My sister has two dogs (Ebbi, Siri) and one very cute little kitten (Boh). Ebbi is a barker, as is Journey. She did not appreciate the intruder to her house. Her primary goal was to get Journey to bark louder than her. She succeeded. It was a loud house at times. Siri on the other hand was a perfect gentleman. He and Journey got along incredibly well and were best friends by the end of our visit. Boh thought he was a puppy. He followed us around when we walked the dogs on the property. Then the dogs would chase him up a tree. It was quite hilarious.
The plan was to go skiing at Fernie at least one day. Also there were a couple waterfalls in the Fernie area that I had not seen yet and I wanted to try to get to at least one of them. However, Nekoda was still quite sick and did not feel like skiing. She also did not want to drive out to Fernie to hike. (it is a fairly long drive). She thought it would be much better to do some short hikes in the Kimberley area and then everyone could go (my wife and son and dog as well). I thought this was a good idea. We returned to Cherry Creek Falls and also Marysville Falls.
It is a short hike to Cherry Creek Falls, a very cool 30 ft. slide. I was surprised there was so much ice at the falls. (Marysville Falls as well). I was not expecting there to be so much considering the warm winter thus far but I guess Kimberley is at a little higher elevation and has been a bit colder. I got out on the ice as far as I dared to get a photo from right in front of the waterfall. Nekoda asked for permission to go right out in the middle of the ice. Do you want to die, girl? I said. She shrugged.
After this we visited Marysville Falls and then went into Cranbrook for our annual favorite Mozza burgers at A&W.
The trip back home to California was nightmarish. Nekoda got more sick and went to Urgent Care. She tested positive for strep throat. Poor girl. No one else got it, thankfully. It snowed on Saturday but Sunday was supposed to be clear. I figured the roads would be fine by then. Nope. Oregon was a mess with very icy roads. Much of the time I was going less than 50 mph. Oregon always has the worst roads in winter of any state I have been to. We made it home safely. Nekoda is better now. We had a very nice trip up to Canada to visit my family.
Our trip to Canada was delayed until New Year’s due to our sicko family all getting the COVID bug. Our daughter was still sick as we drove up north (now something other than COVID), but hoping she would recover along the way. (she did not and then our son got sick again as well – sigh).
It has been a very warm winter thus far. Usually it is a lot colder and there is more snow. I don’t remember it ever being this warm before. (I’m sure it has been, though). We did not encounter any snow until we crossed the border and then it was just a few inches on the ground. The activists will be claiming loudly it is due to global warming. Until next year comes along when it will be very cold and very snowy and then they will be quiet again. Fact: El Nino is a common cyclical occurrence that has nothing to do with global warming and these years tend to be warmer than normal (generally speaking). We have a very strong one this year.
Copper Falls in Idaho is located almost right at the border (just a couple miles before it). There was maybe a couple centimeters of snow on the ground. It is a very easy hike, however my wife and son decided to stay in the car. Nekoda, Journey, and I took the short hike up to the falls. It was gorgeous. The waterfall was flowing a lot more than expected (no doubt due to the warm weather and snow melting). Copper Falls is 155 ft. high and just incredibly beautiful with the surrounding snow.
On the way back we encountered a bunch of hunting dogs off leash and howling very loud. They came right up to Journey and were all over her. They were not unfriendly but they were overwhelming her. I told the owners to call off the dogs but the dogs were not listening very well. I did not say anything to them but it really really irked me. Control your damn dogs, people. Anyhow, we had a lovely little outing in Idaho before we arrived into Canada.
Our entire family got the evil COVID as a Christmas present this year. We had to delay our trip to Canada because of it. I wasn’t happy especially because I think it could have been avoided if a certain unnamed person (not me) hadn’t gone out to see my wife when he was sick, although we probably would have gotten it somewhere else since it seems to be going rampant again.
Needless to say I was quite sick last weekend and did not hike. This weekend, however, I felt much better. I was definitely going hiking. The last hike of 2023. The last waterfall of 2023.
I tried this one a few years ago by going straight up the creek from the road. That did not work. I came fairly close and got a glimpse of the waterfall but there was no way to get up to it. My next try would be to attempt it from above, but in the meantime the Dixie Fire of 2021 raged through the area, destroying everything in its path, and in 2022 the entire canyon (along with nearby Murphy Creek) was washed out in a flood.
Now it is the end of 2023 and time to try again. On Google Earth everything looked burned out and desolate but I did not see that on my hike. In fact it didn’t really look like anything had burned. It has all grown back now, and that includes the poison oak. There was a lot of that.
I got to the creek and parked, got all my gear out, locked the car, and started my hike. Something was wrong. I could feel it. In my bones. What is wrong? I knew I forgot something. I had my water. I had my backpack. I had my hiking pole. I had my camera. Doh! I did not have my tripod! I forgot the darn tripod back at the house. Argh! The reason is because I took my wife’s car this time and did not transfer it. Normally I just leave the tripod in my car. I transferred my hiking pole but not the tripod. Darn it. What am I going to do now? Well I would figure it out once I got up to the waterfall. I probably wouldn’t make it anyway.
