Bomb Cyclone 2024. Over 10 inches of rain in 3 days. The waterfalls should be rockin if I pick the right place. I was definitely going to hike on Saturday. But where? My initial plan was to go the Bay Area, however I learned on Friday the road was closed to the place I was wanting to hike. Now what? Somewhere else in the Bay Area? It had to be somewhere that Journey could do fairly easily. I decided to return to Phantom Falls in Oroville.
How would the Phantom be flowing today? It should be pretty amazing. It should be incredible. As I drove up to the trailhead I always look to Schirmer Cascade. This will tell me how the rest of the waterfalls on Table Mountain are flowing. I could not see Schirmer Cascade at all! It was completely enveloped in fog. I think God wanted to surprise me at Phantom. I wondered.
I arrived at the trailhead 30 minutes after sunrise. There was already a car here! Who else other than the Madman would be out on the trail so early? There is another crazy person around here? I wondered.
I also realized I forgot my tripod at home! Doh. That was stupid. I usually always keep it in the car but I took it out for a certain reason and forgot to put it back. Ugh. How am I going to take photos of the waterfalls today? I wondered.
Journey was ecstatically happy. The previous day she had been cooped up in the house all day. Not able to go outside because of the rain. Not wanting to go outside because of the rain. I promised her we would have fun on Saturday. She was so excited to start the hike! There were no cows at the beginning so I let her off leash. I had to keep a close watch. It was foggy which made it more difficult to see and you can quickly come up to cows if they are hiding just over the next hill. Before we reached Ravine Falls we came across a big conglomerate of them so I put her on the leash. They were right on the trail so we had to go a bit cross country to get around them. At this time I saw someone coming back on the trail. He was talking to himself or someone on the phone or to the cows. I don’t know. We chatted a bit when we reached each other. I quickly realized I knew this person! It was my Facebook photographer friend Bradley. It was very cool to meet him. He had been out at Phantom Falls for sunrise. That is what I should have done but Journey woke me up a couple times in the night and I slept in a bit too long. I would have gotten some great shots of the waterfall in fog had I been up in time but now the fog was all gone. When Bradley realized I had forgotten my tripod he very generously offered to let me borrow his but I declined. I would figure out how to get a decent photo without a tripod.
There is a big creek crossing at the bottom of Ravine Falls. The waterfall was flowing very strong. I was worried Journey would not be able to cross the creek. I thought I might even have to carry her across it. She does not like creek crossings and this would be a big one. In fact, it was her biggest creek crossing yet. The water was up to her belly and she crossed it like a trooper. I was very proud of her.
Before we reached Phantom Falls the rain started. It was not supposed to rain for another two hours! Darn those forecasters again. It was raining and also windy and cold when we reached the viewpoint. Journey is usually extremely patient with me as I take photos but not today. She was cold and wet and not wanting to stand around waiting for me. I do not blame her. We did not spend much time at Phantom Falls and were soon on our way back to the car. I managed to get a decent shot though. Not too bad for no tripod in the rain and wind!
Phantom Falls was amazing. It is not the biggest I have ever seen it though. After more than 10 inches of rain I thought it might be even bigger. Nonetheless, it was a terrific and very wet morning at North Table Mountain.
La Nina has arrived. A weak La Nina. The exact same conditions that we had in 2023. Remember that huge record breaking winter? You may be wondering (like I am) if we will have a 23 peat. A repeat of that 2023 winter. Or at least an above average winter. It would be pretty nice. But where is all the rain anyway? We just had our first winter storm this weekend but it was a small one. Well let’s remember 2023: We had nothing in October that year either. We had some rain in November but not a huge amount. It was not until December when the flood gates opened. So in other words let’s just wait a bit longer and see what happens. And pray for a good winter.
Waiting is not so easy though. I have a lot of ideas this winter for hikes with Journey but we need a lot of rain first. Where could I take her right now though? Lower Cherokee Creek Falls was my idea. That is a big creek and I thought it should be all right.
We arrived at the trailhead at sunrise. There was fog along the North Yuba River which was pretty interesting as we hiked along. It is a flat and easy walk until you get to Cherokee Creek. Perfect for Journey. She was off leash the entire hike. She would trot on ahead and then stop and wait for me to catch up. Repeat ad infinitum. She was perfect.
Once we got to Cherokee Creek I put her on leash for this section up to the waterfall. There are steep drop-offs, many logs to maneuver and jump over, and the trail is washed out in a couple places. I had to lift her up and over some very tricky and difficult spots. I knew it would be like this but it was perhaps more difficult than I remembered, especially one particular section where there was a landslide. It is great that she does not mind me lifting her up and over these difficult spots. Our previous dog Kaya would not let me do that. Kaya would have insisted on finding her own way around the landslide (and she would have). Anyway, Journey and I got past it and we made it to the waterfall!
Lower Cherokee Creek Falls is a lovely 23 ft. drop. It was not flowing great but it was not horrible either. After I took photos we had a nice snack (Journey did anyway). Then we hiked back past the landslide to the nice flat trail where she could be off leash again, and then back to the car and home. It was a wonderful morning in Tahoe National Forest.
