Leon Turnbull Photography

I went straight to the top of the middle falls after photographing lower King Creek Falls (previous post). Then I worked my way back down the creek, photographing along the way. I would love to return here at high flows. Perhaps some day I will.

Middle King Creek Falls is essentially one big 200 ft. high cascade. It consists of four separate sections with steeper and significant drops. All four of these sections would be fantastic at high flows. At low flow, I thought the lowest of these sections was the most intriguing (pictured here). It is about a 50 ft. drop and very pretty.

I got back to camp a little before dark, and got ready for bed. It was only 6:30PM. Too early to go to sleep, but I was very tired. Nonetheless, I did not sleep all that well, but not horrible either. On the plus side, it was not as cold as I anticipated it would be. When I drove to Mammoth Lakes the previous morning, it was extremely cold (below freezing). Since I would be camping at a much higher elevation, I anticipated it would be below freezing at night. The forecast said it would only be 37-40 degrees, however. Either way, I was prepared, but what would it be? I was expecting the worst. However, it was not that cold at all, maybe not even down to 40 degrees, but it was around that temperature. I was toasty warm in my sleeping bag all night long.

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It was late in the year but perhaps I could get in one more quick backpacking trip before winter. How about going back to Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Eastern Sierra? Sounds like a good plan to me.

It was a very strange morning. I made a pit stop in Lee Vining for the bathroom. I had considered “holding it” until I got to Mammoth Lakes, but it turned out to be a darn good thing I stopped. I had already decided to fill up with gas in Mammoth because I knew it would be cheaper there (over $5 in Lee Vining!). Well, I got to Mammoth Lakes and drove into the gas station. It was closed. You could not even pay at the pump. I drove to the next one, same thing, and the next. What the heck? It is 8am on a Saturday in Mammoth Lakes, and nothing is open. What a strange town! As I drove back to the visitor center, I finally realized what was going on: The power was out in the entire town of Mammoth Lakes! It must be that new PG&E  policy of turning power off for wildfire prevention. It was not even windy!

Anyway, I began to wonder if I would even be able to get my backpacking permit since the power was out. Well, there were a few people in line, and a ranger was there doling out permits. Since they did not have power, they had to call in the permits to their headquarters. The problem: There was only cell service for those with Verizon. Apparently the ranger’s phone did not work, and my phone did not work, and neither did the lady in front of me have any cell service. Thankfully, the guy who came up behind me had service and let myself and the lady in front of me call in our permits. It was quite an adventure (and I have not even started hiking yet!) But I got my permit and I was on my way to Devils Postpile National Monument.

There were a lot of people on the trail, but as soon as I got off the main trail and onto the Fern Lake trail, I saw zero people. On the way up the mountain, I only saw some day hikers. I do not even know where they would be coming from for a day hike (what they told me made no sense – Bayshore?). It is a tough climb up to King Creek, gaining over 2000 ft. in elevation, and it took a lot longer to hike than it seemed it should. I was struggling with the high elevation as well, and I was very tired. This was strange because I was at the same elevation as last week, and I did not have any problems on that hike. My pack was also a lot lighter this time, since I was only going for one night.

I arrived at King Creek in the early afternoon, and looked about for a campsite. There was nothing on this side of the creek, so I decided to cross the creek. This was not difficult because the creek flow was low. I was hoping the flow would have been much higher because it is a big creek and we had a big snow year. It is late in the year, however, so I guess I should be happy it is flowing at all. I found a nice spot on the other side, and setup camp. I had cell service  (here, but not in Mammoth!), so I chatted with my wife via text and made dinner. After dinner, I made my way down to the lower falls. There are three waterfalls on this creek. I camped by the middle falls, and I would hike to the upper falls in the morning.

It was not very difficult to get down to the lower falls. In fact, I was ecstatic. It was easier than I thought it would be,  it was already in shade earlier than I thought it would be, and it was much much prettier than I thought it would be! I expected the lower falls to be more of a cascade, and with the low flow on the creek, the cascade would not be very interesting. However, it was not a cascade, but it was a drop dead gorgeous 70 ft. high double drop in a narrow canyon. It was absolutely stunning.

How many people have ever seen King Creek Falls or even knew it was here? I suspect some people have been here, I guess, but no one has ever documented this waterfall before. The waterfall madman, the king of the waterfalls, is the first to document beautiful King Creek Falls.

