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fpbWHISKEYTOWN, Calif.—He figures he knows these parts as well as a man can. He used to prospect the cricks to buy his morning bacon. He slogged through the brush, hunting for deer until he got his share and quit. Then he hiked the overgrown logging roads, for exercise, quiet and to gather wood for his homemade fiddles.
But 92-year-old Dick McDermott says he’s never laid eyes on the nearly 400-foot waterfall that park officials recently “discovered” in a remote corner of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, 43,000-acres of wilderness outside of Redding.
“Sure, I was surprised,” he said, from his home in the park, where he’s lived for more than 70 years. “I’ve been all around that place, I never seen ‘em.”
Until recently, very few had seen the roaring chaos of spray and white water that tumbles three tiers before pouring neatly into Crystal Creek. In the era of satellites and high-technology imagining system, that such a spectacle should evade park officials for nearly all the park’s 40 years is remarkable, said park Superintendent Jim Milestone.
“It wasn’t on a map, no one on the trail crew knew about it. People who been here 27 years had never seen it,” said Milestone who is leading the effort to clear a trail to the newly named Whiskeytown Falls.
On Monday, National Park Service Director Fran Mainella will dedicate the trail to park founder James K. Carr. Volunteers from the Student Conservation Association will begin work on the trail immediately, finishing the job next summer.
There’s no doubt the falls have had visitors over the years. The Wintu Indians were probably the first, although archeologists have so far found no traces on the site. A small band of loggers that harvested Douglas Fir in the early 1950s left behind a choker cable and piece of a bulldozer. A knife blade stuck in a nearby tree indicates others have made the trek.
But for park officials, the falls were long-rumored and largely unseen, said Russ Weatherbee, the wildlife biologist credited with the find.
A couple years ago, Weatherbee was cleaning out a cabinet of old maps when he stumbled across one from the 1960s marked with a note reading “Whiskeytown falls” near Crystal Creek.
“I just decided to go looking for it. But I went in and hiked up and never found anything,” Weatherbee said. The map had been more than a mile off.
In the spring of 2003 he was looking at global imaging system maps on his computer when he saw a stretch in the creek that dropped in altitude quickly with a sliver of white leading through it.
“I thought, ‘That looks like white water to me,’” he said.
Since Weatherbee’s discovery, a handful of rangers and park guests have made the nearly two-mile hike to the falls. The trek veers off a well-trodden trail and follows an eroding logging road through stretches of thick brush and manzanita.
A chapel of Douglas fir, ponderosa pine and oak shades the approach to the falls. The sounds of skittish lizards ducking into the brush gives way to the steady rush of water. The temperature drops, and the smell of summer dust turns to the sweet musk of wet moss.
The falls are best viewed from the midway point, where a sweaty hiker can sit and admire nearly 300 feet of rushing water from a rocky jut. Milestone calls it Artist’s Point, and said he hopes to bring groups of painters there for inspiration.
Milestone himself is inspired by former park service leaders like Stephen Mather, the first director of the Park Service who worked to make national parks accessible. Milestone hopes Whiskeytown Falls will draw people past the park’s popular lake _ a favorite for boaters and water-skiers _ and into the woods.
Outside his office is a copy of President John Kennedy’s speech at the dedication of the park in 1963. Kennedy warned that national parks will become increasing important respites in a booming country.
“So we should use them,” he said.
Not surprisingly, there are some who would prefer Milestone not be so quick to make the waterfalls accessible. Some in town joke that he’s giving up a best-kept secret. He received an anonymous letter chiding him for inviting outsiders to overrun the park.
Dave Girard, an avid hiker who lives in Redding, said he’s known about the falls for at least 10 years and visited at least twice. But he has no objection to Milestone’s efforts. Hikers like to think they’re the only ones who know about they’re favorite places but, he says, “but there’s always someone who’s been there before you.”
From his home on Grizzly Gulch a few miles from the falls new trailhead, McDermott said he has no problem with officials trying to draw more people into the park.
There are plenty of natural wonders out there for everybody. He’s seen a giant manzanita shrub with a three-foot diameter stump. He’s pretty sure he’s the only one who knows where it is. But if park officials want to build a trail to it, they’re on their own.
