More than a Stop on the Way: Burney Falls

Dates: April 22 and July 6, 2014
Place: McArthur-Burney Falls State Park, Burney, California
Coordinates: 41.011404, -121.651518
Length: Short Falls Loop: 1.3 miles. Extended loop: about 3 miles.
Difficulty: easy

The rain caught up with us the morning after our spring wildflower hike at North Table Mountain Ecological Preserve. Papa Quail and the chikas stood under the canopy while yours truly broke camp and loaded the car. One everything and every one was in the car, sure enough - the rain had stopped.
We bade farewell to Lake Oroville and headed north to explore an area we've never been to before: the Modoc Country. To be more specific: the South Warner Wilderness.
Our plan was to break the long drive with a short visit to MacArthur-Burney Falls State Park, roughly half way in between Oroville and Alturas. We had been there a couple of years ago but didn't do much other than looking at the falls and sitting on the beach at Britton Lake.
Our first stop was for lunch in the town of Burney. We chatted a bit with our server and she said there was a bald eagle nest just outside of town on the way to the Falls.
We found the place and, sure enough, the nest was there. Except it wasn't a bald eagle's nest but an osprey's.

Burney Mountain, where the water comes from. Photo taken from a CA-299 Vista Point

Rain was in the forecast, but when we arrived at the park we were greeted with lovely sunshine and decided to go for a hike.

Our hike (labeled yellow), beginning at the Falls parking lot. Map section scanned from park's brochure.

Close to the parking lot there is an observation deck that overviews the Falls. We stood there long enough to appreciate the gorgeous view and to note another osprey nest on a dead tree right above the waterfall. Then we hiked down to the bottom of the waterfall.

Burney Falls, a view from the bottom.

At the last switchback going down there is a sitting bench and a large sign providing information about the black swifts that nest at the falls. As long and as hard as we looked, we couldn't see them. It was too early in the season. It was on that spot that Papa Quail had expressed his wish to returned to this place again in July.
Water comes down there not only from the main stream but also through the porous rock. I love the ferns that grow right at the spring lines, enjoying eternal shower. 

After appreciating the waterfall from below we continued our hike along the creek.
Very little was in bloom there. Gooseberry shrubs were among the early spring starters. 

Sierra Gooseberry (Ribes roezlii)

At that point of out hike the sun was out and everything looked green and sparkling with spring freshness.

Burney Creek

 Rocks by the creek side and inside grew tufts of carex plant, looking a bit like chia pets :-)

Staying on the east side of the creek, one could continue all the way north to Britton Lake. We, however, crossed the little wood bridge to the other side of the creek and continued uphill. There we saw a bit more spring colors.

Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora)

Mostly in the blues.

Mahala Mat (Ceanothus protratus)

And not all were flowers.

Steller's Jay

Right above the waterfall there is a bridge leading back to the west side of the creek, closing the short Falls Loop. Since the weather was cooperative and we were after a long drive, Papa Quail agreed to extend our hike to include a segment of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) that continues the Falls Loop southeast.
There, by the trail, I met an acquaintance that in the Bay Area had already finished blooming. At Burney Falls it was just starting.

Shootingstar (Dodecatheon sp.)

Shortly after we commenced on the PCT the sky darkened and a few raindrops begun to fall. Papa Quail emitted a few words of discontent and tucked his camera under his sweater. I left mine out, protecting it with my bandana only. It was enough for a few rain drops and I could keep photographing flowers whenever I saw them, which wasn't very frequently.

Shining Mule-ear (Wyethia glabra)

There, in the forest, the blues were replaced by yellows.
It was pretty early for the lupine, which was just budding at the time.

Pale Yellow Lupine (Lupinus luteolus)

The drizzle continued and so we hurried along. We got to the south bridge and
were ready to cross to the other side. I stopped and took a photo of the gray river.

Burney River

While admiring the river view I noticed something yellow hopping in the bushes and called Papa Quail back to the bridge. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon adult male, breeding

We frequently see yellow-dumped warblers on our outings, but this was probably the prettiest one we've seen.
And then, we got to see a warbler species that was new to us. First, the female:

Black-throated Gray Warbler, female

And a bit later we saw the male, showing his black throat:

Black-throated Gray Warbler, male

After crossing the bridge we separated from the PCT, turned left and continued along the eastern river bank back towards the Falls. At that point the rain stopped and slowly the clouds were moving away too.

