Dinkey Creek Falls (2/2)
Sep. 1st, 2023 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerIt's now six days since we hiked Rancheria Falls and Dinkey Creek Falls (part 1 of 2) and I'm still catching up on it. This trip is in danger of getting lapped; later today we leave on another trip, and I doubt I'll have this one wrapped by then. Anyway, here's the colorful part of what's left, part 2 of 2 on the Dinkey Lakes trail.
When we encountered the first falls on the Dinkey Lakes trail we weren't sure if it was "the" falls our hiking book guided us to. If it was, there were mistakes. We decided to press on as if the book was accurate and merely overlooked the existence of that other falls sitting right there just past the trailhead. We pressed on and were rewarded with another falls.
This Dinkey Creek falls is at least 3x the height of the previous one. It's at the back of a small canyon formed by the rock face it drops over. Curiously the trail skips around it. To find this falls we had to trek cross-country for a few hundred yards. That's where our guidebook proved its worth. This falls is not visible from the trail so there's no way we would have found it without the book... and a fair bit of wilderness route-finding, as the book was less than clear in describing things like "a big striated rock".
Getting to this little grotto below the falls also required some rock-hopping. We had to cross the stream twice— each way. In both areas we found places where rocks to step on were either above the water or just below it so we didn't get more than the outside of our boots wet.
After coming back to the main trail we considered ascending to the first of the lakes on the Dinkey Lakes loop. Hawk's back was already bothering her from the bouncy 4x4 drive to the trailhead, and the stretching on the slippery water crossings made it worse. Oh, and the mosquitos were pretty thick up here at nearly 9.000' elevation. We decided to pack it up for the day and head home— which would also be a smart decision as it would get us home at a reasonable hour of the evening instead of dragging home achy and sleepy late at night.
When we encountered the first falls on the Dinkey Lakes trail we weren't sure if it was "the" falls our hiking book guided us to. If it was, there were mistakes. We decided to press on as if the book was accurate and merely overlooked the existence of that other falls sitting right there just past the trailhead. We pressed on and were rewarded with another falls.
This Dinkey Creek falls is at least 3x the height of the previous one. It's at the back of a small canyon formed by the rock face it drops over. Curiously the trail skips around it. To find this falls we had to trek cross-country for a few hundred yards. That's where our guidebook proved its worth. This falls is not visible from the trail so there's no way we would have found it without the book... and a fair bit of wilderness route-finding, as the book was less than clear in describing things like "a big striated rock".
Getting to this little grotto below the falls also required some rock-hopping. We had to cross the stream twice— each way. In both areas we found places where rocks to step on were either above the water or just below it so we didn't get more than the outside of our boots wet.
After coming back to the main trail we considered ascending to the first of the lakes on the Dinkey Lakes loop. Hawk's back was already bothering her from the bouncy 4x4 drive to the trailhead, and the stretching on the slippery water crossings made it worse. Oh, and the mosquitos were pretty thick up here at nearly 9.000' elevation. We decided to pack it up for the day and head home— which would also be a smart decision as it would get us home at a reasonable hour of the evening instead of dragging home achy and sleepy late at night.
