Sequoia National Park
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Tokopah Falls Sequoia National Park |
August 3, 2010
Today I already have driven a hundred miles, visited some pictographs,
scaled a 300-foot dome, hiked to a fallen tree that once served as a
summer home, viewed the world's biggest living thing, bought a T-shirt,
and gotten up-close-and-personal with a family of bears.
Now it is time to check out one of our nation's highest waterfalls.
Both upstream and downstream from the trailhead are dozens of sunbathers and swimmers. The ones actually getting wet are finding the water to be pretty cold, because it is only a couple of miles to the snowpack that feeds the stream.
'Getting away' from it all
The first quarter-mile of trail is an absolute zoo. A big tour group
of Middle-Eastern types is loose in the park today. A few dozen
women, many smothered by clothing with only their eyes in contact with nature,
are shuffling their way up the trail. Several of them are clutching
walkie-talkies so as to enhance their wilderness experiences.
By walking as quickly as possible, my agony dissipates within ten minutes or so as the multitudes drop away. They might as well have stayed in their bus and viewed the bathers at the bridge, because that's all that they saw anyway.
Marble Fork of the Kaweah River
The river itself is pretty, the stream flow being low enough such that every
little spot is colorful and interesting. Looming more than 2,000
feet above is a formation unnamed on the topo map yet known by hikers and
climbers as The Watchtower. I must investigate it more closely from the
other side on a future outing.
The Watchtower, 8973'
Not many flowers are around; but I do catch a new variety of butterfly feeding on a manzanita bush.
Sierra Nevada Parnassian
The trail, nice and shady for the first mile, suddenly emerges from the forest into a talus jumble. At the far side of the rock pile, a grand view opens up before me.
The Gateway
Dwarf Checkerbloom
Tokopah Falls, 1201 feet of cascades
I spot several hikers lounging at trail's end; doubtless they would be sitting in the shade if there were any. Only the lowest section of the falls can be seen from this angle. Admittedly, the views would be nicer at a time of higher water.
End of the trail
The lower falls
As I approach the falls, about fifty more hikers/swimmers come into view. Phooey! While I am not actually dismayed by the sight, it hardly is a thing of beauty.
This doesn't do much for my own wilderness experience
Ignoring the nice little sign warning of great danger to all who venture farther, I make an easy scramble up beside the falls. Clambering around behind a boulder so as to be out of sight should anyone else actually be interested in taking a photograph, I doff my boots and munch some lunch. Being here in my own little world, hearing only falling water while observing the commotion below, actually is a lot of fun.
Tokopah Falls
On the return trail, a Britisher is taking flash pictures of a squirrel from
just six feet away. The little guy seems too absorbed with its own lunch
to care what we are doing. What a nice photo-op!
Back near the trailhead the path is clear of inefficiently attired walkers,
but the swimmers still are out in force. Stopping only to pick up a coke
at the Lodgepole store, I embark upon a 270-mile homeward journey,
with the only scheduled stop being the Black Bear Diner in Madera.
This has been one remarkable day!
He must not have read B. Kliban's book,
Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head
§: Because this trailhead is located at the busiest place in the
park, it is understandably popular. The falls themselves would be most
spectacular early in the season, as soon as the trail is free of snow.
Visiting at that time also would substantially reduce the number of bodies
cluttering the river.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty |  |
| Personality | |
| Solitude |  |
