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June 17th 2009
Published: July 11th 2009
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When:13-14th June 2009
What: Two hikes from THE book
Where: Northern Sierras


Initially, I thought that once we complete all 'possible' hikes from the bible, I will be done. But no! The better half brought a couple of other books from the library. So, I am in it for the rest of my life. And I am glad it is so.
We had been contemplating the possibility of visiting this area for a while now.
Reason: the famous Feather falls. When you follow a waterfall guide, you want to cover as many waterfalls as you can.
The city of Chico, not being very far away demanded a stop too.


Sat, 13th June
The weather was so pleasant in Bay area that we did not have the heart to leave. But as we crossed the East bay, we realized we were in for a very hot day.


We reached Bidwell park in Chico early afternoon. We were inside the only car at Parking lot F. It was so hot & dry that I was looking long & hard for a reason to get out of the car. The Yahi trail starts off near the cool Chico creek. Thankfully, the trail was very shady. It was a pretty steady nature trail with plant information.
Very soon, we were looking at a gorge of Lovejoy Basalt. In spite of the heat, it made us awe! Cool Chico creek flowing amidst huge smooth black lava rocks. Their presence was abrupt. One hundred feet behind we had no clue what was in store for us.


Unfortunately for us, we could not continue to the rim trail. The stairs connecting to the rim from the base of the gorge was broken. We had to abandon the hike as we would did not want to climb up rocks with a baby in a carrier. We were happy where we were as we settled in a shady corner. Little S was a super champ. She had some "go go"(she says that when she has to walk) time too.
The place was filled with activity: Dogs swimming, people jumping into the water from rocks above, people having a picnic & a very few wearing hiking shoes😊
The walk back was pretty flat & uneventful. Little S went zzzzz.

We had a long hike to look forward to the next day. So, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at Oroville.


Sun, 14th June
This was probably the one hike that we spent a lot of time reading about. It was as if we knew the ups & downs around every turn along the trail. And the falls, there is simply nothing to talk about. Leon Turnbull calls it the best waterfall outside of Yosemite. And it has a impressive statistic of being the 6th tallest in CA.


All said & done, we decided to follow Leon's directions & opted for the longer 4.5 mi trail to the falls. We knew it was going to be gradual. We stopped at Fern falls half way & spent some time there.
Once little S dozed off, we gained some ground. We had to wake the little one at the falls.
In my opinion, the longer trail was boring. There was nothing to look at. The trail calls itself home to a couple of mosquitoes that bear close resemblance in size to the giant ones of Alaska. And a bug spray was the last thing I thought of.
Anyways, the falls were "OK". I mean there was a lot of water
People do this all the timePeople do this all the timePeople do this all the time

Apparantly, the water is about 20ft deep
& stuff, but I think it failed to impress us.
I am not sure if it had anything to do with the time of day we were there or the unimpressive trail.
So much information is available on the falls so I will not go into the details.
Feather falls


My observations:
-It was no doubt a popular hike
-only a selected few take the longer 4.5 mi loop
-the shorter 3.3mi loop is definitely more scenic with a creek flow in spite of a grueling climb.
-If I were to do this hike again, I think I would stick to the shorter 3.3 mi both ways.


Like always, I was the target for all the mosquitoes(Daddy/Daughter somehow escape) which forced me to think the reason for their existence. I read somewhere that there is a purpose for every living organism in this world, but mosquitoes...they could not find any; Other than of course, carry malaria around.


I have a leg injury that prevented me from enjoying this beautiful hike fully. But DD were extremely happy. They get to stop every now & then when a fellow hiker would stop to respond little S's "hi". She is a friendly hiker already. She would not toil from saying a million Hi's.
A passer or two would even complement Ganesh for carrying little S all along.
I am sure Ganesh's spirits would have soared rocket high at these complements as he did not complain about the long hike carrying 22+ lbs on his back.
Well, he never complains at all! That's just him, though😊


I was so glad to see the parking lot for some reason. It had been a long day. We had a good drive to make it even longer. But I think we took as it came & reached home before 10pm.

Every hike is like a task completed. Very exhausting & rewarding at the same time.


Btw, the northern Sierras display some fantastic color through the fall. I wish we could go up there, then.

~travelbuffs
__________
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”
~ Miriam Beard





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11th July 2009

Waiting to read about your travels
Dear M And G, I was missing your postings and very happy to read about this one ! I remebered the hike upto vernal falls with ganesh . Had a lot of fun! Love and Hugs to S Take care geetha
11th July 2009

Good job
Nice story and great photos.
14th July 2009

Thanks for the ideas.
Hello.... I stumbled across your blog while trying to get some ideas on where to travel next..... I live in SoCal and you've given me some great ideas on possible weekend trips within our great state... Good job...-rv

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