Maple Falls
Hike Review:
Forest of Nisene Marks State Park has to be one of the most beautiful I’ve ever been to.
The trails, though busier than expected, were clean. There was a lot of people and cyclists in the first 2 miles, but for 90% of the hike, I was utterly alone.
The trails, because I was hiking in the winter, was practically plush, with leaves that cushioned every step. The air was super clean and the babbling brook chatted away profusely.
The last mile of the trail to Maple Falls is narrow and mostly traverses in a gorge. There are 12+ water crossings in the last half mile to the falls. I put the plus there because if you wanted to, you could cross more times.
I also think the water crossings would be different depending on the flow of water. Because it had been raining for the past week, the creek was deeper than I had anticipated. Still, on the way to the water fall, I was able to have minimal amounts of water in my shoe. One the way back, however, I had to submerged my feet in the creek a few times, which means hiking in wet and squishy socks and shoes.
There was plenty of parking available, though I could see it being full in the summer, when there are more hikers.
Because of how forested this park is, GPS was not as reliable as usual. But because of the creek, not easy to get lost.
What I Learned:
My left hip started a dull ache about 3 miles into the hike. It wasn’t too bad at all, but around mile 8 it returned with a vengeance. I believe this is the same ache I dealt with at the middle of the summer. I think I need to hike more for this pain to go away.
Because I donated plasma yesterday evening, I was supposed to not do any strenuous exercises for 24 hrs. Well, I figured this wasn’t too long of a hike, but once I got home, I felt utterly exhausted and just stuffed my face with terrible snacks for a few hours. Next time, I’ll take it easier for sure.
I saw the most amount (and variety) of mushrooms in all the hikes I’ve ever done. I felt very lucky to see so many fungi.
Media Consumed:
Killing Commendatore
What Happened?
9.3 miles, 3 hrs 56 mins, 1237 ft of ascent
I’ve been wanting to hike to Maple Falls for about a year. But I had heard that the optimal time to go was after a good amount of rain, as the flow of Maple Falls just gets better and better. With there being so much rain the past week, I felt like it was the right time to go, and I was right.
I was planning to go rain or shine, but it just so turned out that there happened to be a 12 hour break in the rain, which coincided with when I hiked this trail. But even if it wasn’t raining, there was water all around me. There was water on every trail, every tree, every rock, and every leaf. There were puddles everywhere and small, impromptu creeks every few hundred feet. The hike was pleasant, and after I got off Aptos Creek Fire Road, I only saw four people for the next 4 miles.
The last half mile to the Maple Falls was the highlight though. I had read about these beautiful trails in gorges in Utah and Oregon and had dreamed about doing them one day, and I never expected that I would have the chance to do it so close to home! The dozen crossings were mostly easy, but a few of them were tricky. One involved crossing the stream while stepping on a few tree branches and hoping that I didn’t slip off of them. Another one had awkwardly placed boulders that I had to jump on and off of, in the rain, with moss growing on them—which made them a little slippery. But these just made the trail that much more fun.
I had a wonderful lunch at the waterfall, alone, and just enjoyed the overwhelming sounds. After lunch, I hiked back and ran into a lot more people. I think they started hiking after eating lunch. I tried to give them tips about the number of water crossings. I also got to say “Merry Christmas” to most people that I made eye contact with. I don’t really celebrate Christmas, but it’s nice to make people smile—at least to most that celebrate it.
I got pretty tired in the last few miles and was joyed to get back to the car. And then I drove home to a warm shower.
