Leon Turnbull Photography

It may not look it but this waterfall is about 30 feet high. It is all about the angle, my friends. And for this shot, the angle was extreme. I have been wanting to return to this waterfall viewpoint for some time now. When I was first here seven years ago, I did not get a very good photo. According to my notes, there was literally no place on the edge of the cliff to set up my tripod so I had to hand hold the camera, and in addition to that the view was obscured by trees/brush. UGLY. Since that time, however, I went down to the top of the waterfall (I could not get down to the bottom), and when I looked up to the top of the cliff it seemed to me there was a very nice ledge to take photos from. Why couldn’t I get a decent photo the first time? I decided to return and try again. Probably I would have the same issue. We would see.

We had our first winter storm this past week and more was on the way this weekend. I was expecting to find 8 inches of snow on the ground which would make the drive in a bit challenging if not impossible, but I figured I would try it. As it turned out, there was only 3-4 inches of snow. It was easy to drive but I took it slow. I did not want to end up in the ditch. Or off the cliff. I got to the trailhead and began my hike up the road through the snow. No one had been up there. Except the deer. Would there be snow down at the waterfall? Would it be too treacherous to get down? I had rope and I had my spikes. I did not need either. Even though it is a big 700 ft. descent it is not difficult to get down to the viewpoint above the waterfall. The snow disappeared along the way down and the route was not slippery. I arrived at the infamous cliff edge, the exact same spot I was at before. This time, I found that I was able to get down onto a ledge overlooking the waterfall and it was a perfect spot to set up my tripod. I must have been too scared to get down onto this crazy ledge the last time. It was a bit hairy no doubt: it is only about a 100 ft. drop off the cliff to the bottom, but this time I got my shot. GOOD.

After taking my photos, I tried looking for a way down to the bottom of the canyon. Again, in my notes from last time, I said there was absolutely no way to get down the cliffs. I don’t know what I was thinking. I found a perfect way to get down all the way to the river. Rope may be needed or not. I did not actually go all the way down. I did not feel like doing it because of a big winter storm that was on its way. Once down I would have had to wade up the very cold river to get to the waterfall. I had time, I suppose, but I just did not feel like it today. I will definitely be back but it will probably have to wait until next summer now.

I climbed back up the mountain and then back to the car. Usually I see quite a few hunters in this area but today I saw absolutely no one … except for a couple people that were driving down the road in their two sports cars. Ummm, can you say stupid? Driving down a snowy and icy road in your sports cars with no winter tires or chains. BAD. They were parked on the side when I passed them. I asked if they needed help as I wasn’t sure if they were stuck or not. They did not need help, thankfully, but I would not be surprised if they didn’t make it back out. Such was my fabulous day in Tahoe National Forest.

 

 

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I did not sleep well. The wind died down in the night but then picked up with a vengeance in the very early morning hours. The forecast said the wind would be a casual 20 mph, the same as the previous day. That is what I was expecting. Instead it was a gale force. It was cold. It was howling. This was not in the forecast whatsoever. Argh those weather forecasters. I tried to make my breakfast but it was difficult to keep the stove on with no shelter from the wind. It seemed to be blowing in all directions at once. It took quite awhile but I managed to heat up the water enough so I could have my coffee.

I went down to the river to get more drinking water from the toxic algae infested waters for the hike out of the canyon. I was glad I took my photos of the lower falls the previous evening since it was so windy now. I was really pleased about the pretty fall colors above the waterfall. The only fall color I found on this hike was at the bottom of the canyon near the two waterfalls. I was hoping for more but at least there was some.

There was a winter storm coming in the afternoon but I hoped to be back at my car by noon before it started. Climbing out of the canyon was excruciating with the gale force headwind. It was very cold. Once I got off the ridge and into the trees it was a bit better but I don’t like hiking in high wind. At one point I heard a sound like thunder. I did not see it but I am pretty sure it was a tree snapping like tinder in the wind. Surprisingly, I came across two groups of day hikers. I am not sure how smart it was for them to be hiking down to the bottom of the canyon in this wind and with a storm coming. Perhaps they didn’t mind hiking in the windy conditions, but I really don’t think they understood what was coming. When I got back to my car the snow was just starting (two hours earlier than forecast). The wind was even stronger now and the snow was blowing all over the place. It was a full on blizzard. Incredibly, there were a couple hikers just starting up the trail in the blizzard. Are they really planning to go all the way? I should have asked them but I was too cold. I quickly escaped into the comfort of my vehicle and cranked up the heat. Whew. It was a wild and crazy adventure to Rainbow Falls in Ansel Adams Wilderness!

