After Christmas we drove to Canada to visit my family. It was somewhat sad for me because we would first be attending my mom’s memorial in Rossland. It was not a surprise that she passed but I do really miss her greatly. There were so many little things on the trip or places we went that made me think of her and miss her.
On the way we made a quick stop at Hedge Creek Falls. There has been a lot of rain in California this month but not much snow. As of Jan 1, the snow pack is in very bad shape: 45% of normal (north), 70% (central), 92% (south). Precipitation is well over 100% of normal throughout the state. However, we need the snow, not the rain. People will exclaim: global warming! If it is all due to global warming then explain why the snow pack was normal last year and the year before that. You can’t. Maybe it is just a bad year for snow in California. Hopefully we will get more snow in January, however. There was a lot of flooding because of the rain before Christmas. There was some legitimate bad flooding in southern California and some due to king tides in Marin county but others I don’t understand. Redding, for instance. They only got four inches of rain but had bad flooding. They were saying it was a 50 year storm. That is baloney. It was not a 50 year storm. 4 inches of rain is not that much. Plenty of times in recent years they had 4 inches of rain (and no flooding). I can tell you the dates if you want me to. On our own street there was a little flooding because leaves were blocking the drains and the city did not clear them out before the storm. They knew the storm was coming but they did not bother to clear the drains.
Hedge Creek Falls was roaring. There were cascades falling above the waterfall and down into the top of the falls. I think I have just seen that once before and I had the same issue then. How to photograph it? I could not figure it out. There is no decent angle to photograph the waterfall with the above cascades so I just photographed the main drop from the other side. It was wet and misty going behind the falls. Journey did not want to get wet! She went as far up on the inside of the cave as she could to avoid getting wet. She is so funny. It was a nice and quick stop at Hedge Creek Falls before we continued our journey to Canada.
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.
I bought a new sleeping bag because the old one was not keeping me warm on cold nights any more. Actually I bought a quilt this time. This is unusual for me. I have always liked bags but I did the research and figured this time I would get the quilt. Off I went to Yosemite National Park to try it out. It would be 41 degrees at night. Not too cold but cold enough to give it a good test.
My plan: Chilnualna Falls for one night.
I arrived at the trailhead at 9:30AM. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot. There had to be at least 7 or 8 groups ahead of me but I saw no one on the trail for the entire hike. I did not even see anyone when I finally got to the top of Chilnualna Falls. Where did they all go? It was not until the very end did I finally see some people coming back down.
One person in particular needs to be talked about: He said to me, Oh are you just starting out your backpacking trip? Ah no, obviously, I started at the bottom. But you are going on a long trip, then? No, just one night. Ah, so it is a training trip, then? (Now I’m thinking, what is the deal with this guy!) Not a training trip, just seeing the waterfalls here. But your pack is so heavy! Ummm, actually 32 pounds is not very heavy at all when you have camera equipment but thanks for letting me know, Mr. Know It All. I may or may not have said that last phrase. Really people, have you heard the phrase Hike Your Own Hike? Not that it even matters but I did not take anything that I did not use or need on this trip. Oh wait. That is a lie. I had a couple charging cords with me but I left my battery pack at home (intentionally). So I guess I could have shed a couple ounces and left the cords at home. And I had one luxury item: my Kindle. All those things are not even a half pound. I think I did very well, actually.
But it would have helped if I was in shape. It is a 2200 ft. climb and I was very tired by the time I reached the top of Chilnualna Falls. I found a spot to camp near the upper falls. It was a great spot mostly hidden off the trail although you could still see my camp from the trail if you were looking. I did see a couple people go by but I don’t know if they saw me. I set up camp and made my dinner.