 

 

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It was very windy all night long. The wind was blowing my tent around left and right. I got very little sleep. When I say all night, I mean all night. It was still very windy in the morning at sunrise. I was thinking (all night) what I would do the next day. I wanted to continue up the valley. But what about the gnats? If the gnats were not out in the morning, I decided I would continue. Surely, I thought, with the wind still blowing, they would not be out in the morning. Yet they were still out and very bothersome! Once I packed up my tent and ate breakfast, the wind had stopped. Now the gnats were excruciating! Already! Again! They would be all over me, without break, all day long, if I continued hiking up the valley. Not just today, but the next day as well, and the next after that.

There was only one option: Hike out of the valley and back home. It was the right decision, but I was bummed I only got to see the one waterfall on this trip.

The trail out of the valley is nicknamed: son of a b-*-*-*-h trail. It is most definitely that. As I said, it is THE MOST DIFFICULT trail I have ever hiked before. It took over 3 hours to hike the 2.0 miles and 3000 ft. to the top. The gnats were very bothersome the entire way up the trail, and even at the top, over 7000 ft. in elevation, they were still annoying me incredibly. I definitely learned a lesson here. If I am hiking in September in the Sierra, I need to hike at higher elevation, preferably above 7000 ft.  (maybe 6000 is ok, but 7000 or above would be preferable to avoid the gnats). On the hike back, I met another group of backpackers heading down into the valley. They were prepared. They knew there would be gnats and they had head nets. A head net would have been very helpful for sure, but I still probably would have hiked out the next day anyway. Nonetheless, I am going to return to Tehipite Valley some day. There is so much more there that I want to explore. I will probably do it a lot differently, but I will definitely be back. Maybe October would be a much better time to go there.

I did not hike all the way back to the car. I stopped at Crown Valley, where I found a great camping area near the creek. It took all day to get to this location (which was still about 9 miles from the trailhead). I was absolutely exhausted after two days in a row of extreme hiking.  There were no gnats at Crown Valley, and there was no wind, and I slept like a baby. I got about 11 hours of sleep, and was well rested the next day for the relatively easy 9 mile hike back to my car. I was home by dinner time.

In this photo you can see one of the upper tiers of Silver Spray Falls.

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Tehipite Madness is a real thing. A real disease. This is a warning. If you continue to read this article, you may catch it. Believe me. It starts off small: a mild curiosity and interest. Over time, perhaps years, it slowly grows and grows, until it becomes an unstoppable torrent of madness. You cannot stop thinking about Tehipite, day and night. The only cure: you must go there. The problem: getting there is no easy task. Tehipite Valley is perhaps the most difficult hike you will ever do in your life. Actually, it is not a debate. It is the most difficult.

In my case, the madness was something even worse.

The madness started about three years ago, I guess. You cannot go to Tehipite in the spring and of course summer is too hot among other things, so the Fall is when you need to go. For waterfalls, that means I needed a big snow year. In 2017, I was not ready to go to Tehipite, physically or mentally  (and you need both). My big trip that year was to the North Fork San Joaquin (which was awesome). 2018 was a bad snow year, so that was out. Along comes 2019, another big snow year. Tehipite Valley was my top priority for the Fall this year. The planning was extensive, the madness was building ferociously inside of me. Finally the day came. I’m not sure how ready I was physically or mentally. Even though I had worked my butt off all summer long, I did not lose any weight. I was still at least 10 pounds over what I wanted to be. However, I did feel a lot stronger, so perhaps all the fat just turned into muscle. I don’t know. As for mentally … well ….

My maps told me it was 14.5 miles to the valley. In reality, it was 16.2 miles one way. I do not really understand the big difference, but there are a lot of zigs and zags, I guess, and ups and downs as well. I started hiking at 8:45AM. It took all day to get to the valley, and I arrived at about 5:45pm. Along the way, I met a group of Asian backpackers, only one of whom spoke English. As I approached them, one of  the ladies got out her cell phone as I walked up and started taking my picture. What the heck?? I’m not sure how I felt about this. I am not that good looking. I talked to the one guy who spoke my language. He said the trail was in pretty bad condition and very difficult to follow. There was a fire here some years ago and it decimated the trail to Tehipite Valley.  I was not surprised to hear this news, but since these people and many others have made it through, I expected I would have no problems either. But he also said something else: the gnats were bad down in the valley. Um, what? Now take note of what he said: the gnats are bad down in the valley. And note what he did NOT say: the gnats down in the valley are absolutely horrific, the gnats are the worst I have ever experienced in my life, the gnats are relentless and will swarm around you without break, and are in the millions.  If he had said any of the last three things, I might have re-evaluated my plan. He did not. I can handle a few gnats, geepers, they are probably not that bad anyway. He was wrong about the trail, after all.

