Big Five / Little Five Lakes Loop

Cliff Creek Falls may not be its official name, but it fits.

Cliff Creek Falls

Big 5, Little 5 Lakes Loop and Sawtooth Pass, August 4th to 7th, 2000.

Now, the waterfall made my day, which had few highpoints thus far. The waterfall was a series of falls and cascades dropping over 800 feet from the "step" where Pinto Lake lay, to the canyon where I stood. This was the source of the flood, because the evidence of the flood began at its foot and spread out from there. I could hear the falls long before I saw it, and it was no disappointment. It frothed, foamed and fell in a fairly straight line down into the canyon carrying with it a good deal of water for this time of year.

I had reached the end of that section of canyon, and no camping opportunities had presented themselves, even with a pack-less search. The trail began to climb upward towards Pinto Lake, and I had a dilemma. I could continue on to the Pinto Lake camps or I could march back maybe ½ mile to a camp. It was already nearly 6 PM, and I did not know how bad the climb was above me. Looking at my map I could see I was well within striking range of Black Rock Pass and the lakes beyond, so I decided to backtrack to a camp for that night. I probably should have tried for the upper camps, but it all worked out none the less.

The trail goes up this gap to the left of a small falls seen at the center.

So I trudged back, further than I expected, and found the nearly hidden site down off the trail a ways. It was grass and flowery spot on level silt, a bit dirtier than I would like, but usable. Near where I set up camp I found an ancient nearly buried fire ring and a scattering of horse manure, so it was probably a very old packer site that was perhaps larger before the flood and stream carved most of it away. I had excellent access to the water and in short order I had a comfortable camp. However, bugs of all kinds were an annoyance. Mosquitoes, few but persistent and large were the expected annoyance, but the Sierra jungle surrounding me also provided me with spiders, hoppers, assorted flyers, and other crawly things. Once, while reading by flashlight, a moth the size of a B-52 with glowing eyes landed on my book, causing me to leap out of my chair and flinging my book away. The jet-wash before it landed tipped me off. When I retreated to my bivy-tent I had to evict the new tenants who included a large spider and a huge fist-sized mosquito. I made double sure I had a bug free zone before getting into the sack.
And it was hot. Once again I would suffer a fitful overheated humid night in the Sierra. Seemed to be a theme this particular year.