I have been to Chilnualna Falls before in 2009 (and at a better time of year). So why return, you may ask? Well, I had three goals for this trip. All were successful. The first was to see a new waterfall on the North Fork Chilnualna Creek. I did this on day one but the creek flow was pretty low. This one would be much better to see in the spring. The second goal was to get (some!) photos of the upper falls. I have been to it before, obviously (or maybe not so obviously), but somehow I lost all my photos of it. It is a mystery. After going to the first waterfall on the north fork I came back to the bottom of the upper falls. This gets very late sun so I had to wait until almost sunset before I could take photos. I was about 45 minutes ahead of time. It was very cold waiting in the shade at the base of the waterfall. Finally I could take my shots. You can only see the bottom section from here so I went back up to where I could see the entire length of Upper Chilnualna Falls. It is 145 ft. high with all the tiers included. It was sunset now. My hands were very cold. Thankfully it was a short walk back to camp. I hopped into bed. It was only 5PM. I did some reading for awhile. I tried to sleep.
For goal #3 you need to wait until my next post. It was a fantastic first day at Chilnualna Falls in Yosemite National Park.
A few weeks back my wife shared me a map of the current location of one of the wolf packs in northern California. The map seemed to show them very close to Lower Deer Creek Falls in Lassen National Forest. I said to her, this will be a great hike for Journey and myself to go see the wolves. She said, no way! I said, why not? I would love to see wolves in the wild.
Fast forward to Black Friday when our family was up north for Thanksgiving. On the way home I thought this hike would be a good one for myself on Journey. It is sort of on the way. Of course I knew the wolves would probably be 100 miles away by now. But hey, you never know. It is a good little hike and Journey has not done it before. The last time I did it was in 2012 with my previous dog Kaya.
It was another very cold morning, about 28 degrees. We stopped at the upper Deer Creek Falls first, took a quick photo and then drove down to the Lower Deer Creek Falls parking.
According to the national forest website this trail is currently closed due to the 2024 Park Fire. However, that fire never even touched this area so there is absolutely no reason the trail should be closed. I thought it would be worth taking a chance on it. I was right and it was perfectly fine. There were no signs at the trailhead indicating a closure and the trail itself was in perfect shape.
Lower Deer Creek Falls is only 10 feet high. It is a cute little thing but not exactly a magnificent waterfall; the trail, however, is a beautiful one following Deer Creek the whole way. It is really a great hike and not difficult. The trail continues past the waterfall and Journey made it very clear she wanted to keep going. Daddy, however, did not want to go any further. We took our photos and then went back. Sorry, Journey. Next time, perhaps, we will go a lot further.
Sadly, we did not see any wolves. The only wildlife we saw was a squirrel that made a fantastic leap of about 6 or 7 feet from one tree to another. All the while Journey watching it closely and hoping it would not make it. It was another beautiful and brisk morning in Lassen National Forest.
Thanksgiving Day. Journey and I were up at the crack of night and on the road by 5:15AM. One of the two of us were not happy about that. I will give you one guess. Well, she is always happy once we get on the trail.
We drove up Ice House Road all the way to the end. I have been here one time before and that was 15 years ago. It is a very easy 2 mile hike to the waterfall and it was 29 degrees when we started. There was a lot of ice on the road. And puddles! The puddles covered the entire road in places. The trick is to get by them without getting your feet wet. We were mildly successful but not completely successful. Journey was a bit less diligent about keeping dry but it must have been extremely cold for her feet. She did not seem to mind though.
When you get to the waterfall you need to scramble down the rocks to the bottom. Journey is an expert at this stuff now and had no problem.
When I was here in 2010 I somehow got the impression that the waterfall may have been on private property. There must have been a sign otherwise I don’t know why I would think that. It is probably the main reason I never came back here until now. There was no sign this time and in fact, I looked at the map beforehand and saw that the waterfall is absolutely on public land. This is good. It is a nice waterfall and easy to get to. I will certainly come back again sometime.
Gerle Creek Falls is 35 ft. high. I was surprised the creek was flowing so strong. It is a controlled creek but I figured that by this time of year they surely would have reduced the flow from Loon Lake. Interesting, but I was happy to see this. It is a pretty waterfall. We took our photos and continued on the trail past Wentworth Springs. All in all we hiked about 7.5 miles. It was a magnificent and very cold morning in Eldorado National Forest.