Indeed, the trail was not bad at all. There were only TWO extremely short sections where the trail was overgrown and difficult to follow. It was very easy to get by these two short sections. I was expecting so much worse (not just from the Asian backpacker, but from other reports I have read as well). I did not even need my GPS. These people obviously have not done any off trail hiking before. Granted, it would sure be nice if the Forest Service cleared these sections, but really, I have probably done a hundred hikes much worse than this. This one was easy peasy.

After a lot of hiking, and more uphill hiking than I expected or wanted (I’m supposed to be going down!), I finally came to the rim of the Middle Kings Canyon and my first big view. It is a magnificent view. From here you can see the river (3000 ft. below), waterfalls on the opposite side, and of course the majestic Tehipite Dome, which is the reason “most” people want to hike here. “Most” people does not include the waterfall madman, but without a doubt it is a majestic sight to behold.

From here, you descend 3000 ft. to the river in only 2.0 miles. Let us put this in perspective shall we, because remember … if you go down, you sure better be able to climb back up later. The Upper Yosemite Falls trail is 2700 ft. elevation gain in 3.5 miles. That is 771 feet per mile. The Wabena Falls trail is 2600 ft. elevation gain in 2.4 miles. That is 1083 feet per mile. The Tehipite trail is 3000 ft. elevation gain in 2.0 miles. That is a whopping 1500 ft. per mile. This trail is MORE DIFFICULT than Wabena Falls (which was my #1 most difficult hike – before this one). Not to mention that I was carrying a 40 pound backpack (which I did not have for Wabena Falls). By the time I was ready to ascend back again, that pack was supposed to be a lot less than 40 pounds. However …

As I descended from here, the gnats came out. They got worse and worse as I went down the trail. Honestly, I should have had a head net. It would have made things a lot better, but I was not expecting any bugs! It is late September, after all. Of all the reports about Tehipite that I have read, no one mentioned anything about gnats. You would think this would be an important item to mention! By the time, I got down to the valley floor, the gnats were all over me. They were absolutely the worst I have ever experienced in my life, without a doubt. I had hoped that when I got to the open area where I would be camping, they would not be bothersome. Nope! They were horrendous everywhere. I set up my camp, ate my dinner, and went to see the waterfall.

Thankfully, there were no gnats at the waterfall. But unfortunately, there is no place to camp at the waterfall. I should have strung a hammock across the creek at the base of the falls. Ha! To see Silver Spray Falls, you have to cross the creek three times. In late September, it was a challenge crossing the creek. In the spring and early summer, it would be impossible without a doubt. You would not even be able to see the waterfall at that time of year. Even now, this late in the year, the spray at the falls was quite intense, making photography very difficult. I guess that is why they call it Silver SPRAY Falls! Nonetheless, it is an incredibly beautiful waterfall. This lower drop shown here is 160 ft. high, and there are upper tiers as well (the total height is 370 ft.). Silver Spray Falls is worth all the difficulty to see. However, what was I going to do next? …

 

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This is Upper Cascade Falls, 151 ft. high. It is a fascinating little slot canyon here, and the viewpoint is incredible. Imagine this at peak water flow.

Even though it was windy, I slept pretty well. I was very tired. I had initially intended to get up early and hike in the dark, going back on a different and longer trail, and also seeing one more waterfall along the way (which is why I needed to hike in the dark). However, I was just too tired and did not feel like getting up and hiking in the dark. I decided that getting a couple hours more sleep would be a better plan. I hiked back on the same trail, 12 miles back to the car. Most of it was downhill, thankfully. Surprisingly, I saw quite a few other backpackers coming up the trail. A bit odd because it was a Sunday. I arrived back at the trailhead at 12:30pm. I got home at about 4PM, ate dinner, and went to bed at 7PM. I was so tired, and slept for 10.5 hours that night. It was an awesome trip into the Hoover Wilderness!

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