently as usual while I climbed up to take photos. Turtle Creek Falls is 30 ft. high exactly. It is a pretty little waterfall in a very unlikely location. We had a wonderful Christmas Day hike in Red Bluff.
I said I would return here to the scene of the crime with weapons in hand. Mission accomplished. It was raining on Saturday. No hiking. On Sunday, I did not have much time to hike after church in the morning and Journey was with her mom, so it seemed like a perfect time to return to Lower American Canyon Creek Falls.
There was quite a bit less water in the creek. I thought there would be more because it had rained on Saturday. Not enough, I guess. I quickly made it down to the lower falls and continued on to Maine Bar. I wanted to go further but that is all I had time for. I returned to the lower falls and prepared for my descent down into the poison oak. My new strategy for combating the oak this year? I put on my rain pants before I get down into it and once back on the trail I carefully take them off. It worked. I did not get any itch and I did not even have to scrub down when I got back home. Next time I think I may also wear my rain jacket in case I rub against the stuff with my arms.
I did get a better photo of the lower falls, I think. It was a bit dicey to go any further down to the creek so I did not, though I probably could have if I really wanted to. I hiked back up to the car in the dusk, constantly thinking about the girl that was killed by a mountain lion on this very trail way back in 1994. I did not have Journey to protect me today. Ah well, I survived. It was a lovely quick little hike in Auburn State Recreation Area.
Just two months ago all our astute forecasters said there was a very high probability we would be having a weak La Nina this winter. Today, La Nina is nowhere to be found and now they are saying it is probably not coming at all this winter. We are stuck in an ENSO NEUTRAL state. How did they get this so wrong? It is bad news and it explains why we have not had much rain yet this December. I was quite excited for a weak La Nina which meant we would have a very good chance for another above average winter (same as in 2023). But now? Technically we are still around average thanks to that Bomb Cyclone in November but how will the rest of the winter fare? I guess we will just keep praying.
I did not have much time for hiking this past weekend so I just took Journey on an easy/moderate hike back to American Canyon Creek Falls. It is my go to early season local waterfall. Journey went to this one last year and I knew she would not be able to get down all the way to the bottom of it. I imagined I could just have her wait up top again while I went down to take a couple quick photos. She is usually very good and patient when I take photos. However, I did not do this. The creek was flowing pretty quick but worse than that all the rock was very wet and slick on both sides. It would have been extremely difficult for me to attempt to cross the creek at the waterfall. I decided to skip it and instead try to get down to the lower falls.
The problem: I was wearing shorts and did not have long pants. This was very stupid. There is a lot of poison oak at the lower falls. I did *not* want to be in the poison oak. What to do, what to do? Well, there was not any oak at the top so I went down with Journey as far as possible. At the bottom there was indeed a lot of it so I figured I would just take a photo from the hill side while Journey waited for me patiently. I am going to have to come back here again soon for a better photo (and with long pants). I’m not sure I will take Journey though. It’s probably not a good thing for her to be in a lot of poison oak. Ah, we’ll see. We hiked back up the trail. I love how Journey runs up the trail ahead of me and then stops and waits for me to catch up. She is so good and smart. We arrived back to the car at sunset. It was a lovely little hike in Auburn State Recreation Area.
