On Sunday, June 7, 2020, the Burks met up with Laurie’s brother, Greg, and niece, Katy Mae, for a lovely (and properly socially distanced!) hike into the woods outside Burney to see a pretty spectacular waterfall.
From the dam at Lake Britton, we hiked “north” on the Pacific Crest Trail for ~3.5 miles.
The first part of this hike took us through an oak–pine forest before opening up onto Delucci Ridge, from which we were rewarded with some grand views.
Leaving the ridge behind, we moved into the drier, south-facing slope, and found a whole new set of plants.
While this drier section could be uncomfortably hot in the middle of summer, this day was partially sunny and cool (high of 53 °F) going in—perfect for hiking. Coming out we had intermittent showers and a smattering of hail, but nothing beyond “refreshing.”
As we hiked up Rock Creek canyon, we could hear the falls for quite some time before we could see them. In fact, one has to cross a bridge and hike back downstream for a short distance before they come into view.
While it is not impossible to get down to the water’s edge, one has to be quite determined (not to mention agile enough!) to do so. We chose to lunch on a rocky vantage point and enjoy the falls, which we had entirely to ourselves, from a distance.
Despite the accessibility of these falls, we have surprisingly never encountered very many people there over the several times that we have visited. It is a moderately easy hike with little elevation gain (we estimate ~800 feet going in, less out), and a rewarding hike for nature lovers. Greg and Katy, who went on ahead on the way back, reported seeing a mama deer and her wee (adorable!) fawn. And despite the fact that it was just past peak bloom, we still counted ~90 species in flower.
Please enjoy the following slide show of just a few of the floral species that we encountered on this very fun hike. All photos were taken by Don Burk, on June 7, 2020, along the Pacific Crest Trail in the vicinity of Rock Creek Falls. -Laurie & Don Burk
