Leon Turnbull Photography

Just above Kings Creek Falls is an exciting series of cascades called (oddly enough) Kings Creek Cascades. They total about 100 ft. high, and they are very scenic and photogenic. I was warned, however, that the light hits them very very early in the day. My plan was to photograph Kings Creek Falls first thing, at sunrise. Then work my way back up to the cascades. I arrived at the cascades before 7AM, but the sunlight was already hitting them.

So what, you may say. What’s wrong with that? Well, when the sunlight is strong and harsh, it does not make for a pleasant photograph. It is usually much better to photograph waterfalls when it is overcast, or if the scene is in shade (before the sun hits it). Sometimes warm sunlight at sunrise or sunset can be nice on a waterfall, but never harsh mid day sunlight. Anyway, so the sun was already pretty harsh on Kings Creek Cascades when I arrived. I did, however, find this section at the very top of the cascades which was still rather nice. This scenic section of the stream is found just before the creek makes its big descent.

It just so happened that the full moon would be rising right around sunset while we were on the top of Mt. Brokeoff. That is the reason we wanted to hike up there of course on that particular evening. It would have been perfect if the moon would have risen right above Mt. Lassen. But alas, that was not to be the case. You can’t have everything. I guess. Instead, the moon was rising more to the east. It was a bright orange/red color as it rose above the horizon. It was definitely a great adventure being up on Mt. Brokeoff as the full moon rose.

This shot was taken with my 100-400L lens, which I lugged up to the top of Brokeoff. It is a heavy beast, and would have made much more sense to leave it at home considering how difficult the hike is to to the top. But I knew I would want it for taking photos of the moon. I did leave my other 24-105L lens at the bottom, as well as every other thing I didn’t absolutely need on the hike, to save as much weight as possible. All in all, my bag was pretty heavy. But I made it.

Brian and I slept in our respective vehicles overnight at the Brokeoff trailhead in order to get up at 5AM to make the hike out to Mill Creek Falls at first light. Neither of us were very comfortable and didn’t get much sleep. When we woke, we were both feeling rather sore and tired from the Brokeoff hike the previous evening. Not a good way to start a rather moderate hike.

The Mill Creek Falls trail is officially closed due to construction of the new visitor center and parking lot at the trailhead. But since it was Sunday, there was no construction, so we figured we could hike the trail. So we did. We just had to walk an extra mile (round-trip) since we had to park at the Brokeoff trailhead, and walk up the road to the Mill Creek trailhead. It was a rather difficult and tiring hike out to Mill Creek Falls, mainly because we were both so tired to begin with. The trail seemed like it went on and on and on and on, and it also seemed like it was more uphill going both ways there and back. Go figure that out.

Brian’s ranger friend, Russell, told us the previous night of multiple mountain lion sightings along this trail in the past couple days, plus a live deer that had half its face ripped off. That made us feel great as we hiked out on this trail in the dark pre-dawn hours. We did not enounter any kitties on the hike, though it did seem to me like it would be a good place for them to lurk with all the open meadow and tall grass along the trail.

Mill Creek Falls is a pretty nice, unique, 69 ft. high waterfall, as two creeks (East Sulpur and Bumpass) come together at the brink of the falls and drop over a precipice. Unfortunately, the cliffs here are too steep to get to the bottom of the waterfall. There is only one viewpoint along the trail where you can get a good look at the waterfall. Next time, I think, I just may bring some rope along with me and rappel myself down to the bottom. Maybe.

My friend Brian mentioned a week or so earlier that he was planning to hike up Mt. Brokeoff with some other friends in Lassen Natl. Park for sunset on the full moon. That sounded pretty darn cool to me, and maybe an almost once in a lifetime opportunity, so I invited myself along for the ride. Probably that was a big mistake.

I met Brian and his friends, Russell and Angel, at the Brokeoff trailhead at 5PM. Russell and Angel are both park rangers in Lassen, they are in their early 30’s, and they hike ALL the time. Angel didn’t even drink any water on the hike up to the top. For her, it was just a stroll in the park. I, however, chugged back my entire camelbak and then some. The hike up to the top of Brokeoff is 3.5 miles up, 2600 ft. elevation gain, to an altitude of 9235 ft. at the peak. It is a rather strenuous hike. I was the real slow poke in our group. I just could not keep up to the other 3 young’ins. Even Brian was able to keep up to the 2 young speed rangers without too much difficulty it seemed (but at least he ended up sore and tired the next day – ha !). The first part of the hike was quite a struggle for me because I knew the most difficult part was still ahead (and a long way ahead). But as we got up nearer to the top, the last part of the hike didn’t seem too bad and I gained a second wind (or a 49th wind), and made it up to the top without any vomiting. The other interesting factor was the weather. When we started out, it was stormy in the park, with lightning and thunder in some areas. We sure didn’t want to be at the top of Brokeoff in a lightning storm (carrying metal tripods). But as we got up to the tree-line, the storm broke and it ended up being utterly fabulous on the peak.

I was rather proud of myself getting to the top of Brokeoff Peak. I know I need to get in better shape so I can do hikes like this more easily. But I made it, and I was very happy to be up there at sunset. The light was incredibly gorgeous, with clouds from the breaking storm around us, and beautiful light falling on nearby Lassen Peak (pictured here).

We stayed up for the moon rise, then hiked back down to our cars in the dark. It was about 10PM when we got back down. Brian and I were staying overnight to get up for another hike the next morning (more craziness). But before we hit the sack, we joined Russell at the local pub for a drink in nearby Mineral, where he lives. The joint was packed with other park employees (there’s not much else to do in Mineral, I guess), and we watched women’s weightlifting (Olympics) on the TV. Exciting stuff.

Here’s a bigger waterfall for ya.

This past weekend I took a special trip up to Lassen Volcanic Natl. Park. The primary purpose was *not* to see Kings Creek Falls, believe it or not. More on this in my next post. But since I was here anyway, and since I really really wanted to get back to Kings Creek Falls, I decided to get up extra early and make the trip out to see it.

So I got up at the very lovely hour of 3:30AM and drove out to Lassen, arriving at the trailhead at 5:30AM. It was still dark. A friend told me the light hits these falls very early after sunrise. So I started hiking in the dark in order to get to the waterfall by sunrise. I was a bit early though, however, and it was still dark once I reached the falls. That was quite all right though. Better too early than too late. My friend also told me that this area of the park is a haven for bears. They like to wait in the meadows along this trail for unsuspecting early morning hikers passing by. Yum, juicy humans. Just kidding about the juicy part, but it is true that bears frequent this area. But alas, I saw none of the beasties on my hike this morning.

Kings Creek Falls is not the biggest, but certainly one of the prettiest waterfalls in northern California. I’ve been antsy to get back to it for a couple years now. Finally, I had a good opportunity to do so. In case you’re wondering, I was right down in the creek to take this photo. And yes, it was darn cold.

Now I just had to toodle around the park until 5PM. And try to get a good nap in as well. Easier said than done. Stay tuned.