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I had a couple different visions for my ultimate return to Rainbow Falls and this was not either of them. My first vision was to snowshoe here in winter. I think this would be quite do-able except for one thing: there is literally nowhere to park overnight in Mammoth Lakes in the winter. I still have not figured out the logistics of how to do this. Let me know if you have an idea. The second vision is to come here in May before the road opens. There are a couple other waterfalls in the area I still need to see. I think this is definitely a possibility and I will likely do it in the next couple years or so.  This brings us to October of 2022. It still has not snowed yet. The road to Devils Postpile Monument is closed early due to construction.  There would be no one down at the waterfall. How about a quick overnight backpacking trip to Rainbow Falls? Heck yeah. Let’s do it!

On a side note regarding future visions: you may like to know that I have already started planning for a huge waterfall trip in 2024 in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. Yeah, that’s right: 2024. One and a half years away and I’m planning it now. I’m so excited already. It is going to be absolutely EPIC. I can’t say what it is yet but it rhymes with mice and hand. Oh yeah, and don’t worry. I’m sure I will have some big trips happening in 2023 as well. If we get any snow this winter, that is.

Anyhow, it is not quite on the same scale but I was excited to go backpacking this weekend as well. Rainbow Falls is a pretty waterfall that flows year-round and with nothing much else happening in California I figured this should be a very good trip. Maybe I would see some Fall colors as well.

I arrived at the trailhead about noon. There was one other backpacker starting about 2 minutes before I did but I did not see him on the trail. He was either hiking faster than me or he turned off somewhere, or both. I did not see anyone on the first day except for one group of day hikers. It would be pretty tough to go down to Rainbow Falls as a day hike but it is certainly do-able. It is much better, however, to camp down there. The hike is pretty easy. No off-trail shenanigans. It is all on trail, and such a beautiful trail as well. Gentle terrain. Wide and smooth. Not rocky. It was perhaps the best trail I have hiked in years.

I knew I could not camp at the upper falls (shown here) – at least not anywhere with access to water, so I went down to the lower falls to camp. I thought there would be plenty of spots to setup my tent but there really wasn’t very much. The ground was too soft to put tent stakes in and it was quite windy which was pulling the stakes out of the ground. I piled some big rocks on top of the stakes and hoped my tent would stay in place. If it got too windy, I might be blown all the way to Kansas during the night.

After dinner I went back up to the 101 ft. high Rainbow Falls to take photos. That is when I noticed a sign that said there was toxic algae in the water. Oh bloody great. I already drank the water down at the lower falls! Was there toxic algae down there as well? There weren’t any signs but it is not very far from the upper falls. If there was then I was already dead. But I got my water out of a good flowing part of the river. That should be ok. Right? Well, if you are reading this then I guess you know the answer.

I went down to the bottom and found the waterfall still in the sun so I sat down and waited. There was quite a bit of garbage around. If you are the one who left your dirty diaper down here for me to take back for you then please send me your address so I can mail it to you. I’m sure you did not mean to leave it there. (insert mad face emoji here). As I waited, a chipmunk came by, hoping for a snack. He became disappointed and left. Surprisingly, I had cell service so I texted with my wife while waiting for the sun to go down. I did not have to wait too long. I took my photos then went back to camp and watched a movie before going to bed. In the morning, everything went to berserk …

 

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I was last here five years ago but did not get to the lower falls. The lower falls is quite a bit away from the other waterfalls so I would have needed an extra day to go to it. I considered it at the time but I was just too tired. I vowed to return. Then the Creek Fire happened in 2020, which literally devastated the entire area. Many of the trails are still closed, and the Isberg and Cora trails only just re-opened this summer. It was finally time to go see the Lower North Fork San Joaquin River Falls.

It is a very long 5 hour drive to the Isberg trailhead but I was on the trail by 10AM. I expected the hike to be fairly easy and I should be at camp by 2PM. Yeah right, but it should be a good test for me. I have not backpacked in 3 months and have done very little hiking. I am still way overweight from the summer, but I have been working out a lot and I felt strong.

There were quite a few cars at the trailhead. It was surprising considering how far out of the way this trailhead is. Even so, I only saw a couple day hikers on the first day. I saw zero people on the second day.

