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Moffett Creek Bushwack (April 7)

Posted by Splintercat (2007-04-08)

This is mostly a photo essay from Saturday's bushwhack up Moffett Creek, in the Columbia Gorge. Joining me were fellow waterfall junkies Bryan Swan and Greg Lief. The goal was to reach Moffett Falls, and possibly Wahe Falls, depending on conditions. The weather was mostly wet, but the weather gods smiled upon us with a few dry spells.

We parked at the east end of the eastbound I-84 span, and walked west toward the creek, soon picking up a boot path that connected to Trail 400, at the Munra Point trail junction. There was white flagging in this area that almost suggested some trail reallignment in progress - perhaps an improved trailhead at this spot? I recommend this parking spot for Munra Point hikers -- much safer to exit and enter the freeway here, with a long, straight merge.

We followed Trail 400 to the Moffett Creek footbridge, then turned upstream. Here are Greg and Bryan along the lower stretch:

I would describe this as a moderate bushwhack, with plenty of creek walking. The geocaches located near the waterfalls have brought enough explorers through that obvious trails through the brushy sections have formed.

The canyon soon narrowed, and Greg and Bryan stopped for our first photo session:

Approximately 1/2 mile from the trailhead, the scenery becomes quite exotic, with huge, truck-sized boulders filling the canyon floor. Moffett Creek flows between the two boulders on the right, in this scene:

If you look closely, you can see a carpet of blooming yellow fawn lilies on top of the boulders. For some reason, this seems to be a perfect habitat for these wildflowers.

Another scene from the boulder garden, about 1/4 mile below Moffett Falls:

More giant boulders, and -- Moffett Falls! The scene was pretty much as I remembered it from 20+ years ago, though a lot of bigleaf maple trees that had once filled the left foreground in this view had since been swept away. Perhaps in the 1996 floods?

Another view of Moffett Falls, and the three giant boulders that frame the scene here:

...and finally, another close-up view of the falls and splash pool:

From here, Bryan scouted the "chute" passage through the cliffs on the east side of the canyon, and judged it to slick to safely climb without a rope. The approach to the "chute" also consists of loose, slick cobbles. Combined with what looked to be knee-deep poison oak above the chute, we opted to stop here for today, and save Wahe for another trip.

We stopped on the way down to photograph more of the beautiful creek scene - this view looking down the main boulder garden, just below the falls:

This would be a good scramble for people with teenage kids - it's not too rough, and offers plenty of fun creek walking. The boulder gardens, in particular, are fun to explore. I wore my StabilIcers, which have become an invaluable bit of equipment for creekwalking. You'll forget you have them on when your hiking on soft surfaces, but they provide excellent traction on slippery stream bottoms - I paid about $30 for mine at REI.

I'm also happey to report that the modified ProBrella worked like charm for me today! We had a couple of heavy downpours, and my camera was the only thing that stayed dry today. You can read the saga of the ProBrella over here.

Thanks, Bryan and Greg, for a great waterfall hunt!

Tom

Re: Moffett Creek Bushwack (April 7)

Posted by chubby fm (2007-04-08)

Thanks for the tour Tom, it's beautiful!

Re: Moffett Creek Bushwack (April 7)

Posted by weathercrazy (2007-04-08)

Nice pictures! Looks like a beautiful hike. About how far up is the falls??

Tyler

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