Mossbrae Falls

I first saw a photo of Mossbrae Falls on Flickr about two years ago and was intrigued. It seemed to be a very intriguing and unique place, with water trickling down a mossy cliffs into the Sacramento River in "nowhere" California. Actually, it is located a couple miles off the road in Dunsmuir, California. It was actually harder to find than I expected. Being one of the more unique falls in California, I thought it would be a little more mainstream. In fact, there were no signs on the road or highway indicating its presence. I was able to locate the general area of the trailhead using GPS coordinates.

I therefore built-in an extra day to my Pacific Northwest trip to visit and photograph the falls. Even knowing the general location, I still had to pull off the road into a gas station and ask directions. "What falls?" The clerk at the gas station asked me (the trailhead was about a quarter-mile from her station). I drove off onto a remote dirt road and parked in what appeared to be a small parking lot (still no signs). A man chopping wood on the side of the road was kind enough to tell me that the falls were about a mile and a half down some "abandoned" railroad tracks. It should be noted that three trains passed me by during my hike. The obsolescence of the place turned out to be a gem, as I arrived at eight o'clock in the morning and had the place all to myself or about two hours. I photograph the falls from every perspective imaginable, but my favorite shot ended up being a telephoto perspective of one particular segment. In fact, the fall stretch about 150 feet wide and there were about 50 feet high. Despite being out of the way, it was one highlight of my trip.



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