A couple interesting things: Firstly, I noticed there was a lot of water flowing in all the creeks. When I was here 5 years ago (a wet year), they were all dry or mostly dry. I certainly was expecting them to be dry this year, indeed I was worried they would ALL be dry and I might even have problems getting water to drink from the big creek. There had been some recent rain but I honestly did not think it had rained very much here. Yet even the trail was muddy in quite a few places. They must have received more rain than I had thought.

Secondly, the devastation: it was massive. The entire canyon was scorched. I felt like I was on a barren planet. When I got off the Isberg trail onto the Cora trail I was expecting to encounter a lot of blowdowns. That was not the case, however. The trail had been completely cleared by the NFS. This was a good thing. Perhaps this is why it took so long to re-open the trails and why many trails are still closed. They don’t want to re-open them until they have cleared them. Compare to the Dixie Fire and Caldor Fire from last year. The trails there are all (mostly) re-opened already (and certainly not cleared yet). The trails in Stanislaus NF could be closed many more years if they are going to wait until they are all cleared. I don’t think that is a good thing, but at least they are actively working on clearing them. Unlike at Yosemite National Park, where they have let the trails go to rot after a fire many years ago. (I’m still upset about that – if you can’t tell – ugh).

It was much harder getting down to the river than I expected. I really thought it was going to be a cakewalk except for maybe one small section. It was difficult and steep and rocky and brushy. I made it down to the river at 3PM, one hour longer than anticipated. I found a nice spot to camp at the top of the waterfall, made my dinner, then went down to see the falls afterwards.

Lower North Fork San Joaquin River Falls is a gorgeous 51 ft. high plunge into a big, beautiful, magnificent pool. It is a stunning oasis in the middle of the devastated canyon and well worth seeing. I took many photos and enjoyed the waterfall immensely.

I returned to camp. It was still early so I relaxed on the rocks by the river (where there were no gnats). After I was attacked by a water spider, I decided to retreat to my tent and then watched a movie before bed. It was a warm night and I slept fairly well beside the sound of the rushing river.

I got up early, made my breakfast and coffee, and was on the trail by 7:30am. I found an easier way back out of the canyon, which saved a bit of time (well, slightly easier – it was still a tough 2000 ft. climb). I was back at my vehicle by 12PM, and home by 5PM. It was a fantastic, short weekend in Ansel Adams Wilderness.

 

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Don’t pay the ferryman … until he gets you to the other side. (Chris Deburgh)

We had a boat ride and two ferries and a border crossing. We would not arrive in Seattle until 10PM at night. Best case scenario. It was not the best case scenario.

Thanks to Roger stopping for 15 minutes at the seal factory on the way back (mentioned on a prior post), we barely made it onto the first ferry in time. I was more worried about the second one because it is a bigger crossing, but we made that one easily. I was super tired so I stayed in the vehicle hoping to get a snooze. Normally BC Ferries does not allow you to stay in your vehicle for the crossing but this time they did. I thought it was because of a safety issue. So why is it not a safety issue for the crossing this time? Hmmmm … Well I could not sleep because of a dog barking and two car alarms going off and all the announcements they were making over the PA system. When my family returned to the car and tried to open the door OUR car alarm went off. It is a new car and I could not figure out how to turn the alarm off. It took a long time. Now I was thoroughly embarrassed!

Well … the ferry docked and we waited and waited and waited for our lane to start moving. Usually it is very quick. None of the lanes were moving. What the heck? We learned soon enough that a big semi truck had broken down and was blocking most of the exit lanes. Oh my gosh! They had to back us out in reverse down a very tight narrow lane so then we could exit on the second level ramp. It was pure craziness! Don’t pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side! (I wish)

We ate dinner at Boston Pizza and then continued to the border crossing. That took a long time. They had just one lane open! This is a major crossing and only one lane is open. Oh come on for Pete’s sake. Immediately after getting across the border we got on I-5 and promptly came to a complete stand still. There was a major accident blocking all lanes of the freeway. We were stuck for almost an hour. Well this is going just great so far. Not! We would not arrive at our motel in Seattle (Issaquah) until well after midnight.

We had just four hours of sleep then we had to get up and go. We had a very long drive ahead of us, but also Tara and I both wanted to stop at Snoqualmie Falls on the way back home. We have never been to this waterfall before and have wanted to go for a long time. It is a very gorgeous 268 ft. high plunge. It was a great ending to our awesome vacation.

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