Waterfall bonanza
Waterfalls are rivers and streams stood on end; they flow insistently and endlessly, they’re pretty, soothing to hear and they capture the imagination.
Those of us in Washington who love them are fortunate to live in one of the premier corners of the planet for these lacy ribbons of crashing white – there might be more than 10,000 of them – and thanks to a big winter snowpack, this year is one of the best to search them out and listen to their thunderous roar.
“This is going to be the best year I’ve seen since the winter of 1998-99, which was record-setting,” says Bryan Swan of Bellevue, perhaps the pre-eminent waterfall chaser in Washington and operator of the encyclopedic Web site waterfallsnorthwest.com.
“This may end up being a better year than that for waterfalls.”
Many waterfalls in the Cascades are right along or just off roads, such as the state’s most popular, 268-foot Snoqualmie Falls, a classic plunge with serious magnitude on high flows.
Backcountry trails often are laced by waterfalls that make spectacular hiking destinations.
Other falls are so remote, so far from any trail, they’re never seen by land.
“I always stopped at waterfalls. They just grab me, like they do most people,” says Bob Mooers, a hiking guidebook author whose most recent book is “Waterfalls Finder’s Guide: Western Washington Series.”
“As far as the number goes, if Washington is not No. 1, we are definitely in the top five states,” Swan says. “I think I’ve got about 1,600 mapped. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the total was over 10,000. We get a lot of rain, we have a lot of mountains and a lot of glaciers and ice.”
Washington has some waterfalls that are so buried in remote canyons and chasms that they have never been reached by land. There are a few that have been seen up close by only a select few, such as Service Falls in a high and remote canyon on the upper Queets River in the heart of Olympic National Park.
“Oh, it’s stunningly beautiful,” says Sprague Ackley of Seattle, a climber and whitewater kayaker who reached Service Falls with two fellow adventurers during an arduous nine-day hiking/kayaking trip in August 1992. “It’s in this giant cirque carved out by these falls, all black basalt.”
Although few have duplicated an adventure like Ackley’s, for many the journey is part of the thrill of “bagging” a waterfall. Oneonta Falls on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, which can be reached only by scrambling and wading the slot canyon of Oneonta Creek, is still on Swan’s list of falls he must reach.
Another is Sulphide Creek Falls in the North Cascades, which Swan says can be approached only “very, very painstakingly.”
“It’s literally a river and it drops over 2,000 feet,” he says. “It is without question one of the best waterfalls on the planet. It drops off the southeast face of Mount Shuksan, fed by the two biggest glaciers on Shuksan, and the closest trail is 2.5 miles away.
“I’ve tried getting up there, and you basically have to bash through a slide alder/vine maple jungle from hell. I’ve technically seen part of it, but I haven’t properly bagged it yet.”
A few summers ago, off the Foss Lakes Trail in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness south of U.S. 2, Swan maneuvered to get a clear photo of giant Malachite Falls, a 600-foot segmented falls. He ranks it No. 4 on his Best of the Northwest list.
(The Web site americasbestonline.net recently ranked Malachite fifth in its list of the country’s top 10 waterfalls. Oregon notched two in the top 10: Multnomah and Punch Bowl, both in the Columbia River Gorge.)
You can see portions of Malachite Falls from the trail, but to see it all requires a serious bushwhack through the forest to its base.
Chasing waterfalls safely requires restraint and caution. People get injured and killed around falls occasionally because of the precipitous locations of these cataracts and the slippery rocks that surround them, as well as the urge to edge out for a better look or photograph.
Rivers are always moving rocks, and occasionally they come tumbling down with the water over falls.
During warm weather, never underestimate the power of flowing water if you feel the need to take a dip – especially upstream of a falls.
Many terrific falls can be seen without having to sell your soul to the wilderness devils.
“Snoqualmie Falls, for example, is right off Railroad Avenue Southeast in the town of Snoqualmie, about 30 miles east of Seattle. A viewing platform is at the top and trails drop to the base. Swan rates it as No. 23 on his Northwest best-of list.
“The Lake Twentytwo Trail off the Mountain Loop Highway outside Granite Falls with Swan passes six major falls in a great hike through a forest of huge old-growth red cedar, hemlock and fir. The trailhead is two miles east of the Verlot Ranger Station, and the hike is 2.7 miles to Lake Twentytwo, with a gain of 1,400 feet.
“The Boulder River Trail, another old-growth forest jaunt, satisfies waterfall cravings with three major drops, including Feature Show Falls about 1.3 miles in, a classic and beautiful fan falls, and an unnamed plunge about a mile farther. Find the trailhead at the end of the French Creek Road, which leaves the south side of state Route 530 about 20 miles east of Arlington.
“The Wallace Falls Trail at the state park of the same name near Gold Bar is exceedingly popular, especially on weekends. Four waterfalls tumble impressively along this trail, including Wallace Falls proper, a stunning two-tiered drop that most sources list as totaling 265 feet, but which Swan maintains is actually 340 feet all told. It ranks as No. 24 on his list. A viewing platform near the falls is reached along the trail at 2.7 miles, after an elevation gain of 800 feet. Find the trailhead by turning north off U.S. 2 at the sign for the state park in the town of Gold Bar.
“Twin Falls State Park near North Bend is a great family hike with a wide trail reaching a viewing platform at 1.4 miles, after a gain of about 340 feet. The main falls is an impressive drop of more than 100 feet; two more falls are just upstream. Find the trailhead by taking Edgewick Road Exit 34 off Interstate 90, taking a right and following 468th Avenue Southeast for 0.6 miles, then taking a left on 159th to the trailhead.