As of Feb 1, our California stats do not look so good. Snow pack is at 60% of normal (north), 53% (central), and 35% (south). Rain is at 77% (north), 51% (central), 43% (south). It is up quite a bit from Jan 1, but clearly we are still far behind average. The Southern Sierra in particular is in dire straits. We need a huge February and March to catch up. Having said that, voila! We have two monster storms hitting us this weekend. The first one was not really so big, actually. We just had 2.5 inches of rain in the foothills. I had wanted to go back to Oroville but they only had 1.5 inches. But the Bay Area? 4 inches of rain. Hmmmm, should I go back to Marin County one more time?
I asked my daughter if she wanted to hike with me. Shockingly, she said yes. Usually she wants to rest on the weekend because she is dancing 5 days per week, but for some reason she wanted to hike this weekend. And this would not be a particularly easy hike either.
I wanted to return to Big Carson Falls because I did not have a very good photo of it. Plus it should be absolutely rocking with all the rain. In fact, I was a bit worried we would not make it. There are three big creek crossings and after 4 inches of rain I thought they might be at flood stage.
I picked Nekoda up from her dorm at 7am and we got out to the trailhead by 7:30am. There is just one single parking spot so it’s a good thing we were there by sunrise. It was a Big Chilly morning for us to see Big Carson Falls but we warmed up quickly. It is a 700 ft. climb up the mountain and then a 600 ft. descent down to the creek and waterfall (and reverse that on the way back). The creek crossings were pretty tame. We rock hopped the first two without much difficulty. The third crossing I had to wade across but you don’t even have to do that one in order to see the waterfall. I went across to get a better photo angle but Nekoda did not bother with it. I was a little surprised the crossings were so easy. I have been down at this creek in the past when it has been uncrossable and I was expecting similar conditions after so much rain.
Big Carson Falls is 56 ft. high. We chilled out at the base of the falls enjoying it very much. It was gorgeous and flowing much better than the last time I was here. I was pleased. I think Nekoda was pleased as well. She thought the hike was a bit too hard though. She asked me which of my muscles were sore after the hike. I told her none. I don’t think she believed me. We ended the day with a pizza lunch. It was another magnificent morning in Marin County.
This is of course the famous viewpoint at Little Phantom Falls with Phantom Falls in the background.
It is funny how this view has significantly changed. When I was last here the only way to see it was to climb out on a very dangerous rock outcrop with a huge dropoff. I chose not to do it that time because the rocks were very wet and slick. Also, the view of Little Phantom Falls by itself was only obtainable by crawling through poison oak and to the edge of a cliff. Now … ??? They have cleared away all the trees and poison oak and now anyone and their chihuahua can easily come to see Little Phantom Falls with the view of big old Phantom Falls in the background. Is this a good thing? You be the judge. You don’t need to climb out on the scary rock anymore although you still can do it. I did not this time because I had Journey with me but I’m not sure you would get a better view even if you did climb out on it.
The old man returns to Phantom Falls. It was my birthday. I took the day off work and went for a hike. To one of my favorite places. With Journey.
Journey is a high energy, high maintenance dog. That is not a bad thing, it is just the way she is. It is built into her genes from her breed. She will play fetch with mom for an hour non-stop and still not be tired. I don’t think I am exaggerating much. She loves her walks with daddy and also “needs” a walk every day. That’s not possible every day but I try to take her most days. I knew a 9 mile hike at North Table Mountain would not be a problem for her even though it was twice as long as anything we have done so far.
We arrived at sunrise. No one else was around. Yet. It is a very popular place, even in winter now. Even on a weekday. It never used to be popular in winter before. There were no cows around either. Yet. We began our journey to Phantom Falls.
I have to say I was disappointed with the amount of water flowing. I saw a photo from the 15th and it was flowing quite well. Since then they had 5 inches of rain. It should be absolutely amazing today. But alas, it was no better than the flow on the 15th. It was not horrible, it was good, but definitely not amazing, which is what I was expecting and hoping for. Indeed I was worried about crossing the creeks with Journey. Would she be able to even do that? Well, it was not really an issue at all.
