Part I:
A few weeks ago, Splintercat posted a 1938 vintage map that showed a trail from the summit of Tanner Butte following Opal Creek to it�s junction with Eagle Creek. Always on the lookout for �lost trails� and especially hidden waterfalls, I took the opportunity this past Wednesday to see if I could find that trail. (Thanks Tom, I owe you!)
I had to work until noon so got a pretty late start but felt that I could get the job done with a little luck. I started at the Eagle Creek Trailhead and parked right in front of the camp hosts so my car would be reasonably safe. I took off up the trail toward road 777 that is the old logging/powerline road up Tanner Creek. I thought I�d get several things done I�d wanted to do for awhile such as see what condition the old trail from the end of the road up to the Dublin Lake junction was and also to check out a spot where I�d seen a black bear a couple of years ago. He was digging at the dirt to the east of the road and it looked like a popular spot from the evidence I saw at the time: Lots of tracks and scratch marks on the cliff face indicating the bears were frequenting the place, possibly due to the minerals in the soil there.
Unfortunately, no bears were there so I continued to the start of the 431 trail at the end of the road. To my great surprise, I met three young women taking a break a few feet up the trail. I think that they were as surprised to see me as I them in this seldom hiked area.
The trail was hard to follow for the first quarter mile or so but once it started climbing the steep hillside, it was well graded and not a problem at all. Just a little poison oak at the start but that was easily avoided
Here's a view of the 777 road about 4 miles in.
Once on the trail between the Dublin Lake junction and Tanner Butte, the way was easy
I made the ridgeline and the Dublin Lake junction in an hour or so and started my run to Tanner Butte. Most of the way is in pretty good shape but the beargrass makes it hard to run since you can�t see if you are about to step on a rock or a branch and possibly fall or sprain an ankle. Once on the summit of Tanner Butte, I took a few minutes to take a few pics and studied the map. It appeared the old trail went down the south ridge and then went past the springs and Tanner Lake so off I went. I crisscrossed all over the ridge and found a few spots that could have once been a trail and even found some prehistoric �vision quest� sites but no continual trail alignment could I find.
Here's what a trail looks like overgorwn with bear grass.
The huckleberries were as good as it gets!
The view from the summit of Tanner Butte down Opal Creek looking across to the Eagle Creek Canyon.
Here's the view down the south ridge of Tanner Butte.
Here's what looks like a vision quest site on the south ridge of Tanner.
(below) Tanner lake is the headwaters of Opal Creek.
Here's the east ridge of Tanner Butte as I descended the ridge.
Check out these neat cedar trees in the cirque SE of Tanner.
Looking back at Tanner Butte from lake level
Here's the little lake that is just below the spring.
Here is the main Tanner Lake.
The Benson Plateau with Mt. Adams in the distance.
Once at the spring (dry � darn! � I only had 10 oz. left!) I followed animal tracks for awhile and found a small lake below the spring. Seeing no trace of a trail, I �whacked over to the main lake to see what I could find. This is a marvelous primitive area and almost spooky it�s so deserted and natural. I almost expected Bigfoot to walk out of the forest and say hello!
I circled most of the main lake and found not the slightest trace of a trail so, time growing short, realizing if I kept going down the hill I might run out of light before I got back, but especially not knowing what lay before me, I took the most prudent option and climbed back up the east face of Tanner Butte. I�d wanted to do that for awhile anyway since the eastern ramparts of the peak looked pretty cool from the summit area and so up I went. It took another hour to scramble my way back across the talus to the main trail, but the photo ops were worth the effort. By the way, the huckleberries were at their peak so I grazed and grazed and ate so many that the lack of water turned out to not be a problem!
Once on the mail trail, I ran as hard as I could so as to get back before dark and finished the trek in 8 hours. Total for the day: 22.7 miles and 5,653� vertical.
Part II
>>>>Disclaimer: Do not attempt climbing up Opal Creek unless you have extreme off-trail skills, confidence in your ability, proper equipment, a friend along and excellent endurance. There are literally hundreds of huge trees across the creek that you will have to climb over, walk across or climb under and some of them are balanced precariously and could shift and hurt you - or kill you. Many large rocks are likewise balanced precariously and could shift and hurt you or trap you. Some of the trees are slippery and so are most of the rocks and they cannot be avoided.<<<<
Saturday, and again, just after noon, back to the Eagle Creek trailhead I went but this time the plan was to find the trail (if possible) and find the water falls shown on the map - from the bottom. It took just an hour to run up the Eagle Creek trail, past the bridge about a mile above High Bridge and drop down to the creek and cross it where Opal Creek enters. I went off into the forest and criss-crossed all over the place but no trail could I find! Satisfied that finding a viable route was going to be fruitless, I decided to simply head directly up the Opal Creek creekbed to the falls. Wow! � What a workout! This would not be possible at any other time but the current summer low water conditions � high water marks along the way were at times ten feet and occasionally even twenty feet higher than current conditions.
You wouldn�t think a couple of miles hopping from rock to rock and climbing over a few trees would be so difficult but this is the mother of all creek climbs! The first � mile or so is a piece of cake but it gets progressively more challenging from there. The trees across the creek get bigger and bigger, the grade gets steeper and steeper and as the canyon narrows, the moss and slipperyness factor increases until it�s almost impossible to not slip every now and then. I managed to fall into the creek a half dozen times when large rocks moved as I stepped on them or trees shifted under my feet and I have a dozen bruises and a couple of noteworthy cuts to show for my efforts.
It took two hours to cover the 2 � miles up to the falls but the effort was worth it. This incredible, primitive area is wild and beautiful almost beyond belief. Now I need some volunteers to tackle this from the Tanner Butte side now that the trek down the lower creek below the falls is a known quantity. Anybody? (The trip today was only 15.1 miles and 2,229 vertical but was more difficult due to all the bushwhacking.)
Here's the lower of the two falls
The upper falls is about 40 feet - would be much more spectacular when the water is high but it would be supremely difficult to get to!
close-up of the upper falls
The top of the upper falls looking downstream - what a mess with all the rocks and trees piled ten feet high.
Looking directly down from the top of the upper falls.
Map of both trips below:
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