Tag Archives: stream

High Sierra Trail, Big Arroyo

High Sierra Trail, Big Arroyo
High Sierra Trail, Big Arroyo. Sequoia National Park, California. August 7, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The High Sierra Trail crosses a small stream as it begins to climb out of Big Arroyo toward the Chagoopa Plateau.

On this day our route traveled from the old cabin in Big Arroyo out to Moraine Lake on the Chagoopa Plateau. This section of trail was near the start of the day’s walk as we began our climb out of the Arroyo, through a trail section that was often under forest cover and was crossed frequently by small creeks. I’ve been across this trail section more than once, and this time I managed to avoid being surprised by the climb. When you arrive in Big Arroyo from Kaweah Gap the view convinces you that you have nothing but downhill between there and the Kern Canyon – but you are quite wrong. The trail does follow the bottom of the Arroyo for a few miles, but then it climbs – more steadily and more steeply than you might think – up the east side of the valley to reach the flat area of Chagoopa Plateau.

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Cascade Creek Falls

Cascade Creek Falls
Cascade Creek Falls. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of Cascade Creek Falls along Big Oak Flat Road into Yosemite Valley, California.

It is hard to imagine a more accessible waterfall than this one. The road into the Valley (the highway 120 route) passes right over this creek, and this photograph was made from the bridge. (This spot is also among my earliest memories of Yosemite, from childhood trips to the park with my parents. This waterfall, cascading down from unseen heights above, suggested to me at that early age that there was something interesting beyond the road. Turns out that this suggestion was right, and I’ve spent some decades enjoying that something. :-)

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Waterfall on Cascade Creek


Waterfall on Cascade Creek. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Waterfall on Cascade Creek along Big Oak Flat Road near Yosemite Valley. This is one of the most easily accessible waterfalls in Yosemite – it is just above a bridge on the road dropping into the Valley from Big Oak Flat and the creek passes right beneath the roadway.

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