Day 6 out of 11. I miss my mommy, says Journey. Tara is away on a trip to Greece, Turkey, and Italy. Journey is sad. She loves her mommy so much. Truthfully, she has been doing quite well with daddy. We have been going to the park twice a day despite the heat this past week. We have had a good routine every day. The weekend is here now. Let’s shake that routine up a bit and go on a hike to a waterfall. Journey is all in for that!
We drove all the way out to nowhere. A place called Clipper Mills and a return to Deadwood Creek Falls.
I stopped short of the actual trailhead. It was intentional. It would have been easy to drive all the way but I wanted a bit longer hike. That would have been a great idea except for one thing: the gnats! They were horrendous. I had my headnet so it did not really disturb me so much but I was worried about Journey. They were bothering her quite a bit. I really considered just going back home. But … we continued on to the trailhead. Once we got going down the actual trail all of a sudden the gnats were gone. I guess it was because the trail was still in early morning shade. They would probably be bad on the way back up the hill. For now though, it was a big relief.
We saw a couple hunters out and about. Is it hunting season all ready? They were friendly (one of them was, anyway). I heard a big animal crashing through the bushes but I did not see what it was. It must have been a deer or a bear. Also, there was some guys in 4 wheelers at the trailhead. I guess they drove their machines all the way down to the river and back (I only heard them when we were down there).
Anyway, I was a little concerned if Journey could make it to the waterfall or not. My notes said it was extremely steep and last time I needed to use a rope. Well if I needed a rope that would mean Journey would not be able to make it. I wanted to try it with her anyway. There must be a way. Sure enough, the route I took last time was too steep and dangerous. There were a lot of leaves on the ground which makes the terrain very slick and dangerous. One slip and you would be sliding down the mountain all the way to the creek. I did not want to take the chance that Journey would get hurt. We turned back. Bummer. My plan B was to walk up the creek from the bottom but there was a small waterfall that made that option impossible. How about plan C? Maybe there was a route on the other side of the creek.
I was shocked to find it but indeed there was a path on the other side and it led all the way up to the waterfall. It was easy enough that Journey could do it. There was one steep and sketchy section but we got by it. Awesomeness!
Deadwood Creek Falls is 43 ft. high. It was flowing very well. It is a big creek but I expected the flow to be much less. We enjoyed the waterfall for quite awhile and ate our snack. Then we headed back up the mountain. The gnats were out now but we managed. It was a 1400 ft. climb back up the mountain. Journey was very tired and laid down to rest at every stoppage. We were almost back to the car (I could see it but she didn’t see it yet) and she just laid down in the middle of the road. That’s it, daddy. End of the line. That’s all she wrote. But then I pointed out the car to her and she got enough energy back to make it the rest of the way. She plopped down on the seat and closed her eyes. We did it. It was a fantastic morning in the middle of nowhere Plumas National Forest.
Journey stayed home this weekend. Sad for her but there were two reasons for this: Firstly, my wife Tara is going out of country for 10 days and I wanted to Journey to spend as much time with her as possible this weekend. When Tara is gone all she does is lay down by the door all day and she is so sad. She will not fetch with me or play with me. I can take her on walks but I do have to work during the day. Also it’s going to be almost 100 degrees this week which is going to make our walks a bit too hard to do. Secondly, I knew this hike would be too hard for her. I was down here once before in winter and it was too dangerous. I vowed to return in summer. So I did.
I stopped the car about 3 miles before the trailhead because I had to use the facilities. There were mosquitoes. They were definitely mosquitoes. Ugh. It is October! Why are there mosquitoes? I did not bring any bug spray with me. It is October after all. This makes for an interesting point: at our house we have had these tiny little mosquitoes in our backyard. In October! And they are biting! I’ve never seen mosquitoes like this before. What the heck is this? Well anyway, when I got to the trailhead there were not any mosquitoes. So that’s a good thing. But there were gnats instead. They weren’t too bad on the hike to the waterfall but on the hike back they were quite annoying and I had to put on my headnet. Thank goodness I always bring my headnet with me.
The hike was a lot worse than I remembered. It was very brushy. And very difficult. Journey would’ve hated it. I finally made it down to the creek and now I had to go upstream to the waterfall. It was not easy getting upstream with all the brush. At the end you have to climb up a little waterfall. This is where I had to turn back last time in winter because it was too dangerous. Today, it was fairly easy to do. Technically, Journey could’ve probably done it if we were very careful. But all that brush. I’m glad I did not bring her.
I thought the waterfall would be better than it was, even at low flow. It was still rather pretty. Upper Cherokee Creek Falls consists of two 20 ft. cascades. Both would be great at high flows. But could I have even gotten here at higher flows? That is the question.
I climbed back out of the canyon through all that brush, back to the car, and drove home. When Journey greeted me at the door she knew I was out hiking. She gave me a sad eyes look. Why did you leave me at home, daddy? I’m sorry baby but you really would not have liked it today. It was a quick and hot day in Tahoe National Forest.
