Leon Turnbull Photography

So with the national forests in California all closed there is not much hiking to be done. A lot of people are happy about this, saying resources are limited, don’t want any new fires, etc. Here is the problem: backpackers do not start fires. Hikers do not start fires. Only idiots start fires. And arsonists. (both of which we have in California right now). Closing the national forests only punishes the responsible people. On the Labor Day weekend with all the forests closed, there were four new fires started in California, at least one of which was on (closed) national forest land. None were big, thankfully, but the Bridge Fire would have been devastating if it had taken off. Clearly, closing the national forests did nothing to stop new fires from starting (just as I predicted).

Yosemite National Park is open. Yay! No fires there. No bad air quality there. That means I could do a quick backpacking trip there on the weekend, if I could figure out a place to go. I had an idea: Illilouette Creek. I knew Illilouette Falls was flowing somewhat decent and I hoped to find a couple new waterfalls as well. When I arrived to pick up my permit the ranger said that the upper section of the creek was completely dry. I was very surprised to hear this but she had been up there herself recently so I had no reason to doubt her words. Thus there was no point in hiking to the upper falls as planned but the other one was on a different branch and she said it was flowing. Would the falls be decent? My new modified plan was to hike up to this waterfall and camp there. But …

It was 10AM when I started my hike at Glacier Point. My pack weight was just 30 pounds including all my camera gear. This is the lightest I have ever had it and honestly I see no possible way I could go any lighter than this. I used every item I was carrying. There were (obviously) hundreds of people at Glacier Point but once I got on the trail I saw no one at all the entire day. It is a funny thing in Yosemite. You can hike on, say, the Vernal/Nevada Falls trail and literally pass 1000 people on the trail. But hike on, say, the Illilouette Creek trail and see zero people. It is not a horrible trail either. (no trail in Yosemite is horrible). I had plenty of great views of Half Dome and also Liberty Cap and Vernal/Nevada Falls as well. Vernal Falls looked pretty bleak and I did not even recognize it at first. What is that waterfall down there? I have never seen it before. Oh, it is Vernal Falls. Doh! Illilouette Creek, however, did have some water in it. Since the other branch was dry I figured most of it would be from the Clark Fork. This was not the case. I arrived at Clark Fork Falls and it was pretty lame. Very lame. It was not worth taking a photo and it was not worth staying here to camp. I was bummed. I really wanted to get at least one new waterfall on this trip. Well, all was not lost. I could still see the big one the next morning (Illilouette Falls). I decided to hike back to Illilouette Creek and camp there. In the morning I would have a short hike up to Illilouette Falls.

I found a nice little spot by Illilouette Creek. It seemed like a perfect place to see a bear or mountain lion. I did not see any of those but a family of grouse came waltzing through my campsite in the evening. I saw more grouse when I got back to Glacier Point the next day but those ones were people friendly and let me walk right up to them with no worries at all. (within a couple feet). I also heard coyotes howling in the middle of the night. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before. I heard owls hooting in the night as well. (I have heard that before).

The next morning I got up in the dark and hiked up to Illilouette Falls. Obviously it is much better in the spring but nonetheless I thought it was lovely. A 379 ft. high beauty. Some waterfalls still look nice at low flows and Illilouette is one of them. (I was hoping Clark Fork would be in the same category but nope). I enjoyed my breakfast at the falls then hiked up to my car getting back to Glacier Point at 9:30am. I was home by 1PM. It was a quick but lovely trip to Yosemite National Park.

My next mistake: I thought I could get down to the bottom of the main Lake Catherine Falls on the west side of the creek. I did have the proper route mapped out on my GPS but I did not have enough time to climb around and down on the other side of the creek. It took far too long to get to this point and the sun was about to come out over the mountains. From the upper falls it looked to me that it would be possible to get down on this side of the creek and it would be much faster. It also seemed that Sierra High Route hikers had gone down this way so it must be possible. Yeah … Not true. I got down to the top of the waterfall and was cliffed out. There was no possible way down. Now I definitely had no time to go all the way back up and around. Thankfully there was a very good view of the waterfall from the cliffs. Whew. That was a bit lucky. I definitely should not have come down this way but it just took too darn long to hike from Thousand Island Lake. If I had planned to camp three nights instead of two nights I would have had plenty of time to do all I wanted here. At least I got to see three nice waterfalls this morning (the third one was a small 20 footer but quite nice).

Lake Catherine Falls is a stunning 65 ft. waterfall dropping off a cliff into a lovely little tarn with a magnificent mountain backdrop. From the cliff side it is a spectacular sight. I took my time enjoying the view and eating my breakfast after taking all my photos.

