March 29, 2014 - Marble Falls

 

Title: March 29, 2014 - Marble Falls

Trail head: Potwisha Campground

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking

Trail: Marble Falls

Destination: Marble Falls

Distance:  6.75 miles

Start Time:  9:28

End Time:   3:00*

Travel Time: 5:31* (1.22 mph)

Moving Time: 4:37* (1.46 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,583'

Maximum Elevation: 3,810'

*My GPS batteries died about a third of the way on the return trip. The mileage and elevation should be close, but the time is off.

Description:

We arrive at Kohl's at 7 and it is another long drive to Three Rivers. Like our two previous hikes, this destination is a first for us. So with that in mind, Nat and Jeffery pile into our car and we start out with about 18 other intrepid hikers for a location just outside of Ash Mountain. We stop in Farmersville for a break and hit Potwisha a little after 9.

Canal

The trail head is on the far side of the Potwisha Campground. The first part of the trail is a dirt road which goes besides a canal. Where this canal goes, John's conjecture is to Kaweah Reservoir. And that is a good guess. looking at a topo map, the canal skirts the campground, then crosses the road and the Middle Fork of the Kaweah. From there it meets up with a flume and heads towards the reservoir. Someplace in this area is a Parshall Flume. This may be to measure the river flow.  You can see pictures from 1955 at the Huntington Digital Library showing this flume. Now, what the use is it? I do not know. My speculation is it might be used for water for the campground and visitor center.  

Up the Marble Fork

About a quarter mile up the road is the official start of the trail. You make a right turn and start heading up a short series of steep switchbacks. This gets us up our first 150' and steps the tone for the next two miles. Fortunately, there are many places for the more thoughtful and philosophical minded person to stop and ponder what he sees-not being sexist here, just I am a he. "Shes" have equal opportunity to take advantage of being thoughtful and ponder any philosophical implications of this trail.

Back towards Three Rivers

Yucca Plant

Sherri and Admiration Point

While this is not a wildflower year, there are some redbuds out, along with the miner's lettuce sprouting their petite white flowers. Oh yes, and how can I forget the yucca plants, one of which is just about ready to bloom and stood higher than me! These are a pleasure to observe as we walk along. Today I pretty much stick with Sherri on the way up. And up we continue on, climbing pretty far above the Marble Fork of the Kaweah. The canyon this water is cutting is a steep V. On the other side of the canyon is Panorama Peak. Jerry K says that he and John want to take us-the group--up to another point, Admiration Point. This Point towers above Marble Falls with Switchback Peak between them on our side of the river. The trail calms down and continue a climb which does not seem as steep. But we may have just gotten used it. About 2/3's of a mile from the end of the trail, a couple of people have had enough and will wait until people start returning.

First Falls

But we continue on. I will say this trail is not one of NPS' better maintained trails. One place your get the fun of clinging to a rock and going from one ledge to another-this is not as bad as it sounds. Still for a popular trail, I am a bit surprised. At the end of the trail is another opportunity to climb up a rock about 5'. Here, you find a marble rock bowl which eon's of water has scoured out and is still working on. Several places around the falls have these scooped out bowls.

Middle Falls

Marble Falls themselves are really three sets of drops. The first is down the river about half of a mile and we saw them coming in. Then we are sitting on top of the middle set. Then according to the map, the falls actually labeled Marble Falls is about a third of mile and 400' up from where we are. 



We sit on top for about an hour, soaking in the sun and fellowship. I pass out some of my cookies. And this is where, as John and Cathey say, it is not a hike without a fall happens. I was really hoping the Falls would suffice for a fall. but alas, it was not meant to be. As I was sitting down on what I thought was flat rock, I rolled backwards. Legs going up, camera knocking off my glasses and my pride bruised. But everything else, including the cookies were intact. 

We then start back along the same trail, after all this is an in-and-out type of a hike. I manage to go out without falling. Someplace along the return trip, the batteries in my GPS gives out-I have extrapolated our mileage and elevation from our incoming trip. A bonus is that one of the new people in our group is starting to train to climb Mt Whitney this summer. I talked with her for a most of the way down. At least on my end, it was a pleasant conversation and it made the walk back go fast. She actually did pretty good coming back and we got to wait about 15 minutes for the rest of the group to catch up with us.

Gary, the hiker

Our post hike meal was in Three Rivers at the Pizza Factory. Still enjoyable. Got back to Fresno before 6.