“They’re going to have find it themselves,” he said.
But 92-year-old Dick McDermott says he’s never laid eyes on the nearly 400-foot waterfall that park officials recently “discovered” in a remote corner of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, 43,000-acres of wilderness outside of Redding.
“Sure, I was surprised,” he said, from his home in the park, where he’s lived for more than 70 years. “I’ve been all around that place, I never seen ‘em.”
Until recently, very few had seen the roaring chaos of spray and white water that tumbles three tiers before pouring neatly into Crystal Creek. In the era of satellites and high-technology imagining system, that such a spectacle should evade park officials for nearly all the park’s 40 years is remarkable, said park Superintendent Jim Milestone.
“It wasn’t on a map, no one on the trail crew knew about it. People who been here 27 years had never seen it,” said Milestone who is leading the effort to clear a trail to the newly named Whiskeytown Falls.
On Monday, National Park Service Director Fran Mainella will dedicate the trail to park founder James K. Carr. Volunteers from the Student Conservation Association will begin work on the trail immediately, finishing the job next summer.
There’s no doubt the falls have had visitors over the years. The Wintu Indians were probably the first, although archeologists have so far found no traces on the site. A small band of loggers that harvested Douglas Fir in the early 1950s left behind a choker cable and piece of a bulldozer. A knife blade stuck in a nearby tree indicates others have made the trek.
But for park officials, the falls were long-rumored and largely unseen, said Russ Weatherbee, the wildlife biologist credited with the find.
A couple years ago, Weatherbee was cleaning out a cabinet of old maps when he stumbled across one from the 1960s marked with a note reading “Whiskeytown falls” near Crystal Creek.
“I just decided to go looking for it. But I went in and hiked up and never found anything,” Weatherbee said. The map had been more than a mile off.
In the spring of 2003 he was looking at global imaging system maps on his computer when he saw a stretch in the creek that dropped in altitude quickly with a sliver of white leading through it.
“I thought, ‘That looks like white water to me,’” he said.
Since Weatherbee’s discovery, a handful of rangers and park guests have made the nearly two-mile hike to the falls. The trek veers off a well-trodden trail and follows an eroding logging road through stretches of thick brush and manzanita.
A chapel of Douglas fir, ponderosa pine and oak shades the approach to the falls. The sounds of skittish lizards ducking into the brush gives way to the steady rush of water. The temperature drops, and the smell of summer dust turns to the sweet musk of wet moss.
The falls are best viewed from the midway point, where a sweaty hiker can sit and admire nearly 300 feet of rushing water from a rocky jut. Milestone calls it Artist’s Point, and said he hopes to bring groups of painters there for inspiration.
Milestone himself is inspired by former park service leaders like Stephen Mather, the first director of the Park Service who worked to make national parks accessible. Milestone hopes Whiskeytown Falls will draw people past the park’s popular lake _ a favorite for boaters and water-skiers _ and into the woods.
Outside his office is a copy of President John Kennedy’s speech at the dedication of the park in 1963. Kennedy warned that national parks will become increasing important respites in a booming country.
“So we should use them,” he said.
Not surprisingly, there are some who would prefer Milestone not be so quick to make the waterfalls accessible. Some in town joke that he’s giving up a best-kept secret. He received an anonymous letter chiding him for inviting outsiders to overrun the park.
Dave Girard, an avid hiker who lives in Redding, said he’s known about the falls for at least 10 years and visited at least twice. But he has no objection to Milestone’s efforts. Hikers like to think they’re the only ones who know about they’re favorite places but, he says, “but there’s always someone who’s been there before you.”
From his home on Grizzly Gulch a few miles from the falls new trailhead, McDermott said he has no problem with officials trying to draw more people into the park.
There are plenty of natural wonders out there for everybody. He’s seen a giant manzanita shrub with a three-foot diameter stump. He’s pretty sure he’s the only one who knows where it is. But if park officials want to build a trail to it, they’re on their own.
“They’re going to have find it themselves,” he said.
