Marble Falls, Sequoia NP

[lambertiana]

My son was pestering me to get out on a trail today (he has to twist my arm really hard), but I needed to find something nearby for several reasons - wanting to avoid the traffic heading into the national parks on a holiday, a late start because I was at a Boy Scouts fundraising breakfast this morning, and knowing that all access to the high country is still difficult because of snow. I had never been to Marble falls, mainly because I tend to focus on the high country and this trail is in the foothills on the western edge of Sequoia, where it is far to hot to hike in the summer. But today was fairly cool, so we went decided that it was the right opportunity to check out Marble Falls. Less than an hour from home, here is the view up the drainage from near the trailhead

Along the trail

Looking back down toward the trailhead

There was plenty of this, so caution is advised

Looking across the drainage

And up toward Marble Falls

I didn't know there was any of this around here

A large yucca in bloom, there is a lot of this in the foothills

We spotted this lizard with a large appetite, the one it was trying to eat was almost as big as it was

 

[lambertiana]

Finally we reached Marble Falls, almost four miles from the car. If you are wondering where the name comes from, the falls are in a band of pure white marble bedrock. Most people associate the Sierras with granitic rock, for good reason, but there are many areas, especially on the western edge, where there is a lot of metavolcanics, sedimentary rock, and here and there some marble. Here is the first (and largest) fall

Looking downstream below the falls

Views of the upper small falls, which has about half of the flow of the river there, the rest is split off around the rocks in the background down a steeper and larger fall that I couldn't get to

 

[lambertiana]

The water there was really moving

To make things more interesting for my son, the marble is honeycombed with caves, he poked around in a few of them (note how bright white the marble is)

It turned out to be a really nice gentle dayhike. I would recommend it highly as long as you don't go in the summer when it is 105.

 

[Junglas]

Cool pics thanks for sharing! Father and son time is always good. Glad u guys had a good time

 

[JCavSD]

Nice pics. Looks like a good hike and always fun to have falls as a destination.

 

[fugawee]

beautiful area
thanks for the pics!
looks like you guys had a great time :thumbup:

 

[kgd]

Very nice pictures. That water must have been refreshing.

 

[Wildewinds]

That looks awesome. That almost looks like a snow cave.

 

[pitdog]

Wow that's some stunning scenery !

I think those lizards could be mating, they often bite each when doing that.

 

[norcalblacktail]

Awesome pictures. All the snow and rain we got this year is sure making for some impressive falls. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BRL]

Great shots, great time. Awesome that it was your kid dragging you out; I can only dream that that'll happen in my house someday!

 

[JV3]

awesome views! thanks for posting.

There was plenty of this, so caution is advised

i suck at these things...what is it?

haha! i need one of those t-shirts. i have no idea how i ended getting "espanol" magazine or something like that monthly.

 

[norcalblacktail]

awesome views! thanks for posting.



i suck at these things...what is it?

Thats natures toilet paper. Just take a few leaves and wipe away.


Just kidding dont do that. Thats poison oak. Stay away or itch all day.

 

[raylaconico]

Hey, why didn't you take me with you?

 

[lambertiana]

Hey, why didn't you take me with you?

I seem to recall you turning us down...I know it was a last minute thing, but you could have come. Since I don't have any vacation time this year for long trips, I hope to do a lot of dayhikes on Saturdays this summer, plus a couple overnight trips.