Bridal Veil Falls — Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024

Now that the shoulder season has arrived I'm back to doing a lot of my local low-elevation hikes. I wanted to check out Bridal Veil Falls real quick before the next round of storms rolled in, and I arrived at the trailhead just after 9am. There were just over a dozen other vehicles parked there. Being a fairly warm day all the snow we got this past week above 4000 feet has melted, and the trail was wet and water was running down it. Also the stream was very high and muddy underneath the first wooden bridge, which told me I could expect worse further on. As I stopped to put on my gaiters I met a nice lady who was walking back and who told me she turned around at the first stream crossing. Uh-oh.

Sure enough, I made it to that stream crossing and the water was churning brown and flowing well over the rocks I usually step on to cross it. Another pair of hikers was looking at it, deciding if they should try. They decided to turn back. I sized it up as well for a few minutes before deciding there was no way across without actually fording it and getting soaked up to my calves.

Oh well, next time I come I'll be better prepared to ford it if I have to. We are now at the time of the year when we have to be prepared for any situation and be willing to execute a Plan B if our original plans prove too difficult or dangerous. My Plan B was to simply pick another local hike. I encountered a few hikers during the walk back and warned them about the crossing. Given the number of cars at the trailhead I have to assume some people did indeed cross it. Hopefully they didn't encounter more difficulty with the second stream crossing or the rest of the trail.