TRAVEL & PHOTOGRAPHY

Tears Shed At McArthur-Burney Falls After A Mental Health Scare

The waterfall wonderlands of Oregon and Northern California

I can’t believe it’s real.

It’s been here all this time, yet I’ve never heard of it.

The waterfall photo is in Sunset Magazine, my go-to for American West road trip inspiration, where they mention how President Theodore Roosevelt himself had called it “the eighth wonder of the world.”

I must see it in person. I add McArthur-Burney Falls to the top of my list.

And there it remained for a good six to seven years.

That section of Northern California can be elusive — a 9.5-hr drive from my home in Los Angeles (how can this still be the same state??), and the closest airport, Redding, not the easiest to connect to.

So it would have to wait.

Ironically I’d end up flying all the way to Hawaii and Oregon to successfully see other waterfalls before the magical one in my own state.

Hawaii, USA

Wailua Falls, on the island of Kauai, is a heavily-photographed wonder due to its unique double falls and easy accessibility by car.

Even better, adventurers can wander down into the stream above the falls, with some even choosing to sit or stand right on the edge. Whew. We did enjoy the jungle stream above — magical — but decided to leave the edge for the daredevils and the young lady just Zen-ing out.

My partner Eddie and I are nuts about Hawaii, and waterfalls abound on the islands, though many of them require strenuous hikes or helicopter rides to view properly.

Not always having the funds or the fitness for such viewings, we instead find fun with those that are an easy drive with the rental car, like this one on the zig-zag Road to Hana on Maui, or the tall beauty photographed on the Big Island of Hawaii, (back when my hair was still black, whoa).

But hold on!, I can hear you cry, I thought this was an article about Oregon and Northern California!

Indeed, let’s head back to the mainland.

Oregon, USA

If you’re a waterfall chaser, parts of Oregon are not to be missed. Again, I have Sunset Magazine to thank. Standing in the soul-deadening line at the grocery store, my eyes honed in on a masterful photograph of the two-tiered Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge area outside Portland.

How on earth can such a place exist? I thought. And why am I spending time in crappy LA when all this beauty is out there?

Our pal, Mark, a Portland resident, was game to drive us to Multnomah during a visit, and soon it was no longer on a To-Do List and was gracing us with its majesty.

But Oregon wasn’t through with us just yet.

I later learned of Silver Falls State Park, a waterfall-seeker wonderland, where a seven-mile loop trail connects two giant waterfalls visitors can walk behind, as well as pleasant greenery and streams at every turn.

Mark to the rescue again!

Seriously, the deep greens in Oregon can rival those in Hawaii, and it’s hard to describe the wonder and awe, the assualt on the senses when standing safely behind a roaring curtain of water. Twice!

Don’t let the full loop hike deter you. The main attractions are easily accessible from parking areas if you’d prefer just a short jaunt to commune with streams, nature and the soul-refreshening sound of flowing water.

Northern California, USA

But McArthur-Burney remained elusive, as life interfered.

Covid decided to grace us with its presence.

I was the obscure dude who contracted West Nile in the midst of a global pandemic — as if one dangerous virus wasn’t enough to go around. Complications from the West Nile brought about a loss of 60 pounds, an out-of-nowhere mental snap, and a first-time bout with Anxiety and Depression that ended my interest in work, reading, watching favorite movies, listening to music, walking in nature — or existing.

It’s a full story for another time, but I stopped caring, had dangerous suicidal ideation and no intention of continuing to live, so unfortunately I didn’t expect or want to ever travel or see a waterfall again. I’d have to enter the afterlife knowing I never had time to see McArthur-Burney.

But then, in early May of 2021, the clouds parted.

The correct medication dosage had finally — finally — taken effect, and my seven-month battle ended as “quickly” as it started.

It was impossible to believe. I was back and truly me.

How did I know?I was already planning a trip to a waterfall.

First on my list?

Lassen Volcanic National Park and the nearby McArthur-Burney Falls.

And exactly one month later, on June 14th, 2021, I had to slightly sob and feel such warm peace as I walked the path down to see the waterfall that had captivated my mind for a good eight years, yet been elusive.

I had made it, and it was resplendent.

How is it possible that this water all comes from an underground spring, running all day everyday, through every season, for all these years, in a state that seems to perpetually fight drought?

It is captivatingly unique. There are the main flows of the wall-waterfall, and then dozens of individual streams tumbling down moss-covered rocks. And did I mention the size of it?

Check out Eddie in the photo above — you would’ve no doubt missed him if I hadn’t circled him.

We joined the others on the rocks nearby, then hypnotically explored it from this angle and that — So. Many. Angles.

But after getting a few shots, I put my phone away.

I wanted to sit there and see it, feel it, smell it and be fully present.

I brought out my travel journal — the one that hadn’t been touched in months, the one that only a few weeks earlier I assumed already had its last entry in it — and I started writing. In the mist, pencil scratched across paper, revealing words of appreciation for a wish finally fulfilled, and a life ready to be re-lived.

Thanks for reading.

We will be making the journey back, I guarantee it. Northern California is some magical country and the three waterfalls near McCloud are yet unseen, giving me a chance to revisit my favorite, McArthur-Burney, nearby.

Thanks to JoAnn Ryan for your great story — the waterfalls of Idaho are indeed now at the top of my ever-present list! (I’ve still never been to the beautiful sites in Idaho).

Brad Yonaka, thanks for your superb story on Angel Falls, the first waterfall to enter my consciousness as a young boy, when it’s all about memorizing what’s the tallest and the highest.