I was up early again and on the trail by 6AM in the dark. I had 13 miles back to Road’s End, all downhill of course.
Along the way I would see the waterfalls on Bubbs Creek. I received a couple surprises as well. The first waterfall is right along the trail and it is the one everyone sees. Lovely Bubbs Creek Falls, 48 ft. high (shown here). From my research I had marked off a second waterfall. It was a nice one as well, about 35 ft. high. But in between I found two other waterfalls that were complete surprises to me. A 40 footer and a 107 footer! I don’t know how missed these in my research, especially the 107 footer. Go just a little bit off the main trail and what amazing things you can find. Almost all the waterfalls I saw on this 5 day adventure I would never have seen if I stayed on the trail the entire time.
I made good time hiking down the trail. For the first time on this 5 day trek I got blisters on my feet and it was due to the big rock steps I had to continually jump down. Dang it. I met the gnats at about 7500 ft. in elevation and they were very happy to see me again. Dang it. I almost stepped on another rattlesnake. Dang it. I got back to the car at 2PM, one and a half hours ahead of schedule. Back to Fresno for a pizza stop and then drove home.
Day 5 of Rae Lakes loop complete. It was an incredible journey in magnificent Kings Canyon National Park.
I slept fairly well but it was a cold night (40 degrees) at Middle Rae Lake and I needed to have all my layers on in my sleeping bag. It was a very beautiful morning. Such a magnificent place in God’s creation. I took my time and enjoyed the beauty but I was on the trail by 8AM. I had to get over that pass and it was going to be a doozy.
My legs felt good this morning. The previous afternoon of rest at Rae Lakes was exactly what I needed. It was still a very difficult hike.
Glen Pass is at 11,926 ft. It is the highest I have ever been on foot so far. Top of the world. Top gun. I know you Mt. Whitney hikers are thinking, that is so lame! Yeah I know, but there are no waterfalls on the top of Mt. Whitney so why would I ever go up there? Seriously though, I am sure I will climb Whitney some day and there are a couple waterfalls on the way to the top of it so give me this small victory. It was a victory. Everyone else I saw today felt the same. Glen Pass is a tough climb! And what a view! The scenery was absolutely magnificent.
It so happened that my French friend came up to the top just a few minutes behind me. He should have been a full day ahead of me but he spent an extra day exploring the Rae Lakes basin. We took photos of each other and rested and enjoyed the views. He went down on ahead but I saw him a couple times later in the day yet again.
In the evening I went up to see Upper Bubbs Creek Falls. Yet again, even though it is not difficult to see, no one goes to see this waterfall and I have never seen any photos of it before. Yet this was the highlight of the trip for me. By far this is the prettiest waterfall on the Rae Lakes loop. It is an absolutely stunning 61 ft. cascade. What makes it so special is not the waterfall itself but East Vidette Peak (12,356 ft.) looming over it. The setting is just out of this world.
My campsite was in upper Vidette Meadow along Bubbs Creek. This time I had a perfect campsite with no one else around. It was perfectly quiet all night long.
I got about 5 hours sleep. I woke up at 5AM and was on the trail by 6AM. My plan was to see the two waterfalls on South Fork Woods Creek and Baxter Creek as well.
This is another perfect example of how my itinerary differs from everyone else. No one hiking the Rae Lakes loop sees these waterfalls because they are not visible from the trail. They are not difficult but you have to know where they are. Both the waterfalls are quite nice and definitely worth going off the beaten path to see them. The first one shown here is 50 ft. high. It is quite interesting how it splits around a big rock. It would have been difficult and I did not have enough time to explore the other side.
I was not entirely sure if I wanted to go all the way over Glen Pass and on to Vidette Meadow this day or just camp at Middle Rae Lake. If I could do the hike in one less day then I would have an extra day at home to recover before going to work on Monday morning. However, I just could not do it. My legs were dead tired before I reached the Rae Lakes. There is no way I could do another 1400 ft. up to Glen Pass. Was it the high elevation? Was it that I am out of shape? Frankly I think it was all the rock steps on the trail, which made the hike so much more difficult.
But then again, if I had gone over the pass I would have been caught in a thunderstorm. I did not bring my rain jacket. It was a stupid decision perhaps but it was not supposed to rain all week and I was trying to save weight. I was already at 39 pounds when I began the hike. I checked the weather report when I arrived at the lake. Zero percent chance of rain. Really? What are all these thunder clouds over the lake? I already felt some rain drops starting. I set up my tent quickly and got everything inside. Good thing. It rained most of the afternoon. Now I know what zero percent really means. Thank you weather forecasters for clarifying. It did eventually clear up and we had a lovely sunset.
Middle Rae Lake is an incredibly beautiful lake. It is a very popular spot along the Rae Lakes loop. There were other people camping here but it is a very huge camping area and I could not see anyone from where I was situated. There was a large group camping somewhat nearby, however, and even though I could not see them I could still hear them talking loudly as I was trying to sleep. Argh again.
