Stalking the Elusive Cougar Falls
Aug. 15th, 2022 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOne of several hikes we did a week ago Saturday at Mt. Rainier National Park was Cougar Falls. Cougar Falls isn't marked on the park map. We found it in Professor Smedley Q. Boredom's Very Dull Book of Waterfalls— which means there was at best a 50-50 chance of actually finding the falls. It would be less a hike to Cougar Falls and more a hunt for Cougar Falls.
Indeed that's what it was. First we searched around at the road bridge across Nickel Creek for the trail down. One led down to a dead-end spot at the base of the bridge. One on the other side of the creek was very overgrown and led down steeply to a flat spot on the other side. Then behind a waist-high fence a spotted a second trail on the near side. It seemed like it had the best chance of taking us further downstream, so we climbed the fence and headed out on that trail.
After a short bit of bushwhacking we picked our way out onto a small rocky cliff over Nickel Creek. There's a nice view here with a cascade that pours into a perfect little rocky swimming hole. The water's so clear you can see the whole bottom. We ddin't jump in, though, because this water is cold. It's not straight off a glacier— if it were it would be cloudy— but it is from snow melt.
This is not Cougar Falls, BTW. Dr. Smedley says Cougar Falls is, like, 40' tall, and this 15'. Looking for one falls and finding another instead is also kind of typical for Smedley's book.
After sitting here for a bit and enjoying the view we went back to bushwhacking further downstream. Just below this point the rocks give way to a huge dropoff. We had to backtrack up these falls and loop around. We did find Cougar Falls; it's at that big dropoff. But from this side of the creek it's mostly obscured by trees. It looked like if we'd gone down the opposite side of the creek we might've had a clear vantage point. Oh, well, we didn't care enough to go all the way back up to try again. There were still other trails we wanted to hike before the day was done.
In beauty we walk.
Indeed that's what it was. First we searched around at the road bridge across Nickel Creek for the trail down. One led down to a dead-end spot at the base of the bridge. One on the other side of the creek was very overgrown and led down steeply to a flat spot on the other side. Then behind a waist-high fence a spotted a second trail on the near side. It seemed like it had the best chance of taking us further downstream, so we climbed the fence and headed out on that trail.
After a short bit of bushwhacking we picked our way out onto a small rocky cliff over Nickel Creek. There's a nice view here with a cascade that pours into a perfect little rocky swimming hole. The water's so clear you can see the whole bottom. We ddin't jump in, though, because this water is cold. It's not straight off a glacier— if it were it would be cloudy— but it is from snow melt.
This is not Cougar Falls, BTW. Dr. Smedley says Cougar Falls is, like, 40' tall, and this 15'. Looking for one falls and finding another instead is also kind of typical for Smedley's book.
After sitting here for a bit and enjoying the view we went back to bushwhacking further downstream. Just below this point the rocks give way to a huge dropoff. We had to backtrack up these falls and loop around. We did find Cougar Falls; it's at that big dropoff. But from this side of the creek it's mostly obscured by trees. It looked like if we'd gone down the opposite side of the creek we might've had a clear vantage point. Oh, well, we didn't care enough to go all the way back up to try again. There were still other trails we wanted to hike before the day was done.
In beauty we walk.
