Rancheria Falls Trip in April

Ken,
That's the same one I use. Also, if you call the NWS in Monterey, at 831-656-1725, and wade through the auto-phone-tree system, you can talk to a weather person and get more depth than the online site. It's just more information.

Once I was leading a group off the Grand Canyon, north rim in April. I called Monterey and the guy was saying it was taking him longer to load the information from Flagstaff. He gave me the Flagstaff number and, if anyone asked how I got the phone number, give them his name and Monterey location. They never asked, but I was able to track the weather at the north rim day by day, even from Knab, just before we got to Monument Point. I use their service for trips in the shoulder seasons. And certainly for the Lost Coast.

Dennis no need for me to call when I drive by the building everyday that houses the staff. Kidding. I actually work in Pacific Grove/Asilimar-Monterey-Carmel area. That does sound like a good reference though. Be nice to see you again next week. If you are going in by yourself and would like to hook up with Bob and myself on the hike in, let's coordinate…..if you'd like my friend.

Ken,

That would be cool. At this point my plan is to arrive at the trail head by about 10:00 am, on Friday. I walk slow and want to take it easy. I plan on driving from Petaluma to Benicia, then south thru Concord, Walnut Creek, Dublin, Livermore, and points east. I'd be stopping for breakfast somewhere on the road.

Let me know how that works for anyone else. I've got room for two and packs.

Is there still room for one more?

Josh of course you can go. You don't even have to ask due to you having the secret password. I am picking up Bob in San Jose on Friday, dunno if that fits your schedule or not

I am still planning on going. Somehow I doubt it's not going to dip below 40 at night when the cold air rushes into the canyon . . . but oh if it doesn't!

I haven't been to Yosemite, so will probably go Friday and spend the day/night in the valley, then join up with the Saturday crew into HH. Procured a car for this one, so I'm all set.

Bringing the cards for anyone but Cary who wants to play gin/rummy.

Nathan, enjoy the valley, it is a beautiful place. Loads of tourists though, so be prepared for a crush of humanity.

As for the hike, it sounds like alot of us are going in on Friday, which you are more than welcome to do also. If you come in on Sat. and go it alone, the directions to where all the camping is, is pretty direct. Let me know if you will need directions

hahahaha

nathan – you still owe me money from last card game!

more seriously – lane and i will be hiking in on saturday. leaving sac 8:30 – 9am or so. not sure how long from here to trailhead – 3 hours?

Cary, it is about a 3 hour drive

Anyone know if the Falls are gushing yet?

They will be espcially by this weekend when it is supposed to get warmer. Rancheria Falls will be pumping due to it being a cascading type of falls

Yes, the website says the falls are flowing.

having never been there – is it going to be obvious for me & lane, arriving sometime saturday afternoon, where you will be?

are we on our own for trail permits? is the office to pickup trail permit right by the trailhead?

not having even looked at the map yet, where the heck is the trailhead, anyway?

Cary, yes you are alone on the permit situation.
Where we will be is this: If you have a map, you cross one last creek on a metal bridge. You then ascend the small ridge and when you top out turn to your right where you see Rancheria. Keep following the river to the right, there are campgrounds scattered along the river and easy to find. Trust me this will be quite easy to do. One marker to look for. There will be a sign stating that you have arrived at Rancheria Falls, a little wooden sign that is on the trail. If you have come to this sign, then you need to back track a few hundred yards and turn and go down towards the river.
And to answer your last question of the trailhead.
As you head up Hwy 120 towards the entrance of Yosemite, you will see a sign that says Hetch Hetchy. This is just before the entrance, so please make a left, and follow the signs. It is about a 20 mile drive from Hwy 120 to the TH. Be careful once you leave Hwy 120,about 10 miles in you come to a camp owned by the city of San Francisco. The road meanders through the camp, just pay attention to the road signs. I am going to pm you my phone #, in case you need more clarification on these

Friday – Sunday weather forecast at Hetch Hetchy:

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 72.

Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 31.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 74.

Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 34.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 74.

Today and tomorrow it's 20% rain or snow up there. Looks like perfect conditions for us.

Denis,

Thanks for posting up the forecast so I can adjust my clothing.

Good news is that we can have a fire up there to keep warm.

Also an update, Dave Vassallo will not be joining us.

He took a bad fall on a dayhike on Mt. Diablo on Monday and is going to require surgery, so he can not join us.

Jeremy and I will be driving up on Friday afternoon.

Jeremy was gracious enough to wait for me to get off work early to carpool with him.

Do we know how many people are going to be going on this trip?

Looking forward to seeing everyone for another BPLer's Gathering of Gear Geeks!

-Tony

As Tony mentioned, now I'm not going Friday morning as I had planned. Instead, Tony and I will be coming up Friday afternoon. Not sure yet if we are hiking in Friday or whether we'll camp at the backpacker camp at the trailhead.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.

Jeremy.

Well Jeremy, either way we will be seeing you guys. Bob and myself are looking at a 3:30 or so start time, if not an early Sat. start. Stil glad you guys are still coming!

I'm so jealous.

confirmed that Bob and I will be at the trailhed around 3:30 or so. Dennis, are you going to hike in with us?

Jeremy and Tony, what time do you guys think that you will be hiking in? Are you guys up for a little campfire singalong?

Ken,

If I get out of work by 1pm on the nose, I think that we would be there by 4:30pm.

I don't have a cell phone, but I think that Jeremy might.

Maybe you guys could exchange cell numbers.

We could give you an idea of our ETA to the trail head while we are on the road and before cell reception is lost in the park.

Just a thought, if you were seeing if we could all hit the trail at about the same time.

-Tony

I just spoke w/ the ranger at Hetch Hetchy – we should expect our feet to be wet on this one: she said there is a lot of water on the trail & definitely plan on having wet feet.

The total trail quota per day is 25. What is our total head count? How many people are definitely going in on Friday/Saturday? She said last weekend (when it was snowing & raining) they had about 15 people & never know if another group might show up.

Since I'm arriving on the late side Saturday, I'm trying to get as good of an idea as I can whether I'll be wasting my time or not to drive all the way there.

I am planning on driving up early Friday, and hiking in. If trail conditions are bad I plan to give it a try and not exceed my personal limits. For instance, how wet is wet? Above the knees?

Edit: How does one contact a trail ranger?

209.379.1922 (hetch hetchy station)

she just said a lot of water & definitely get feet wet – perfectly do-able, just wet

thought people might want to know in planning their socks, footwear, etc.

Cary, I have never been turned away from that TH. I would certainly go!

Dennis the water issue is just from the falls. Nothing serious, as for the rest of the trail, it should be dry.

Their are 2-3 falls on the trail. The first two are trickles and really don't affect the trail much,if not at all. The third one has a woooden bridge that goes over the creek that the falls dump into. That is where you will get wet. This crossing is not dangerous, but the water maybe knee deep at the most.