Now that I was done with the waterfalls I wanted to spend some time exploring this basin. I had all day. I went over to see the Ritter Lakes and then back to Lake Catherine where I sat beside the lake for a long time enjoying the view of the glacier and lake. And resting. I was very tired from the morning hike. It was so tough! (did I already say that?) A couple Sierra High Route hikers came up from Thousand Island Lake and we chatted briefly. I was surprised to see anyone in this remote area.

In the past three years it seems that the glacier has retreated significantly. I saw some photos from 3 years ago showing the glacier going down right into the lake. Now it is retreated back from the lake. Climate change, right? I find it interesting that some folks get so antsy about the glaciers melting (it’s the end of the world). Well I can somewhat understand it because glaciers are so incredibly magnificent. It would certainly be a horrendous shame if they all disappeared. But on the other hand I say to them: get over it. The world’s climate is always continually changing. If the glaciers were not melting then guess what: Lake Catherine would not exist (and these waterfalls would not exist either). This entire basin was covered by glacier in the past. Because the glaciers have been melting since the ice age 4000 or so years ago we now have this incredibly beautiful lake and beautiful waterfalls. You can’t have it both ways. If you want the beautiful lakes and waterfalls then you can’t have glaciers not melting as well. In the future the waterfalls here will not exist either. All the more reason to get out there and see them now while they are still here. Don’t miss out on seeing such a beautiful part of the creation. That’s my philosophy. I missed seeing Coquette Falls on Mt. Shasta when it existed and now that the glacier above it is retreated too much, no one will see it ever again.

After enjoying the beautiful Lake Catherine I returned to my campsite back at Thousand Island Lake. I rested all afternoon trying to recover from my tough day of hiking. The wind kicked up in the afternoon. It was a very cold wind. Sitting in the shade was too cold and in the sun it was too hot. At night, the wind stopped for a short while but then it picked up again in the middle of the night with a vengeance. It was shaking my tent around all night long and it did not stop. Nonetheless, I still had a very good sleep despite the crazy wind.  All the next day it was very windy. The wind was good in the sense that it kept all the smoke away from the area but bad news for all the fires in California.

I was up at 5AM in the dark. Very early. While I was eating my breakfast in the dark, I had some visitors. A couple mice came up to me looking for a handout. They were not afraid of me at all, but they sure did freak me out. While I was fending off the critters, I noticed the other hiker camped near me was already up and packed and started hiking back. Who is crazy enough besides me to hike in the dark! I had a long hike back and I needed to get back home because we had a concert to go to in the evening. My wife would not be happy if I did not make it back in time. I finished my hike just a bit past 11AM and made it home before we had to leave for the concert. It was a fantastic trip into the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

This hike has been on my list for a couple years but I was not planning to do it this year. One word: FIRES. I was initially planning to go to Mt. Shasta this month (August) but that is clearly out of the equation now due to the fires up north. The reason I wanted to go to Shasta is because the waterfalls there are glacier fed waterfalls and so they flow in the summer. There is pretty much nothing else flowing now in California because of the drought. But wait! The waterfalls at Lake Catherine in the Ansel Adams Wilderness are also glacier fed. I know they are flowing because I saw some recent pictures from someone that was just there. I have not been to them before. There are no fires there. Perhaps I should go now. And so I shall!

I was surprised there were permits still available for this location because it is a popular place. Not Lake Catherine, but Thousand Island Lake is extremely popular and it is in the same permit area. I took advantage and snagged a permit. I decided to start from Rush Creek mainly because I have not done that trail before. It is more difficult (1000 ft. more elevation) but I figured I could handle it. I have not hiked at all in two full months (since the High Sierra Trail in early June) but I have been working out every day. Long story short: I totally underestimated how difficult this hike would be. That was my first mistake.

It is 3000 ft. elevation gain from June Lake up to Thousand Island Lake and then an additional 1500 ft. to Lake Catherine. That’s 4500 ft. elevation gain! I took my heavier tent because I knew it was very rocky at Lake Catherine and I knew of only one very small campsite there. The Z packs would not do well in such a spot. Well, that was my second mistake. I could have planned this entire trip just a bit better. The Z packs would have been fine.

