Desolation Wilderness
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Horsetail Falls (post-fire) Desolation Wilderness |
June 29, 2023
Eileen and Cindy have not walked this trail previously
Yarrow
Mountain Pride
Pyramid Creek is roaring, as expected
I was up on that ridge-top two days ago, looking for photo-ops of the falls
One result of the fire is that the trail is more well-marked than before; ironically enough, there is less necessity of such assistance now because of the reduction in plant life.
A moderate climb up a big slab begets an overview of today's venue.
There's the destination
Great Purple Monkeyflower
Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily
Everpresent reminders of the conflagration
At the "wet area", some burned trees have been cut, presumably because their relative instability represents a threat to us hikers.
Getting across the little streams proves no more difficult than usual
Silverleaf Scorpionweed
Death Camas and Sticky Cinquefoil
A husky that doesn't bark
The hard work starts at the big boulder
The trail is a collection of talus boulders
The actual base of the falls
It's not far now
Horsetail Falls
[Play me]
My standard lunch spot
That's an unusual doggie carrier
In fact, that mutt doesn't look particularly comfortable at all. The woman had thought to continue uphill until she saw how difficult the route was becoming.
A misstep here could land one in the creek
Unfortunately, most of the cascade cannot be viewed from this angle
Shooting each other's picture
The official trail ends here. Continuing upstream is best done with someone familiar with the easiest route, which winds well over to the left and high above the creek. Although I have done it several times, I am not inclined to continue today.
A couple of newbies are headed up in the wrong direction. They'll be back.
Suddenly an apparition appears, in the form of a local hiker acquaintance. Dave actually is five years older than I (86), and he still is out here at every opportunity.
They are headed for the top of the falls
Dave's doggie
The dike looks like quartz
Starting back
This formerly tricky section is easily bypassed now
Another cascade plunges down the eastern wall of the canyon
Actually, there are two of them
Presently, Eileen slips on a rock and sits down pretty hard. The only damage, however, is to one of her walking sticks, which top has broken clean off. There is a good possibity that REI will replace it even after years of use.
One stick should be enough from here on
Today's wildlife entry
Little Redstem Monkeyflower
Pretty Face
Lovers Leap to the west
As usual, it is time to leave the trail and do a bit of cross-country to the next scenic attraction.
Unwanted, but fairly unobtrusive off the main trail
This USGS streamgage station is new
Inside the corrugated-pipe housing is equipment that measures and records the water level. I worked with and maintained such facilities in the Truckee, Carson, and Walker River drainages back in 1961. My most exciting professional moment occurred in December in a blizzard at 3 a.m., when I hung over the Little Walker River near Bridgeport in a little cable car, alone, taking depth and velocity measurements at what was projected to be the peak flow of the season. Had anything gone wrong, no one would have seen me again; but all went according to plan.
Our stopping point was only one-fourth of the way up the cascade
Been there, done that
Lower Horsetail Falls
It always is a treat to sit here on "Snack Rock" and watch the water plunge
directly toward us
It's a short hop back to the main trail
On the last quarter-mile of trail, I can catch up on my flower photo-ops.
Sierra Currant
Seep Monkeyflower
Foothill Penstemon
Oneseed Pussypaws
The Little Bur Clover are quite complicated
Tapertip Onion
Goosefoot Violet
Bird's-foot Trefoil
Woolly Sunflower
§: Well, this outing was nicer than expected. Online commentary
regarding the devastation and high-water problems was significantly
overblown. Nobody wants to traipse among dead and blackened trees, of course;
but there was a lot of greenery around here as well. Moreover, today featured
the greatest flower variety that I have seen in this area. Go figure.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty |  |
| Personality |  |
| Adventure |  |
| Flowers | |
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June 2023: The fire left many trees untouched in this canyon, so the
visual effects of the devastation are not as bad as in many other places. |
