Waterfall Adventures at Pt.Reyes

With my upcoming national parks trip to Utah next month, my friend and I decided we needed to ease into all the hiking we'd be doing there. Plus, we both had just bought some new hiking gear (I just got a new backpack and waterproof hiking boots), so we had to try them out! So off to Alamere Falls we went.

We both never been to the falls before, but I've been told that the hike can be a bit difficult, especially right after the rain with the dirt trails and crumbly rocks. Good thing there hasn't been any precipitation in months.

On a chilly Saturday morning, we rolled into the parking area around 9:30/10am and the lot was already full. We parked only a couple hundred feet from the trailhead, but cars were lining up behind me for a least another half mile.

It's a pretty popular hike, and it's only gotten more and more crowded in recent years.

The Alamere Falls hike is an 8.4 mile roundtrip hike. Aside from the last half mile stretch including 2 scrambles to get down to the beach, there is little change in elevation. While most of the trail is on wide dirt roads, the turn-off to for Alamere Falls happens to be unmaintained, narrow, and filled with poison oak. Wearing long pants is highly recommended. Also, there are no bathrooms so use them prior to starting the hike!

Another thing to mention is that the turn-off sign is a bit inconspicuous so make sure you don't miss it! There was a pile of horse poop right by the sign when we went, ha.

Reaching the clearing where hikers can make their descent to the first few waterfalls via scrambling on the right:

The first scramble down brought us to a handful of smaller cascades. I waited 20 minutes for the group before us to finish their shots before getting my shots in:

A couple weeks ago, I got a good deal for the Mountain Hardwear Scrambler Outdry 35L backpack. I was thinking about bringing it on the Narrows hike in Zion next month, so I wanted to give it a legit test before trusting it with my camera inside.

Regrettably, I did not have extra clothes to change into, so my original plan of walking into the waterfalls did not pan out. My friend, on the other hand, was determined to get a couple waterfall shots, so he came prepared with another set of clothes in addition to all his outdoor moisture wicking apparel.

Outfitted with my pack, he went off into the falls. By now a small crowd formed by the falls, with everybody trying to get their own shots.

My friend went into the waters, and as I prepared to take my shots I could hear a girl ask,

"Why doesn't he just take off his stuff?"

"Oh, it's supposed to be waterproof and we're testing it out," I replied.

Anyway, the pack works like a dream.

The water was hitting the pack for a good 20 seconds as he calculated a secure foot placement before making it between the 2 falls.

It made for some pretty badass shots:

And everything inside was completely dry. Great!

Off to the 2nd waterfall -- the less precarious looking waterfall. With its smaller size and easy walk into the shallow waters under the falls, it tricked my friend into thinking it would be way safer.

...Sadly it was not. He slipped on a rock on his way out, causing him to fall onto a rock face first and earned a couple deep cuts (albeit badass) on his cheek. He dripped blood for a while but thankfully it stopped after applying pressure on it for a couple minutes with a few napkins. A girl nearby who watched the whole thing unfold handed us a couple bandaids which we ended up using to fasten the napkins onto his face.

Yup, we should've came a bit more prepared.

The 2nd scramble was definitely steeper than the first, so the line of people heading down to the beach moved fairly slowly.

And the main attraction, Alamere Falls. It definitely was not as empty as it seems here:

Took us about half an hour to get the shots we wanted with all the crowds. A group of girls with a selfie stick stood in front of the falls for to half an hour trying to get the perfect selfie. I did a quick run in to the front of the falls with my waterproof boots (also worked very well, by the way) and got my picture taken.

A light snack by the waterfalls while waiting for my friend to dry off after he sat in the waterfall:

And then, back up we went.

Cascades of waterfalls. This one in front is the only waterfall my friend didn't dunk his head in. It's a lot deeper than it looks:

Hike back felt a lot easier but also longer, for some reason. It may have also been due to my weak knees starting to hurt.

The coast on the way back, about a mile away from the parking lot:

And then... done.

Amazingly, I got out of this without feeling any soreness the next day, which is a definite first. The messed up knee aside, I got through the day with relative ease, and even had enough energy to even go climbing the next day.

Progress feels pretty damn good.

Can't wait for more trips!

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Waterfall Adventures at Pt.Reyes