Pleasant Valley Creek Falls
Pleasant Valley Creek Falls
Alpine County, California
Description
Click to view photo(s)
This is an interesting looking waterfall that I spotted from the Pacific Crest Trail while hiking to Raymond Lake. According to the USGS topo map this waterfall drops over 300' in several steps. There is a trail that passes near its base, so at some point I will try and get to it. I'm sure this waterfall does not see very many visitors and to the best of my knowledge no one else online describes it.
Location
Pleasant Valley Creek Falls: 38.6368 N, 119.8537 W
USGS Topo: Markleeville
Directions
This waterfall was spotted from the Pacific Crest Trail on the way to Raymond Lake (hike description). The best view of it from the PCT is ~1.2 miles from Raymond Lake at the middle of the three north-pointing switchbacks north of the lake (left one is largest, right one is the smallest). The base of this waterfall should be accessible, but we have not attempted this. According to the USGS Markleeville topo map, there are two roads in Pleasant Valley southwest of Markleeville which could serve as trailheads (one hugging the northern edge and the other hugging the southern edge). If the southern road is accessible, it would make the hike a lot shorter. Climbing up the trail to the southwest from Pleasant Valley, you would leave the trail as it passed over a shoulder just under 7,200' elevation to the northwest and find a suitable vantage point. If neither of these roads are accessible, the closest trailhead would be at Wet Meadows Reservoir or Lower Sunset Lake. For either of these, you would follow the PCT to the northeast until it intersected with the Pleasant Valley Trail (~2.0 miles from Lower Sunset Lake; ~1.5 miles from Wet Meadows Reservoir) and then take that down to the point described above.