After failing to reach our waterfall destination several weeks ago because of snow on the road, Greg and I tried again this weekend. Our first stop was Little Niagara Falls on Tillicum Creek. Even though we left Portland pretty early, we didn't get to the waterfall until after 3:00. Why did it take so so long to get there? I'll tell you. We were driving up the highway between BZ Corner and Trout Lake when the "Check Engine" light came on in my Outback. The "Sport" light was flashing too, although that was later replaced by a flashing cruise control light. We had no idea what the problem might be, but not wanting to be stranded on some remote forest road without a cell signal, we turned around and made a lengthy detour to the nearest Subaru dealership in The Dalles. They told me it was a "Torque Converter Clutch Circuit" error. I have no idea what that it is, but they said I would probably be fine to keep driving it. They turned off the CE light and said to take it my home dealership if it came back on (so far it hasn't, thank goodness!)
Significantly delayed but not deterred, we headed back up towards Trout Lake and followed directions in Scott's book to get to the "trailhead" for Little Niagara Falls. His directions were spot-on, and someone has also tied some flagging on the trees so you know where to start heading down.
Down, down, down we scrambled.
We finally reached Tillicum Creek. I took off my boots and put on my Crocs, but Greg opted to just keep his boots on, since they were his old thrashed pair. It would be great if all we had to do at this point was wade upstream to the waterfall, but that was not to be. Almost immediately we had to crawl over a large logjam.
Soon after that the falls came into view. Sweet! This section of creek that Greg is wading through was the easiest part. Due to large creek boulders and swift current, we had to scramble in and out of the creek several times before reaching the base of the waterfall.
Looking back the way we've come. Somewhere not far downstream of here is Tillicum Creek Falls, the base of which is apparently pretty much unreachable.
There's a point of land sticking out in the creek right in front of the falls, and it has some big trees growing on it. It's a nice mossy spot from which to observe the waterfall, although without a wide angle lens I was too close to get the whole waterfall in the frame.
Here's a video Greg shot of the falls.
Here's a shot from further back. Even with the trees partially blocking the view you can see how pretty it is. Why hasn't the FS built a trail to this beautiful place? What a pity.
On the way back, Greg waded across to the other side to get a shot from over there, with less of those trees blocking the view.
And then began the long tough scramble back up to the car.
We visited Little Goose Creek Falls, or rather a viewpoint that lets you look down into the canyon where the waterfall is. This bushwhack was really easy, since the road gets you close to the rim of the canyon and you just have to push through some bushes for a few minutes to get the rest of the way.
Langfield Falls DOES have a trail to it, and it's a short jaunt from the parking area to a viewpoint of this cool waterfall.
Here is the video that Greg shot. The flow of this waterfall decreases significantly in late summer and is far less pretty than it is this time of year. Glad we visited now!
According to a sign there, this waterfall was named after K.C. Langfield, who was a Mt. Adams District Ranger from 1938 to 1956.
We had originally planned to go check out the Lewis River waterfalls after visiting these three, but thanks to the car issues we ran out of time for that. Another day.
The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
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Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
Nice! I've visited Little Goose Creek Falls a time or two, but haven't seen it from that vantage point. Little Niagra looks amazing!
Do you know how much further up the road you can drive before you hit snow? Scott's book provides some really great suggestions for that area- I love Steamboat Mt!
Sorry about the vehicle issues. I can only imagine the reaction to that! I think the Check Engine light is a money making racket for dealerships. Mine's been on for 3 years- I had a mechanic clear it just prior to going through emissions to get my tags. I passed and the light came back on an hour later. Yesssss!
Do you know how much further up the road you can drive before you hit snow? Scott's book provides some really great suggestions for that area- I love Steamboat Mt!
Sorry about the vehicle issues. I can only imagine the reaction to that! I think the Check Engine light is a money making racket for dealerships. Mine's been on for 3 years- I had a mechanic clear it just prior to going through emissions to get my tags. I passed and the light came back on an hour later. Yesssss!
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Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
I'm not sure, but on the way to Little Niagara we had been seeing patches of snow alongside the road here and there. With this warm weather, though, that stuff is melting fast.airoff wrote:Do you know how much further up the road you can drive before you hit snow?
You may be right about that! I had a friend tell me that Check Engine lights and Subarus were best friends.airoff wrote:I think the Check Engine light is a money making racket for dealerships.
Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
Wow, thanks for this post! I had wanted to explore more of this NF, and this gives me a lot of incentive. Beautiful photos, as always.
Hannah
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot
- greglief
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Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
Little Niagara Falls had been on my list for years, and it did not disappoint. It might not be the largest, but based upon my personal experience I consider it to be one of the most photogenic waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest. So much rock contact!