We stopped at Ravine Falls first. Then to the viewpoint at Phantom Falls. Then we crossed over Phantom Falls and continued on, looking for another waterfall, however the creek was dry (disappointing). I did see a coyote, which was cool. Journey did not see it. We also saw a bunch of bones from an eaten cow. Someone had a feast (I assume it was a mountain lion, not the coyote, but who knows). Journey was very interested in sniffing all the bones. We came back to Little Phantom and Lower Ravine Falls, had our lunch at Lower Ravine Falls, then continued on back to the car. Journey did not want to cross the creek at the top of Lower Ravine Falls. It was not really that deep but I guess it was too deep for her and she could not see the bottom where she was stepping. We went upstream a bit and found a better crossing. It was a good 9 mile hike by the time we were all done. Journey was very tired and slept on the drive home (but was raring to go again once we got home). She did awesome on the hike. She was incredibly patient while I took photos of all the waterfalls. She listened well and was so happy. It was by far the best hike we have had thus far together.
As for the cows? We came close to them a couple of times. Journey was entranced. Can I go chase them, daddy? Pretty please? They certainly kept a close eye on her as we walked by. All in all, it was a fantastic birthday hike at North Table Mountain.
My second hike of the day was in nearby Kentfield. There were a ton of cars parked by the trailhead. I was a bit shocked. It was a rainy day and there were still this many people out hiking? And it started pouring. It was not supposed to rain until the afternoon, but it was raining. And hard. Maybe everyone else was not expecting it to rain until the afternoon as well.
Well a little rain has never stopped me. The hike started out with a very steep uphill. This road was crazy steep. After a few hundred feet of climbing it leveled out at a point where I needed to drop down off the road and down to the creek. It wasn’t too steep of a descent, thankfully, and I made it down to the waterfall in short order.
Bill Williams Creek Falls is 21 ft. high. Whoever Bill Williams is I have no idea. When I got home I looked up the name, however, and found this: “Legend has it that a ‘treasure’ lies buried somewhere on Mount Tamalpais. Bill Williams, after whom Bill Williams Creek is named, is said to have deserted the Confederate Army taking along a chest of stolen Confederate gold.” I did not find any treasure down at the creek except for this pretty waterfall. Nonetheless, I was expecting more water in the creek. There was a lot more in the first waterfall and the creeks are about the same size. It is difficult to take photos in the rain but I managed. Thanks again to Mike for telling me about this one.
I hiked up the mountain and then back down to the car. I decided to skip the third hike that I had planned. I was supposed to meet Nekoda for lunch. I wanted her to come hiking with me but she dances five days a week. She says she needs to rest on the weekend. I suppose that is smart. At least she can have lunch with her old man. It was another beautiful morning in Marin County.
I returned to Neverland (aka Marin County) to retrieve the waterfall I missed last weekend and more.
It rained one inch on Friday and a half inch earlier in the week so the creeks in the Bay Area should still be full. You would think. It seemed to me about the same as the prior week. I arrived at sunrise and found my one and only parking spot in the same spot as last week.
This was supposed to be a very quick hike but it took longer than I expected. Even so, it was all on trail and very beautiful following the creek the entire way. It is a magical place when it is green and lush and there is water. There was a bit of poison oak but I think I avoided it. After seeing the waterfall I continued up the trail a bit but did not find anything else.
Thanks to friend Mike for telling me about this one a few years ago. South Fork San Anselmo Creek Falls is a lovely 25 ft. high horsetail waterfall and it was flowing quite nicely. I had to sit down in the poison oak to take this photo. Kidding, but there was some right beside me. I was happy to finally see this waterfall. Now I don’t ever have to come back to this location with practically no parking available. After this I went on a second hike in a different spot so stay tuned for that…
