canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2022-09-07 10:57 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2022-09-07 10:57 pm
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Lewis River Falls (Lost & Found, part 2)
Pacific Northwest September Travelog #6
Cougar, WA - Sat, 3 Sep 2022, 5:30pm
I lamented in my previous blog that our epic waterfall day in Washington that got off to a strong start had started to fizzle, with waterfalls hard to find or dried up for the season. "Waterfall Lost & Found" I dubbed it, as we extemporized with new plans when one fell through.
The need to adjust on the fly continued into the next leg of our trip, when we couldn't find the trailhead for Big Creek Falls. It was probably in a construction zone we passed, behind some "Area Closed" signs. Update: It definitely was in that area, as some online hiking guides reflect that it's been left in a state of growing disrepair for several years.
But, like I said, we extemporized. We're good at finding a Plan B when Plan A doesn't work right. In this case Plan B was the better-than-expected Lower Falls on the Lewis River.
A short trail leads from the parking area down to viewing areas on the edge of a cliff. The Lewis River pours left, right, and center over a ledge in the riverbed. There are so many waterfalls here it's almost hard to count.
The trail along the cliff provides view from a number of different angles. To one side, the trail goes upstream, where there are several more falls in this area. They're not breathtaking like this one, though. To the other side, the trail goes downstream and provides access to the water level... sorta.
I say sorta because the paths down to the water are all treacherous. I used one that had a knotted rope anchored around a tree to help with a near-vertical descent (and later, climb) the bottom 5 meters. I was glad I had my hiking boots and climbing gloves for that. Other hikers looked at what I did and turned around. I think that was wise.
While the climb down to the river (and back up) was an adventure it wasn't a great photographic spot. Maybe if I'd waded upstream closer to the falls there would've been great photos... but while I had climbing gloves in my pack I did not bring wading gear on this trek.
I met back up with Hawk at the first viewpoint. She had gone exploring upstream while I tried the challenge of getting down to the water and back. Ultimately the best views were at the viewpoint, so I made more photos (like the one above) there.
We still had 2 more waterfalls left on our original itinerary. Lower Falls on the Lewis River was so unexpectedly nice, though, that we decided to visit at least one other falls in the area— knowing that it would jeopardize us being able to see the final falls on our list before dusk. Thumbing through one of our printed guides (our smartphone apps had all long since gone into "I know nothing, no-thing!" mode) we decided Upper Falls would be the next best falls and drove a few miles to the trailhead.
When I mentioned used a printed guide I meant... yes, Dr. Smedley Q. Boredom's Very Dull Book of Waterfalls, aka That Dratted Book. 😨 Smedley once again gave us a bum steer with bad directions to Upper Falls. Instead his instructions took us to Taitnapum Falls, pictured in the photo above. Which... hey, Taitnapum Falls is pretty nice. I don't regret being led astray there. But given that he also provides directions— different directions— to Taitnapum Falls, I wonder where we would've gone if we'd followed those!
In beauty I walk... even if it's not where I planned to walk. That's the idea.
Cougar, WA - Sat, 3 Sep 2022, 5:30pm
I lamented in my previous blog that our epic waterfall day in Washington that got off to a strong start had started to fizzle, with waterfalls hard to find or dried up for the season. "Waterfall Lost & Found" I dubbed it, as we extemporized with new plans when one fell through.
The need to adjust on the fly continued into the next leg of our trip, when we couldn't find the trailhead for Big Creek Falls. It was probably in a construction zone we passed, behind some "Area Closed" signs. Update: It definitely was in that area, as some online hiking guides reflect that it's been left in a state of growing disrepair for several years.
But, like I said, we extemporized. We're good at finding a Plan B when Plan A doesn't work right. In this case Plan B was the better-than-expected Lower Falls on the Lewis River.
A short trail leads from the parking area down to viewing areas on the edge of a cliff. The Lewis River pours left, right, and center over a ledge in the riverbed. There are so many waterfalls here it's almost hard to count.
The trail along the cliff provides view from a number of different angles. To one side, the trail goes upstream, where there are several more falls in this area. They're not breathtaking like this one, though. To the other side, the trail goes downstream and provides access to the water level... sorta.
I say sorta because the paths down to the water are all treacherous. I used one that had a knotted rope anchored around a tree to help with a near-vertical descent (and later, climb) the bottom 5 meters. I was glad I had my hiking boots and climbing gloves for that. Other hikers looked at what I did and turned around. I think that was wise.
While the climb down to the river (and back up) was an adventure it wasn't a great photographic spot. Maybe if I'd waded upstream closer to the falls there would've been great photos... but while I had climbing gloves in my pack I did not bring wading gear on this trek.
I met back up with Hawk at the first viewpoint. She had gone exploring upstream while I tried the challenge of getting down to the water and back. Ultimately the best views were at the viewpoint, so I made more photos (like the one above) there.
We still had 2 more waterfalls left on our original itinerary. Lower Falls on the Lewis River was so unexpectedly nice, though, that we decided to visit at least one other falls in the area— knowing that it would jeopardize us being able to see the final falls on our list before dusk. Thumbing through one of our printed guides (our smartphone apps had all long since gone into "I know nothing, no-thing!" mode) we decided Upper Falls would be the next best falls and drove a few miles to the trailhead.
When I mentioned used a printed guide I meant... yes, Dr. Smedley Q. Boredom's Very Dull Book of Waterfalls, aka That Dratted Book. 😨 Smedley once again gave us a bum steer with bad directions to Upper Falls. Instead his instructions took us to Taitnapum Falls, pictured in the photo above. Which... hey, Taitnapum Falls is pretty nice. I don't regret being led astray there. But given that he also provides directions— different directions— to Taitnapum Falls, I wonder where we would've gone if we'd followed those!
In beauty I walk... even if it's not where I planned to walk. That's the idea.