The permit office did not open until 8:30am and I was first in line. I got my permit and started my hike by 9:30am. Not too bad. It is a relentless climb. I arrived at Thousand Island Lake at 3:30pm. I was beaten. Honestly, there was no possibility of getting to Lake Catherine today. I was so tired. Plan change. I hiked to the far end of Thousand Island Lake and found a campsite. 99% percent of people camp at the near end of Thousand Island Lake. Who wants to hike all the way to the end? No one does. That means I had the area all to myself. Well, almost. There was one other person there but he was not too close to me. It was a bit strange where he camped. He was a long way from the lake and basically had to walk a full quarter mile just to get water from the lake. Why would you want to camp so far from water when you don’t have to?

My new plan was to stay at this spot at Thousand Island Lake for two nights. I would do a day hike to Lake Catherine the next morning. That meant I had to get up and start hiking in the dark if I wanted to get to all the waterfalls before the sun. Once again, I totally underestimated the hike. It starts out quite nice and although it was dark it was easy going and I even found a trail. Then … we come to the boulder field … The trail disappears. The terrain becomes much steeper up to North Glacier Pass. Basically you have to climb straight up the boulders to the top of the pass. It is difficult. It is dangerous. It is slow going. Just when I thought I was at the top I find out it is a false summit. There is still another 100 ft. of boulder climbing to go. Holy macaroni that sucketh. It is now getting late and I realize there is no possible way I will get to all the waterfalls; nonetheless, I can still get to some of them. I finally arrive at the summit and get my view of Lake Catherine dwarfed below Banner Peak and Mt. Ritter, with Lake Catherine Glacier sandwiched in between. I was expecting a lot from this viewpoint and it did not disappoint. Lake Catherine is most definitely one of the most beautiful lakes I have encountered. The color of the lake from the glacier water is stunning, especially once the sun comes out. The scene is magnificent. I could sit here all day but time was running out and I had waterfalls to see.

The terrain on the other side of the pass is no easier. It is a 200 ft. descent down to the lakeside and then another wild boulder scramble along the lake to the end. From what I could see the glacier was not melting. Would the waterfalls even be flowing anymore? I was a bit concerned. However, when I got to the outlet stream my worries were alleviated. There was still plenty of water in the creek. Even though the glacier may not be melting at the moment it must have been melting enough when the temperatures were hotter a few weeks ago. I made it down to the first waterfall, Upper Lake Catherine Falls, a very gorgeous 40 ft. drop. What a stunning sight to come and see in this drought stricken summer in California.

I still had a couple other waterfalls to see and time was running out. Stay tuned …

It was 17.8 miles back to my car in Crescent Meadow. Most of it was downhill but still a lot of elevation gain (about 1800 ft.). This is a huge day hike for me. I have only done that much maybe once or twice before. I had enough food to spend an additional night but I was ready to go home. I wanted to make sure that I was back to my car and home that night. There was nothing else I needed to see (I was just backtracking on the same trail), and the mosquitoes were out now with a full invasion force (and I was out of mosquito repellent – I did not bring enough of it). Basically, I just wanted to go home. I was up at 4:30AM and on the trail by 5:30AM. Even at this early hour there were mosquitoes out. I hoped by the time I lost some elevation they would all be gone, however I had some off and on for the entire hike back (mostly, it was not too bad except in a few areas).

Along the way I saw three more waterfalls (including this one on Lone Pine Creek). This makes the total for the trip to be 11 waterfalls in 6 days. Not too shabby.

You may be wondering how my feet did on this trip. If you remember, I have had injured feet this spring. On the last couple backpacking trips I did, I was in so much pain on the day following the trip that I literally could not even walk. During the trips, usually they (one or both feet) were sore in the morning, but then loosened up once I got hiking, but on a few days my feet were hurting for the whole day. Afterwards though, is when I had the pain, but it was just for about one day and then it was fine. However, in between trips I did not do any other day hiking or exercise as I normally would do. I wanted to have complete rest for the next trip. But those were just 2 or 3 days trips. The High Sierra Trail was to be my biggest trip of the year. Six days in the wilderness. How would my feet be after a couple days on the trail? Would I make it back or be stranded miles from anywhere? Even the day before I started this trip I went to a couple stores and my feet were hurting. This was not a good sign.

Well … the answer is that my feet were completely fine for the entire trip! I had almost no issues at all. I think there were just a couple days where they were a bit sore in the morning but were fine after I started hiking. Even the last day which was a huge 18 mile day I had no problems. The day after I got home my feet were sore but nothing as bad as the previous trips. Was it a miracle? Was it because I took ibuprofen every morning? I think it was probably a bit of both, honestly. I am sure the ibuprofen helped, but I think God helped as well. Otherwise, I would have been stranded 18 miles from my car and not able to hike back.

