Waterfalls visited in February 2006 - Part 3 of 3

This is the final post of my February waterfall visits. The last 5 were in northern California. This post is going to cover my trip to the northern coast.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

The original idea for this weekend was for it to be spent with my Auntie Eileen and my cousin Gina in Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park. Unfortunately, I have recently tended to forget that it actually snows in the mountains during this time of year and as such the waterfalls that I wanted to see there were not accessible due to road closures. The trip ended up being just me and Gina going up north to visit my dad over President's Day weekend. My dad, as always, was an excellent host. Gina and I got a chance to see Dad and his buddy Randy in action on the crab boat and we were present for the feast of fresh caught crab and muscles. TASTY!! Those guys really know how to put on a feast!

We spent Sunday waterfall chasing, enjoying the redwood trees, and basking in the beautiful weather up the coast (oh yeah, we ate lunch in Oregon too!). I only got good shots of three of the five waterfalls we saw that day - the pictures are below:

Trillium Falls - Rating 3


This waterfall sits in a small section of old growth forest that had been saved from being clear cut becaue it sat right near the mill (or at least that is what we were speculating was the reason). The hike was pleasant and there was beautiful light streaming through the trees. It is well worth the little side trip that it is when you are on the way to the famous Fern Canyon. I had been up in this area with my dad in 2004 searching out other waterfalls but we didn't end up making it out to this little jewel.

Middle Fork Falls - Rating 4.25


This is another waterfall that has the wow factor. I will definitely go to this one again. It is the kind of place that I want to take people to so that they can experience it as well. I would also like to go there when it is warmer so that I can dip my toes in to that pool (I would probably freak out if I actually tried to swim there though... I really don't like being in water in places where spooky creatures hiding under big rocks can grab my leg and drown me).

Unnamed Falls - Rating 2


I had my window down while we were driving back out down the forest service road from Middle Fork falls and I actually heard this waterfall before I saw it. It is a shame that I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture, what you see here is about the bottom two thirds of it. I paid for the shots I got of this waterfall too. I still have a light scar from the nasty scratch I got on my leg while I was going down the bank.



The other two falls we saw were pretty much right accross the Smith River from one another. The first one is called Highway 199 Falls by my waterfall book and the other is unnamed but mentioned in the book also. I really wanted to get closer to the H199 fall but I was talked out of it because it was a bit too challenging to get too (I guess my dad didn't want to get wet! - Can't blame him, that water was COLD and it was moving very fast) With my streak of luck lately I would have probably fallen completely in to the Smith River anyway had we tried to get over to it. :-)

That completes my February adventures!