American Vetch (Vicia americana), along the eastern river bank. 

There were more flowers on that part of the trail. Some shy and inconspicuous, and some serious attention-getters :-)

Scarlet Fritillary (Fritillaria recurva)

But not only flowers that caught my eye:

Pine sprouts

The extended Falls loop is a beautiful and easy 1-2 hours hike for people interested in more than just observing the waterfall.
Last July we returned to Burney Falls with my sister and her family. This time we only hiked the 1.3 miles short loop around the falls. The sun was shining, and everything sparkled in the brilliant light. Including the butterflies.

Checkerspot butterfly

There were many, many more people in the park this time. It being the 4th of July weekend had a lot to do with it, I guess :-) It was challenging to find a parking place. Later that day the park filled up and was closed to new arrivals.
The rocks at the bottom of the falls were jam-packed with people. Some even ventured into the cold, snow-melt water. Some just enjoyed the natural, cooling water spray.

Enhancing the spirit: a visitor to Burney Falls (facial features blurred on purpose). 

The plants had all greened up by then, and different flower species decorated the river banks.

Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

Medicinal, and definitely beautiful: St John's Wort. For me it's enough to just look at it to cheer up.

St John's Wort (Hypericum sp.)

On that visit, Papa Quail managed to get a proper shot of the osprey in its nest atop the falls:

Osprey

But as I mentioned above, his main objective foe the summer visit to Burney Falls was to see the black swifts that were nesting there.
They were certainly there. We saw them zooming by the waterfall at lightning speed. Although we did stay there for a good, long time, photographing these birds proved to be very challenging indeed.

Can you see the swift?

This is the best shot of that swift that came out of that visit. Guess we'll have to go back there next summer!

Black Swift, image cropped from the photo above. 

Humans are not supposed to feed wild animals. It is bad for them and ad for the environment. There are signposts about it in the park. Still, the squirrels of Burney Falls look very well fed and approach people without fear.

Hopeful ground squirrel at Burney Falls.

When we got to the north bridge I photographed the river again. I like comparing the early spring photo with the mid-summer one.

Burney River

I took a similar photograph from the bridge above the falls. Where merely 10 weeks before the plants were gray and bare, now they were bright green. So green and so bright!

I stepped down to the water. There, atop a warm, dark rock, a garter snake was sunbathing.

Garter snake

From there it is but a quick walk to the parking lot. While the others surrounded a massive, shiny-red motorcycle and gave the vehicle due-appreciation, I photographed this elderberry.

Black Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)

McArthur-Burney Falls is the perfect stop 'on the way' to or from Northern California. I suggest, however, to extend this visit to include a good hike, and/or some time at Britton Lake's shores to get a  good, worthwhile experience of this park. It's well worth it.

Alone in the Woods: at Mill Creek Falls and Around Clear Lake

Date: April 24, 2014
Place: Mill Creek Falls and Clear Lake, South Warner Wilderness, Alturas, California
Coordinates: 41.276772, -120.288342
Length: about 3 miles
Difficulty: moderate

Click on the photos for a larger view.


We had originally planned to camp at Mill Creek Falls campground the night before, but had chosen to camp at Stough Reservoir campground instead (and a good thing too, because at Mill Creek Falls campground there's no readily accessible water and the pipes were not yet running).
But we still had every intention to hike the Clear Lake trail, and that's where we went after breaking camp at Stough Reservoir.

The Clear Lake trailhead at Mill Creek Falls campground. 

The Clear Lake trail begins at the Mill Creak Falls campground. Needless to say, we were the only humans around.

Map downloaded from USGS website. Our hike is labeled (approximately) in yellow.

It was overcast and a bit chilly, but not raining. We found the trailhead and started out hike. Almost immediately I saw some spring flowers by the trailside. This particular one, the Oregon Grape, can grow into a quite large shrub, but all I saw there were relatively little plants, that were just beginning to bloom.

Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium)

For about half a mile the trail ascends mildly on the hillside, in an open conifer forest.