El Niño is coming! Super El Niño is coming! Monster El Niño is coming! The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Actually El Niño is already here! Just ask Hawaii.
The governor has already declared a state of emergency. Let’s see, how much rain has fallen so far. Oh yeah, zero. How stupid do you have to be? Lest I remind you of 2016 when we had the last super El Niño. The hype for rain that summer was just as bad as it is this year. Perhaps even more so because we were in a horrendous drought. But how much rain did we get that winter? Ah yeah, not very much at all. And we are already in a state of emergency with not a drop of rain yet? My point is, we should not be so sure about what will happen in the future. Don’t believe the hype. Nonetheless, I do have some hope that this El Niño is more like 1983 or 1998 and not like 2016. I think we will probably get above average rain but not the monster deluge that everyone is saying we will get. Also, I think it will be a slow start and it won’t start raining until mid November. Tell me I’m wrong (I hope I am).
I was planning to go backpacking this weekend with Journey. However, I did not think it through very clearly. We had to go to the Bay Area on Friday night to see my daughter’s senior dance solo. We would not get back home until midnight, and now I have to get up very early for a long drive out to the place where we were going to hike? That is not going to happen. I was so tired I could not even drive home from the Bay Area. My wife had to drive. I canceled the backpacking trip and decided to just go on a day hike with Journey.
I thought we would return to Sly Park Falls. Something very easy and close to home. I heard there may be fall color there but there wasn’t much. In fact it seemed almost past peak color, which makes no sense seeing as it is not even October yet.
Journey and I have been to this one before. Last time, it was her first or second hike off leash. She did great that time but now she is an expert. She is such an awesome dog.
Somehow I took a wrong turn on the way there even though I was pretty sure we went that way the last time. We ended up having to go off trail to get back to the main track. Journey is good off trail as well even though she does not like it so much. We made it to the waterfall and crossed the creek to get up close to it. The water was a bit cold and I’m sure Journey did not like that part. There is also a new log spanning the top of the waterfall which was not there last time. Interesting. I am glad it is not an unsightly log. We spent some time at the waterfall and then made the hike back up the hill to the car. It was a lovely morning in Eldorado National Forest.
It was supposed to be a cloudy day with rain later so I got everyone up early for a hike to Moyie Falls. Tara, myself, Journey, and my sister and her two dogs.
Well, actually it was kinda sunny. Not very good for photography. Sigh.
It’s an easy hike down to the river, then you cross it and it’s a short walk up to the waterfall. The river was low enough to rock hop across. Even Journey followed Tara across on the rocks but my sister slipped and ended up getting her feet very wet. It helps to have hiking poles. Last time I was here was in winter. I had to cross it on a snow bridge which was a bit freaky. It’s so much easier in late summer.
We got to the waterfall and there were some clouds blocking the morning sun so I hurried up to the base of the falls to take pics. The rest of the crew hung back at the first viewpoint. Moyie Falls is a marvelous 46 ft. drop on the Moyie River. Afterwards I crossed over to explore the cave at the waterfall. It is an old mining cave and there are even old train tracks going into it. Going to nowhere. The cave did go in a long way but there was a stream and I didn’t go in too far because I did not want to get my feet wet. We retreated back to the car and house for morning coffee. It was another lovely morning on Day 5 of the Canada road trip in the East Kootenay of British Columbia.
I’ve been wanting to do this hike for awhile. I tried in winter once before but failed. It is just 0.7 miles (1.1km for my sister) but gains 1300 ft. in elevation (396m for my sister). It is no joke. It is also not Journey friendly. So I got up early and drove out to the trailhead by myself.
There’s no parking along the road so I had to drive an extra half mile to a turnout. Not a big deal.
The trail climbs steadily for the entire hike. However, it wasn’t so steep that I was on all fours. It reminded me of the hike up to Ribbon Falls but that one was much harder.
The lower part is fairly easy and the trail is well marked with cairns. Then you come to a talus field to cross. This is the part that would be too difficult for Journey. I think she could have done it if we were careful but she definitely wouldn’t have liked it. After the talus the cairns disappeared. I was not sure which way to go so obviously I went the wrong way. Other people had certainly gone this way but I ended up on the wrong side of the creek. I crossed it and climbed up the steep bank on the other side. All of a sudden, the ground started to give way under my feet and I started sliding down and off the cliff. I caught myself just in time. It was only 20 feet so it would not have killed me but it probably would have hurt. I did end up getting a big cut on my hand as I scrambled to catch myself sliding.
I found the proper trail and continued to the waterfall view point. Maryanne Falls is 45 feet high and it is a beauty. It is bigger than I expected. It looked too difficult to get to the bottom so I did not bother but I enjoyed the view point and flew the drone a bit. Then I scurried down the mountain and back to the house to get coffee. My wife and Journey were still sleeping. It was a perfect morning on Day 4 of the Canada road trip in the East Kootenay of British Columbia.
