Zim Zim Falls
Mar. 25th, 2023 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThis weekend we decided to visit Zim Zim Falls. It's in remote Napa County, a few miles north of Lake Berryessa. We'd mentally bookmarked it for a visit some Spring season when there'd been good rainfall followed by a sunny day. Well, we've had epic rainfall this season. After the most recent rain squall a few days ago this weekend's weather forecast is sun and blue skies. Time to get out!
Zim Zim Falls is a place you have to really want to go to get there. For us, at least it's nearly a 3 hour drive from home, making it a day-trip that requires planning. We set our alarms for 7am and left home a bit after 8:30. The real challenges start as you approach the trailhead. The road up from Lake Berryessa narrows to a single lane and traverses several water crossings. These crossings would be no sweat in our Nissan Xterra 4x4, but today we drove our BMW convertible. Watch an example of how it went:
...Haha, Hawk is joking in the video about her feet getting wet inside the car. The truth is I know what I'm doing when fording water like this, and I can do it safely in cars that other people would have trouble in.
There were 4 or 5 crossings like this before we got to the trailhead. Yes, it's way out in remote country.
Once the driving part of the trip is complete the hiking part presents its own challenges. Yup, more water crossings!
This was the first water crossing, about ¼ mile in from the trailhead. We took off our boots and socks and carefully made our way across, then dried our feet and put our socks and boots back on on the other side. It was time consuming, but we figured having dry feet was worth it.
Well, then we found the second water crossing. I remembered there were probably going to be five crossings total (each way). We considered whether to do the boots-and-socks thing again or just quit. Like I said, seeing Zim Zim Falls is something you have to want to do! And we did want to do it. So we tried crossing with our boots and sock on. ...And yup, we got wet. But then we discovered it's not so bad.
Here's a clip of our fifth water crossing:
There would ultimately be NINE water crossings to get to the falls— each way! Plus countless mud bogs on the trail. At some point we realized there was no way to hike this trail today while also keeping our feet dry and our boots not covered with mud. Once we stopped caring it was so much easier!
Eventually we reached Zim Zim Falls. ...Well, not the falls themselves but an awesome vantage point from atop a rocky perch partway up the canyon on the opposite side of the creek.
Zim Zim Falls is well over 100 ft. tall. It's the biggest falls in the Bay Area. And right now the flow over the falls is stunning.
The way back to the trailhead went much faster than the hike in. That's typical, though in this case it was doubly true because on the way out we spent absolutely no time being worried about wet or muddy boots. We had towels and clean shoes and socks back at the car!
Link: view video on YouTube
We were ready to roll around 4pm. It would be over an hour until we were back in civilization— by which I mean a place with restaurants for dinner! We ate in Fairfield and then drove home. We were back at our own place before 8pm. That was pretty good timing for a full day trip!
Zim Zim Falls is a place you have to really want to go to get there. For us, at least it's nearly a 3 hour drive from home, making it a day-trip that requires planning. We set our alarms for 7am and left home a bit after 8:30. The real challenges start as you approach the trailhead. The road up from Lake Berryessa narrows to a single lane and traverses several water crossings. These crossings would be no sweat in our Nissan Xterra 4x4, but today we drove our BMW convertible. Watch an example of how it went:
...Haha, Hawk is joking in the video about her feet getting wet inside the car. The truth is I know what I'm doing when fording water like this, and I can do it safely in cars that other people would have trouble in.
There were 4 or 5 crossings like this before we got to the trailhead. Yes, it's way out in remote country.
Once the driving part of the trip is complete the hiking part presents its own challenges. Yup, more water crossings!
This was the first water crossing, about ¼ mile in from the trailhead. We took off our boots and socks and carefully made our way across, then dried our feet and put our socks and boots back on on the other side. It was time consuming, but we figured having dry feet was worth it.
Well, then we found the second water crossing. I remembered there were probably going to be five crossings total (each way). We considered whether to do the boots-and-socks thing again or just quit. Like I said, seeing Zim Zim Falls is something you have to want to do! And we did want to do it. So we tried crossing with our boots and sock on. ...And yup, we got wet. But then we discovered it's not so bad.
Here's a clip of our fifth water crossing:
There would ultimately be NINE water crossings to get to the falls— each way! Plus countless mud bogs on the trail. At some point we realized there was no way to hike this trail today while also keeping our feet dry and our boots not covered with mud. Once we stopped caring it was so much easier!
Eventually we reached Zim Zim Falls. ...Well, not the falls themselves but an awesome vantage point from atop a rocky perch partway up the canyon on the opposite side of the creek.
Zim Zim Falls is well over 100 ft. tall. It's the biggest falls in the Bay Area. And right now the flow over the falls is stunning.
The way back to the trailhead went much faster than the hike in. That's typical, though in this case it was doubly true because on the way out we spent absolutely no time being worried about wet or muddy boots. We had towels and clean shoes and socks back at the car!
Link: view video on YouTube
We were ready to roll around 4pm. It would be over an hour until we were back in civilization— by which I mean a place with restaurants for dinner! We ate in Fairfield and then drove home. We were back at our own place before 8pm. That was pretty good timing for a full day trip!
no subject
Date: 2023-03-26 08:45 pm (UTC)Zim Zim Falls is an interesting name. Any idea where it comes from?
no subject
Date: 2023-03-26 11:40 pm (UTC)As for historical evidence of the name, a quick search turned up an interesting page from the Napa County Historical Society. It shows an 1876 map marked with "Zem Zem" and describes an autobiographical manuscript which gives a similar account of the name. Quite possibly this is the source the authors of the hiking guidebook found.