We aimed for the Clear Lake loop trail, and so took the first turn to the left. This turn, which wasn't marked on the map we had, had led us to an overlook of the Mill Creek Falls.
I want to clarify that this name titles more than one waterfall in California. If you search the web for Mill Creek Falls, this one isn't the first to come up ...

Mill Creek Falls

The waterfall is very pretty. What we didn't know and took some time to find out was that the Mill Creek Falls trail isn't part of the Clear Lake loop trail. Once we cleared that confusion we backtracked our steps to the main trail and continued on eastward.

Goosefoot Yellow Violet (Viola purpurea)

And then we saw the lake, and it was indeed clear.
The sky wasn't, though, and it started drizzling a little. We tucked the cameras under ponchos and went on along the south lake shore. 

Clear Lake, view from the southwest.

It drizzled for some time, but we kept on going. The birds were quiet and we didn't see any other animals or new flowers.

Clear Lake, view from south shore

There were a few waterfowl in the lake itself, but not many, and none that we haven't seen before. But the lake has its own beauty, which the birds just augment with a perfect color match:

Can you find the bufflehead ducks in the lake?  (Photographed by Papa Quail)

At the southeast of the lake the trail disappeared under the water. For some time we wondered what was that all about. Then Papa Quail spotted the neat wooden dam that was holding the water there. Turns out it was a beaver that flooded our trail!

Beaver dam on upper Mill Creek

I waded  in the shallows until I got to higher ground and found the trail again and then the rest of the family joined me, some climbing through the brush and some wading, with varying levels of complaining and/or swearing.
But we all made it to the other side!

Upper Mill Creek

By the time we crossed Mill Creek to the north side the drizzle had stopped. The Creek bed was overgrown with willow trees that were just beginning to bud. It was beautiful, yet a bit eerie to walk through them.

Path in the Willows

The north shore trail is higher on the hillside, providing more view points.

Clear Lake, a view from the north shore

In the map we had, the trail pulls away from the lake at the north east side. Perhaps it is so later in the season when the water level is lower, I don't know. When we were there, all the loop around the lake was very close to the water.

Clear Lake, view from the north shore

Fallen logs accumulate at the east end of the lake, right where the water bottleneck is. There, Clear Lake shows its mirror quality.

Clear Lake

It was there that we finally got to see some birds. Papa Quail waited patiently for them to pop into clear view.

Red-breadted Nuthutch

As far as I could see, this lake isn't a dammed one, but narrows naturally into lower Mill Creek through a short rapids section that eventually leads to Mill Creek Falls. Close to the lake's spillout the trail crosses the creek on a small wooden bridge. It was right there, at the lake's bottleneck that we had the most rewarding encounter of that day.

Mill Creek flowing from Clear Lake

As I approached the bridge I overheard Papa Quail explaining to the elder chika about the birds he wanted to see most. Among them was the American Dipper, which we only saw once, about 11 years ago (in Yosemite) and we didn't have a picture of. Not a minute after he finished explaining to her how the dipper looks like and she raised her arm and pointed to the rapids at the lake's exit and cried: 'Dipper!'
And sure enough ... there it was!

American Dipper

The dipper is a very interesting bird. It's a songbird, about jay-size, that lives by clear streams and dives into them to forage for insect larvae and other little stream critters. Its blood temperature drops during winter to avoid hypothermia when dipping into the ice-cold stream. Amazingly, it can withstand the strong rapids currents and emerge exactly at the same spot where it took the dive.
We watched it dive for a few minutes until it flew away.

Shortly after we crossed the bridge back to the south side of the creek we met the main trail again and headed back to Mill Creek Falls campground.
On the way I photographed this slope with this pretty grass that looks almost as if it was intentionally planted there. I could see no evidence of any human meddling there,though, so I assume it looks so naturally.

Grass, perhaps a Stipa species?

The campground was empty still. We selected a nice campsite and sat down for a late lunch picnic. Knocking sounds from above distracted Papa Quail, who pulled his camera from the car and went looking for the source of the sounds.
And he found it.

Black-backed Woodpecker (female). Note the wood chip flying across her wing :-)

This hike concluded our Modoc experience for this trip and left me with a huge taste for more. Next time we will probably go there later in spring and might see more flowers, but all and all, I must say that I really enjoyed the early spring quiescence in the woods, and cherished being alone in the wilderness. I'm certainly looking forward to my next visit to Modoc!