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    THE BEST WATERFALL in California | backpacking Sierra Nevada mountains | North Fork American River



    May 2023… AND I ALMOST STEPPED ON TWO RATTLESNAKES (AGAIN)
    This is a one night backpacking trip to an absolutely stunning 540 ft. high waterfall in northern California, Tahoe National Forest, Sierra Nevada mountains, in the North Fork American River drainage. There was so much snow!

    This is my favorite waterfall. It is among the best waterfalls in California without a doubt. It is so remote and so hard to get to. It is magnificent. This would be my seventh time.

    I have seen it at peak flow before but not from the closeup viewpoint at Chert Knoll. The last time I was there the flow in the North Fork American River at the dam was about 2400 cfs. I said the next time I come will be when the flow is at least 4000 cfs. Six years passed. Enter 2023. Epic winter. Snow pack at 200% of average. I was watching the flow all week. It was hovering around 4000 cfs. On Saturday it was 5100 cfs! We have lift-off!

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    Video:
    Sony A6400 (4K)
    Final Cut Pro

    Music:

    Jack The Lumberer by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
    Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
    Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Casual Desire by Ugonna Onyekwe (nyc)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    #californiawaterfalls #tahoenationalforest #northforkamericanriver

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    View 32 Comments

    32 Comments

    4. Adventures Are Out There on

      Wow so much snow!! No wonder the flow was so good!! I saw that snake!! There are so many parts of this waterfall, little, middle, big!! It was beautiful I see why it's your favorite 😍

    5. The Hiking Hermit on

      Cool ice walls. Walking in snow shoes must be tiring and then no ice. The waterfalls looked awesome. Almost worth encountering a rattle snake for…well almost. I guess as long as you spot it first. I hate long road walks especially after you have seen or hiked up to the good stuff 🙂

    9. Mitch Mysliwiec on

      Such a good one! Beautiful doesn't even come close to describing that one. Easy to see why you rate it as your favorite. I cannot believe how much snow melted in a just a couple weeks.

    13. Billy B on

      the piles of snow high at roadside there the North York canyon falls look amazing wow oh and there little ones too and a middle one part of this hike looked pretty tough mate
      thumbs up👍👍Au💢💯always fully viewed🥸

    14. HYOH-WU on

      Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes! You are correct that was an epic fall! Very beautiful brother! Be safe out there.

    15. GENeration Xplorers on

      Yikes scary snake on the intro. Ah bless you, couldn’t blame you for kicking that cone on a road that should be open. Those ice walls are hugely impressive! Like your snow shoes, are they situational, to keep you from sinking? That snake was massive, i might have missed it. Wow the mew york canyon falls are incredibly impressive. So annoying about that massive section of closed road. Incredibly impressive a d inspiring video as always Leon. Thank you 👍

    16. OutOnTrail on

      For some reason, I was really tickled by the part where you kicked over the cone and set it back up again 😂Kinda cool to be snowshoeing in shorts! Thanks for braving the rattlesnakes to bring us another epic waterfall and some bonus waterfalls, to boot!

    18. Hélène & Serge on

      Crazy how deep the snow still is 😳 Beautiful falls Leon but watch for the rattlesnake’s 🐍
      Take care
      Hélène et Serge 👩‍❤️‍👨🌈⚜️

    20. Jennifer Lupine on

      Yippee! Lots of winter snow makes for a stupendous Waterfall in the spring! Awesome views of the various falls. The main one is so tall!! Wow! 💦💦💦 Great job getting out there! 🙌🙌 Yikes, there must be tons of rattlers out if you’re seeing so many- do you think the extra snowy winter has anything to do with it? Pretty wildflowers along the way. 😄I’d love to get out into the Tahoe NF! 👌👍👍👍 Thanks for sharing your adventure!

    23. Day adventures with Gasper on

      Thanks for taking us on this amazing hike. Beautiful landscapes and snow-covered landscapes. Great views of the waterfalls. Also, close encounter with the rattlesnakes. Have a great day my friend.

    24. Nicole Hikesalot on

      Wiw stunning waterfall and the hike looked great… Rough water crossing and the snake??😮 Man oh man. Thats so much snow still. I'll be out in mammoth in September

    29. Alan METALMAN – Outdoors on

      Did not look easy to get to your camping spot but a nice touch was the colour on the trail were the wild flowers you saw. Absolutely loved the waterfall but I hate snakes and nearly stood on the only venomous snake we have in the UK last week, which made me hate them even more. Waterfall 2 on day 2 looked draining to get there as well but worth it for the sight you got there. Oh another thing I hate is road walking – yippee not, cheers Alan

    31. that place on

      Fun to see you all geared up packing it in with snow shoes too. Awesome waterfall and indeed impressive with that massive water flow. Thanks for catching it. See why it's your favorite. Pretty decent elevation gain and loss on this hike.👍 Cheers my friend.

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