Blast From the Past Week 4

Feather Falls, Oroville. June 2007. Last year the COV & CORE group trekked north to Oroville, 90 miles northeast of Sacramento, near where the youth group has their annual summer camp, to chase after another water fall - Feather Falls. Check out the following sites for more information: http://members.tripod.com/~djkuba/index-.html and the Sacramento Bee article http://www.sacbee.com/384/story/141763.html. Nestled in the foothills at about 2,500 feet, the Feather Falls plunges 640 feet, making them the fourth-highest in California and the sixth-highest in the lower 48 states. The three highest falls in California are all located in Yosemite National Park: Yosemite Falls (2,425 feet), Ribbon Falls (1,612 feet) and Silver Strand Falls (1,170 feet). The two trails leading to the falls -- the "old" trail, 3.3 miles; and the "new" trail, 4.5 miles -- offer abundant flora, some interesting critters, signs of the American Indians who once lived there and gorgeous vistas of the surrounding area. We encountered one very interesting site - an infestation of lady bugs beneath a bridge crossing a creek. You could see thousands and thousands of the red and black bugs crawling on rocks and plants underneath the bridge. It was indeed a site to behold. As for the actual falls itself, it can be seen from a wooden platform deck on the side of the cliff. We had our lunch there in the intense heat of summer, as we gazed upon this awesome wonder. We were even surprised with a rainbow, as the mist of falls and the heat generated this spectacle typically beheld in places like Hawaii. Had we been daring enough, we could have hiked a little further to the top of falls, as we saw many onlookers from our vantage point enjoying the view directly above the granite rocks encompassing the waterfall. After reading about quite few deaths in the past at the falls, we dared not bring our band of risk-taking members anywhere near this potential death trap. The hike itself was moderate, being shaded most of the time within the trees, but the return trip itself was very tiring after sitting in the intense heat of the observation deck over lunch. Whatever you do, DO NOT take the newer 4.5 mile trail back. What we thought was supposed to be a somewhat easy return trip, seemed like forever to get back, with many inclines that were nowhere near moderate. Take the shorter trail always.