I made very good time on the hike back to the car. I estimated I would be back by 3:30PM but it was 2:30PM when I finished the hike. I was tired without a doubt.

And … it all ended with a beautiful surprise …

Literally … within the last two minutes of my six day hike … I finally saw a bear! There was a baby bear sleeping by a tree just off the trail, right before the parking lot. I would not have even seen it at all except that someone else pointed it out to me. I did not even see it at first after she pointed to it. It was in my head that it was a light brown colored bear for some reason, probably because all the trees were that color and so I was looking for a brown bear hiding beside the brown trees. Then it finally lifted its head and I saw that it was a dark brown colored (almost black) bear! It stood up, stretched, and then flopped back down on the ground. So cute! And I got it all on video. I was so happy to see him.

I drove out of the park. I stopped in Fresno for pizza. I drove home. Good night day 6.

I woke up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. Outside my tent I saw a huge spider on the ground. I did not think anything of it. It looked harmless. I took a step away from my tent and towards it to go find a place to pee. All of a sudden the spider went into attack mode and came towards my feet at lightning pace. I stepped back just as quickly. Holy freaking mother of all things evil! What the heck was that? It was right near my tent door so I closed off my tent so it could not get inside while I went in a different direction, never taking my eyes off where it went to. Needless to say, I also checked my shoes in the morning that were left outside my tent.

It was a short hike up from Lone Pine Creek Falls to Tamarack Lake but a lot of elevation gain (1600 ft.). The trail to Tamarack Lake is quite overgrown. I am not impressed with the park service. This is an official trail in the park but seems to be completely neglected and unmaintained.

When I arrived at Tamarack Lake I was greeted by a million angry customers that are named mosquito. They were absolutely horrible. This was the first problem I have had with the little monsters all trip. I had some but not many at Nine Mile Creek, very few at Hamilton Lake, none at Nine Lake Basin, none at Lone Pine Creek, and now this nightmare at Tamarack Lake. Why?? I was not expecting to find any at Tamarack Lake because it is higher elevation than the other locations. Afterwards, from reading other hiker’s reports, I came to a realization of what I think happened: ALL the mosquitoes hatched on this one day (at least in this area of the HST – but it seems in other areas of the Sierra Nevada also) and now they are out in total invasion force. Someone said that it seemed to him that in one day the mosquitoes finally downloaded the full mosquito instruction manual and finished reading it. That seems an appropriate description to me.

I had to hide out in my tent all afternoon to get away from the buggers (and I was not the only one there that had to resort to the tent retreat). Fires are not allowed at Tamarack Lake so that was not an option. It was another hot day. I set up my tent beside some trees, thinking they would give me some shade and relief but I guess I miscalculated where the sun would go in the afternoon because it missed the trees and was shining directly on my tent. I propped up my tent pad so it would block the sun and that gave me some shade in the tent. There was also some breeze which helped. I was able to nap in the afternoon.

In the evening I went up to see the waterfall at the inlet to Tamarack Lake. It was not an easy adventure. I first had to wade across the outlet stream. This was not difficult but I did have to wear my water shoes and then on the other side put my hiking boots back on. This allowed the mosquitoes enough time to gather their forces for a full out attack. Beaten but not deterred, I continued on to the waterfall. There is a huge rock slide that you need to climb up. The boulders are enormous and it is difficult and potentially dangerous to climb them but I managed to find a safe way through (I was not expecting that I would be able to do it). When I got close to the waterfall I came to a wall of thick brush that was impassable. There was no way through. I decided to cross the creek and try the other side. I climbed up to a ledge that I thought was going to give me a glorious view of the waterfall but instead there was a rock wall that blocked off half the falls from view. Dang. This was no good. I went back across the creek and tried the brush again. This time I found a way through (it was not easy), and finally came up to the waterfall. Magnificent Tamarack Lake Falls, 80 ft. high. Here also was the only place at Tamarack Lake where I found little or no mosquitoes. Relief! How do you spell relief? (side note: who is old enough to remember that commercial and can tell me what it was for without looking it up?)

Alas, I had to get back down to my tent before dark. I hurried back through the brush and past the boulder field and crossed the outlet stream to my tent. Now it was dusk. There were five million mosquitoes at my tent waiting for me. As quickly as possible I got ready for bed and crawled into my tent, trying to keep all the monsters out. A few got in but I fought back with my machine guns and shored up my defenses. Then I realized I left my phone and Inreach outside. Ugh. I had to go back out to retrieve them. I barely survived the second assault. Good night day 5.