Hiking Angel Falls (2024)

Yesterday we hiked Angel Falls as part of a two-fer in the Sierra National Forest in California. Our Friday Night Halfway technique gave us time for that two-fer, even though it did leave us in Chinchilla— I mean Chowchilla— Friday night. It was an easy drive to the trailhead Saturday morning, and we didn't need to be in any particular rush. Definitely once we began hiking the Angel Falls trail there was no particular rush. That's because the cascades of waterfalls start just steps from the trailhead.



As we worked our way upstream on a trail slightly above the creek we made numerous short side trips down to the water's edge. That's where all the action is, of course. The photo above makes it look like we had the place to ourselves, but the lack of people in the frame was a carefully timed effort. The trail was actually very popular on a beautiful Saturday in June, even at 11am when we started hiking.



Plenty of people were out, wading in the pools between the falls or sunning themselves on the rocks.

From the trailhead on the county road the trail ascends past a number of small cascades with plenty of slickrock for sitting out on. It's possible even to scramble up the slickrock when the water levels are low enough. About half a mile in there's a much larger falls... and it's still possible to scramble up the slickrock there.

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BTW I've titled this entry "Hiking Angel Falls (2024)" because this isn't our first trip to the area, nor the first time I've blogged about it. Check out my blogs from Angel Falls from July 2023.

Keep reading: Hiking like Billy from The Family Circus

A Meandering Path at Angel Falls, like Billy from The Family Circus

For the past year or so I've been using AllTrails.com and its smartphone app for hiking. It's useful for choosing hikes, planning my trip, and checking a map in real-time as I hike.

I remember looking at AllTrails a few years ago and finding it not that useful. What changed since that early attempt were two things. First, the site & app got way more trails listed. It's like the network effect kicked in to provide ample content. Second, I found that the live mapping works even without 4G/5G signal. You can't search trails or load a new map, but if you had a trail & map already cued up, the app knows where you are and marks it on the map. This may be as much a change in the capabilities of the smartphone (i.e., location data without cell signal) as the app itself. The upshot is, once I figured out this trick the app is now a useful companion on hikes.

In addition to merely showing me my location on a topographic map, the app is able to create a breadcrumb trail of where I've hiked. I've enabled this tracking a few times, usually out of concern that if I don't the app will lose the map and I won't be able to see anything. One reason I don't do it more often is this....



This is a screenshot of the app's breadcrumb trail partway through my hike at Angel Falls yesterday. As is typical with these— see also, my hike at Rainbow Falls last September— AllTrails' breadcrumb trail makes it look like I'm drunk and lost, stumbling around. I mean, look at that crazy, back-and-forth path I walked in the screenshot above. It's like I'm Billy from The Family Circus.

Remember The Family Circus from newspaper comics years ago? It was one of the regular comics when I was a kid. And one of the tropes author Bil Keane would often draw was the wandering, dotted-line path young Billy would follow in going from Point A to Point B.



This example (above) is from 2016. Gosh, that's recent! I remember reading this comic in the Sunday paper back in the 1970s and 80s. I couldn't find an older one, but this newer one sums up the trope pretty well. A straight line is the shortest distance between two points, but it's the least interesting, too!

Keep reading: Up the mountain to Fresno Dome

Up the Mountain to Fresno Dome. Do We Need 4x4?

I mentioned prior to our hike at Angel Falls this morning that today would be a two-fer. Our second hike was to Fresno Dome. The summit is at almost 7,600' elevation. Thankfully we don't have to ascend most of that on foot; our car does most of the work driving to the trailhead.

It was maybe a 45 minute drive up to the second trailhead on a variety of Forest Service roads. First the route was paved, then semi-paved, then pretty much dirt and rock. Along the way we were wondering, Did we really need our 4x4 SUV today, or could we have driven our convertible— which would've been a beautiful choice for the weather? I recorded some video as we drove.

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We've asked ourselves many times the question, "Do we need 4x4?"— and specifically the followups, "How much 4x4 capability?" and "How often?" We ask it when we're choosing which car to drive for a trip. We've asked it each time we've bought a new car the past 25+ years, too. Why pay extra for a 4x4 and deal with its shortcomings as a street car if you're rarely going to use it for 4x4 driving?

The truth is that we don't need 4x4 for 99% of the miles we drive. We very seldom drive through snow (it doesn't snow where we live), and almost everywhere we go has paved roads. Though the tall suspension, tough shocks, and thick tires on our Nissan Xterra SUV prove disappointingly necessary on crumbling highways we see more and more often.

With Fresno Dome I'm glad we took the 4x4. Even though I didn't actually engage 4x4 mode, the tall suspension, tough shocks, and thick tires made quick work of the forest road. I might have been able to nurse our convertible through. I've driven ordinary sedans to places that would surprise most people. But here I was thankful for the peace of mind that I was driving a vehicle that was barely even being tested by the terrain instead of one at risk of damage.



Ironically there was a big mud puddle in the road right before we got to the trailhead that I didn't record video of. It was deep, I could tell it was deep, and I wouldn't risk driving any ordinary street car through it. If we'd gotten that far in our convertible I would've parked 1/4 mile back from the trailhead and we'd walk through the mud. As it is, I'm glad I could drive through it. In fact I even revved the engine to splash the mud. Gotta wear it with pride on our 4x4 so people know it's not just a suburban grocery-getter.

Keep reading: Hiking Fresno Dome