Changing Plans: Miller Creek Trail to Angel Falls
Here it is over a week later and I'm still writing about our weekend trip at the end of July. It didn't really seem like it at the time, but I guess we did a lot that weekend!
Sunday morning we left our Saturday Night Halfway perch in Madera. After filling up with gas and food at a truckstop across the highway from hotel- truckstop food is a totally reasonable choice for breakfast in a place like Madera- we headed across the eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley up into the Sierra Nevada foothills to the town of Oakhurst.
Our plan originally had been to hike a few falls on Lewis Creek several miles north of Oakhurst, then head higher up into the mountains to the west to see a drive-to falls recommended in one of our hiking books. Two things made us chage our plans: One, when we checked current trail conditions on Lewis Creek we read that a bridge was out and parts of the trail were in terrible shape from overuse. Two, we forgot all of our hiking books at home! 🤦 And when I searched for it on AllTrails.com it wasn't listed. 😰
But then a bit of serendipity happened. As I browsed for that other trail on AllTrails.com I found a more interesting hike nearby: Miller Creek to Angel Falls and Devil's Slide. Even the name sounds interesting! Plus, it's new; we've hiked Lewis Creek a few times before. We decided to hike Miller Creek first and then visit Lewis Creek in the afternoon if we still had time and energy.
The trailhead for Miller Creek was less than 10 miles outside of Oakhurst- another bonus, as the trail I was thinking of in the guidebook we left home was more of a drive to get to. And the parking lot for the trailhead was difficult to find, but fortunately AllTrails.com makes really detailed maps available. Then, when we got to the trailhead... graffiti. Fucking vandals!
We laced up our boots, shouldered our packs, and started up the trail. With graffiti at the trailhead and the number of people already drinking beer in their cars before 10am we were worried the trail would be polluted like the parking lot was. Fortunately all it took was walking 50 meters for things to improve significantly.
Angel Falls is not just one set of falls but several series of cascades. Above and below many of the cascades are quiet pools to wade in. There are also plenty of sunny rocks to sit on next to the rushing water. There were a few people up in this area with us, though not so many that it spoiled the enjoyment.
The trail on the west side of Miller Creek was washed out in several places by this winter's heavy storms and the heavy snowmelt that followed. It wasn't too much of a problem as we were able to scramble up the slickrock on the side of the creek. If we'd come several weeks earlier in the season that might have been tougher, with creeks in the Sierra Nevada swollen with record snowmelt.
Stay tuned, more to come! Update: More falls in part 2!
Sunday morning we left our Saturday Night Halfway perch in Madera. After filling up with gas and food at a truckstop across the highway from hotel- truckstop food is a totally reasonable choice for breakfast in a place like Madera- we headed across the eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley up into the Sierra Nevada foothills to the town of Oakhurst.
Our plan originally had been to hike a few falls on Lewis Creek several miles north of Oakhurst, then head higher up into the mountains to the west to see a drive-to falls recommended in one of our hiking books. Two things made us chage our plans: One, when we checked current trail conditions on Lewis Creek we read that a bridge was out and parts of the trail were in terrible shape from overuse. Two, we forgot all of our hiking books at home! 🤦 And when I searched for it on AllTrails.com it wasn't listed. 😰
But then a bit of serendipity happened. As I browsed for that other trail on AllTrails.com I found a more interesting hike nearby: Miller Creek to Angel Falls and Devil's Slide. Even the name sounds interesting! Plus, it's new; we've hiked Lewis Creek a few times before. We decided to hike Miller Creek first and then visit Lewis Creek in the afternoon if we still had time and energy.
The trailhead for Miller Creek was less than 10 miles outside of Oakhurst- another bonus, as the trail I was thinking of in the guidebook we left home was more of a drive to get to. And the parking lot for the trailhead was difficult to find, but fortunately AllTrails.com makes really detailed maps available. Then, when we got to the trailhead... graffiti. Fucking vandals!
We laced up our boots, shouldered our packs, and started up the trail. With graffiti at the trailhead and the number of people already drinking beer in their cars before 10am we were worried the trail would be polluted like the parking lot was. Fortunately all it took was walking 50 meters for things to improve significantly.
Angel Falls is not just one set of falls but several series of cascades. Above and below many of the cascades are quiet pools to wade in. There are also plenty of sunny rocks to sit on next to the rushing water. There were a few people up in this area with us, though not so many that it spoiled the enjoyment.
The trail on the west side of Miller Creek was washed out in several places by this winter's heavy storms and the heavy snowmelt that followed. It wasn't too much of a problem as we were able to scramble up the slickrock on the side of the creek. If we'd come several weeks earlier in the season that might have been tougher, with creeks in the Sierra Nevada swollen with record snowmelt.
Stay tuned, more to come! Update: More falls in part 2!