It was not too difficult climbing up the mountain or too brushy. The biggest problem was the poison oak. It was steep and there were a lot of loose rocks. I had to be very careful but as I approached the waterfall from near the top I could see a way down to it. It was not cliffy as I feared. I was not able to get all the way down to the creek but I made it to a fantastic viewpoint of the waterfall. Opapee Creek Falls is 103 ft. high and it is very lovely indeed. At high flows it will be spectacular. I am sure I will be back here some day. With a tripod. Thankfully there was a nice spot where I could put my backpack down and set my camera stably on it and this allowed me to take good photos of the waterfall with no tripod. Sweet.
Initially I had planned a second hike in the afternoon but decided to skip it for four reasons: (1) my trek to Opapee was so successful and also harder than I thought it would be. (2) no tripod. This was the biggest reason. I was lucky for a spot to set up the camera on my backpack but probably would not have such luck at additional spots. (3) poison oak. I needed to get home and wash up before it was too late. (4) still recovering from COVID. not really a big problem as I felt pretty good but still it was probably smart not to push it too much.
It was a great morning in Plumas National Forest with yet another new waterfall discovery.
Oh, another easy hike with Journey. It is funny now I am returning to all these easy waterfalls that I have not been to in many years. Get Back to where you once belonged, as John and Paul said. It was 14 years ago I was last at Hidden Falls. I went with my mom, Jadon, and my dog Kaya. This time I went with Nekoda and Journey. Nekoda is home from school for Christmas break and she told me she would go hiking with me if I took Journey. Ok then, Hidden Falls it is.
I hate that you have to pay for parking here now but it has become a very popular park in the last few years. There were not all that many people on this Saturday afternoon but there were quite a few. More than expected.
Journey is always so happy when we go on a hike. It is so cute. She seemed especially happy on this one. Ecstatically happy. Probably because Nekoda was with us.
We arrived at the viewpoint. There was one other couple that came when we were there but mostly we had it to ourselves. We took photos. Then we hiked back to the car.
I wasn’t planning to but Nekoda wanted to stop and get Carl’s for dinner. This is another thing I hate. Whenever I used to buy Kaya a hamburger after a hike, it was only a dollar, maybe two at the most. Now it is five dollars. Ridiculously stupid but I still got one for Journey anyway. She deserved it. It was a good day at Hidden Falls.
As of Dec 1 the snow pack in California is about 26% of normal overall. It is a disappointing and pathetic start to the new season. All the rain is going into the Pacific Northwest thus far. This is not supposed to happen in an El Nino year, especially for a strong El Nino. But … obviously it is still early. Winter doesn’t really even begin until December so hopefully it will turn around soon. I would like to see us at least get an average winter. That is not too much to ask, right?
Anyway, I did not feel like doing much this past weekend but I wanted to at least go out with Journey somewhere. Our church service was not until the afternoon on Sunday so we got up early in the morning to go to Auburn. It has been 16 years since I have been to Lake Clementine Falls. It would be nice to go back there with Journey. However, I forgot it was the day of the marathon. The road to Auburn was closed. Ugh. Now what? Journey will be mad at me if I just go back home now (after waking her up so early!). I decided to go the long way around to Auburn. We had lots of time.
I parked at the Foresthill Bridge. The parking is free. If I park at the Confluence it is not free. I know I could get a free pass at the library but it is inconvenient. On the downside, there is a 700 ft. descent from the bridge down to the river, but this would be a good hike for the two of us and not too difficult.
I have not ever walked across the Foresthill Bridge before but I was really pleased I did so and not because of the views (though they are good). It is the highest bridge in California and I guess people have committed suicide jumping off it, though I do not think I have heard of anyone doing so on this bridge. I was stricken, however, as I read all the notes that someone left on the bridge every ten feet all the way across. Positive notes for people who might be thinking of jumping: bible verses, and other notes saying God loves you, don’t give up, etc. I just thought that whoever did this is a very awesome person. It made my day.
When I arrived there was a lot of fog in the valley and the bridge was enveloped in it. I came to a spot that would make a great photo so I stopped but by the time I got the camera out the fog was mostly all gone. Ugh. Maybe the waterfall would have fog? Likely story. By the time I made it all the way up there it had long since dissipated. Oh well.
It was a lovely hike along the river. Except for all the garbage. Why are people such a-holes? I picked up more than my fair share including some yucky stuff but there was plenty more to be seen. We arrived at the waterfall. It is a little bit steep on slick rock getting down to this viewpoint but Journey did great and made it down. I took some photos and we hiked back along the river and then up the steep hill back to the bridge and car. She was quite tired after that big 700 ft. climb. It was a lovely morning in Auburn State Recreation Area.