Up Close and Personal, Vertical
Up Close and Personal, Horizontal
Boots Completed Soaked But Worth It
Up Close and Personal, Vertical
Up Close and Personal, Horizontal
Boots Completed Soaked But Worth It
Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
Great shots! I love the GPNF it has long been one of my favorite places. The gorge and Hood always seem to get all the press while right in our backyard is one of the most diverse and uncrowded places around.
Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
justpeachy: Another set of beautiful pictures. You must have quite the set of screen savers on your computer from your trips.
I do have a question about Little Goose Creek Falls. I remember going out to the same territory you are covering (circa 1989) and my memory of this creek's waterfall is that it is a triplet. Admittedly, Gregory Plumb's direction said to go downstream from the bridge, even though the waterfall was upstream. I'm wondering whether/not you are looking at a different falls on that creek or if it has changed that much in the past 20-plus years.
I do have a question about Little Goose Creek Falls. I remember going out to the same territory you are covering (circa 1989) and my memory of this creek's waterfall is that it is a triplet. Admittedly, Gregory Plumb's direction said to go downstream from the bridge, even though the waterfall was upstream. I'm wondering whether/not you are looking at a different falls on that creek or if it has changed that much in the past 20-plus years.
- CuriousGorgeGuide
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Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
C & G...glad you made it to lil Niagara and glad my directions are still working well after however much new visitation the waterfall has seen. Awesome pix...great to see the falls from your guys' lenses!
I'm a lil puzzled why you didn't use my directions to get to the bottom of Lil Goose Creek falls...from the south ridge of the creek canyon, as opposed to the directions you get along the northern canyon in most other descriptions. It's a fairly simple route down to the base of the falls from the south side...but most of the known waterfall-description-publishers don't seem to know about this little local-knowledge route and its hidden start. Anyhow, the southern canyon side is SO much more impressive because you can also see/photo the epic columnar basalt along the canyon downstream of the waterfall. This columnar is more impressive even than the waterfall, in my not-so-humble (IMNSHO) opinion hahahaha.
Here's a pic of me at the base of Lil Goose that I just lifted off GoogEarth. If you look on GoogEarth you'll find my other pix of the basalt too....as well as those other waterfalls downstream of Lil Niagara Falls.
Happy wet and wild summering.....scott
I'm a lil puzzled why you didn't use my directions to get to the bottom of Lil Goose Creek falls...from the south ridge of the creek canyon, as opposed to the directions you get along the northern canyon in most other descriptions. It's a fairly simple route down to the base of the falls from the south side...but most of the known waterfall-description-publishers don't seem to know about this little local-knowledge route and its hidden start. Anyhow, the southern canyon side is SO much more impressive because you can also see/photo the epic columnar basalt along the canyon downstream of the waterfall. This columnar is more impressive even than the waterfall, in my not-so-humble (IMNSHO) opinion hahahaha.
Here's a pic of me at the base of Lil Goose that I just lifted off GoogEarth. If you look on GoogEarth you'll find my other pix of the basalt too....as well as those other waterfalls downstream of Lil Niagara Falls.
Happy wet and wild summering.....scott
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Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
I'm not sure. Perhaps the waterfall was once a triplet, but erosion or rockfall caused the streams to join?BigBear wrote:I remember going out to the same territory you are covering (circa 1989) and my memory of this creek's waterfall is that it is a triplet. Admittedly, Gregory Plumb's direction said to go downstream from the bridge, even though the waterfall was upstream. I'm wondering whether/not you are looking at a different falls on that creek or if it has changed that much in the past 20-plus years.
We were really pooped after the scramble to get to get to Little Niagara and we didn't have another off-trail trek in us that day, not to mention that it was getting late. Next time!CuriousGorgeGuide wrote:I'm a lil puzzled why you didn't use my directions to get to the bottom of Lil Goose Creek falls
Re: The hidden waterfalls of the Gifford Pinchot NF
I've found over the many years of using Plumb's information to compile my own that he has made many freudian slips, errors and gross exaggerations. He doesn't mention specifically going downstream from the bridge - I actually found his directions for Little Goose to be spot on for the canyon-rim viewpoint - rather he says to go past the bridge on the road, but the "triplet" thing was always a bit confusing to me. I'm pretty sure the first time he visited the falls he must have hit it when the creek was running really, really high, which I'm sure would cause it to split into a third segment. It's also possible that some logs have collected and blocked off one of the channels. I've never seen more than two distinct segments there, but I've also never been down there before mid July.BigBear wrote:I do have a question about Little Goose Creek Falls. I remember going out to the same territory you are covering (circa 1989) and my memory of this creek's waterfall is that it is a triplet. Admittedly, Gregory Plumb's direction said to go downstream from the bridge, even though the waterfall was upstream. I'm wondering whether/not you are looking at a different falls on that creek or if it has changed that much in the past 20-plus years.