dog mtn/creek - high adventure

[chameleon]

Here are a few pics to start...I'll add more and narative a bit later - my computer is being funny with me. I finally made the whole loop trip up Dog mtn and down the streambed. It turned out to be an incredibly rugged adventure, and I discovered there is one more waterfall on Dog. I'll post a pic of it later. It also happens to be one of the most unique waterfalls in the gorge - going underground (well under a huge natural bridge created by giant, house-sized boulders). The mile to mile and a half directly below Elkhorn is one of the most rugged sections of stream in the gorge, and should not be attempted by anyone without experience and a rope. At first, it is Jurassic parkish, giant boulders, giant cedars, etc...

Eventually it becomes a deep and committing slot canyon, with many long, hazardous slides and slick mossy sides. While there is a lot of human evidence in the lower canyon, there is no sign of anyone in the upper mile, which makes "Swirl Pool falls" and below, seem like a stroll in the park. Also, if you consider swirl pool a real waterfall, there are @ a dozen more waterfalls on Dog. However, I'd classify it as a slide, as I do the others. There are many long ones - probably up to 25-30 ft.

I left late in the afternoon and camped that evening on the stream, underneath the power lines. I slept in my hammock and awoke in the morning to a deer sniffing me! I had one other neat critter sighting...the largest and coolest snake I've seen in the Gorge. I'm still having a hard time believing it could be native. It was what appeared to be a huge (4ft) milksnake of some sort (red, yellow and black stripes). It freaked me out and I did the same to it. Unfortunately I was unable to get a pic.

It's too bad I didn't have anyone with me to give this falls perspective, but the waterfall itself, seen here is @25-30 feet. From above it looks like it falls straight into the ground. The top of the natural bridge is all covered with clover and other regular foliage and you don't realize what it really is until you get to the bottom. I rappelled down from the side (rappelling a whole 50 ft.) The top of the boulder arch is probably 60 ft above the stream bed below.

[chameleon]

Here is a photo of the bottom of the difficult section. From here, it's not too far to Swirl pool. Also beginning here is where you begin to see faint trails along the stream. It is still a bit rugged, but nothing like the canyon above.

[Sore Feet]

Sounds like you probably saw a Milk Snake. They're non venomous, and fortunately we don't have Coral Snakes (highly venomous) in these parts that can be easily confused for Milk Snakes (or vice versa). Real curious to get the full skinny on this trip, sounds like a pretty cool canyon.

[chameleon]

Bryan,

Yeah, I think it was some species of milk snake. Even without seeing the banding pattern (red on black or red on yellow) I knew it couldn't be a coral. They are very small I believe - in the neighborhood of 12-18 inches. This one was truly @ 4 ft in length - a very large snake for this area.

And the canyon is very cool! I took my usual 100 ft rope with me, and it proved to be long enough (wrapping it around trees etc...for rappels). There was only one truly trickly rappel that occured in the slot canyon portion. There is a 25 ft slide that becomes near vertical down a chute. To avoid it, I had to wrap a sling around a boulder precariously and rappel off the side of the chute.

The reason I say this canyon should not be attempted by anyone without canyoneering experience is that once you get into the actual slot canyon, your escape options run out. You can no longer scramble up the canyon walls to get to easier ground, and after a rappel or so, you can't easily backtrack. You're pretty much committed to continuing down and facing whatever there is below you.

That being said, it is an absolutely gorgeous section of stream. Right now the flowers are out, etc... It's just one of those sections of stream you want to take your time with and never underestimate. I'll post more pics later.

-Zach

[anna in boots]

Oh, man, Zach, that fire and water photo is positively spiritual! I may have to turn that one into a screen saver, with your permission.

anna in boots

[chameleon]

Anna, of course you can use it for a screen saver. Probably will pretty grainy since I have to save things really small to post here. It was a beautiful evening, and the small fire made my night much more enjoyable. I put up my hammock just several feet downwind of it, and used it to keep the bugs away. There were thousands of little flies that loved me but hated the smoke from the fire. When I woke up in the morning, it was to a deer checking me out in my hammock. I half scared it to death when I shifted a little, and it darted up the hill. If I had known it was there, it was so close I probably could have petted it. Here are a few more pics.

Ok, the second to the last photo is what it looks like approaching the falls under the natural bridge. The place the water disappears is the upper left section of white seen in this photo. Technically, the falls begins 20 vertical feet or so up from where I took this snapshot. There are 3 distinct tiers if I recall correctly - putting the falls probably at @60 total feet. The most dramatic of course is the 25 feet right below the arch. I was really scratching my head when I got to this part though, as it really did appear that the stream vanished.

The last photo here is what I believe is the top of the slot canyon looking upstream from just below it. It's hard to recall exactly. Its a terrible pic I know, but I posted it for posterity. If you get to this point going down, be aware that the canyon becomes very tight downstream.

[ken leibert]

Zach,
That sounds like a fantastic trip. I hope to make a trip down Dog Creek this summer and get a lot of photos. How many rappels are there including Elk Falls? Do you rappel Swirl Falls or do you slide down it or jump?

Ken Leibert

[chameleon]

Ken,

Yeah, it is a fun little creek! Elkhorn and the natural bridge/cave falls require rappels (if you want to stay at stream level). Then down lower in the slot canyon, there is one slide that goes down a chute under a boulder - possibly 20 vertical feet, that you could probably safely scramble down later in the summer when there's less water. However, the water was still too high to do so safely on my trip, so I rappeled from a boulder down off to the side.

The slot canyon will probably be pretty safe in a month or two, as lower water will make walking down the sides easier. In high water, you have less room to walk on the sides and the strong current could sweep you down a slide.

Once you get down to swirl pool you can use a rope to assist you down - it is actually a chute that forms a 90 degree angle and there is a small tree a short ways above the start. Later in the summer you probably won't want to bother with a rope though, as the angle isn't that steep and there are pretty solid handholds. But be forewarned - If you do head down the Swirlpool chute you will get wet. There's pretty much no way to avoid swimming through the pool at the bottom - so pack your camera, etc...accordingly before you venture in. You can easily walk around this though via a trail through some pretty manzanitas and hanging meadow and down a fairly gentle chute about 100 feet downstream of this feature.

The next falls below all have fairly convenient trees, but also ways to walk down the sides. Don't underestimate the slickness of the rock however. I took a 20 ft. slide down this

by misjudging the slick algae and rock (its crumbly/flakey rock covered with algae) and received a nice gash on my palm for my trouble. The falls after the bottom of this multifaceted slide is this...

I just walked down the side trail here, but you could have a fun 20ft rappel through this nice curtain falls - probably a great way to cool off @2pm or so when the sun hits it. After that you can walk down the sides, or rappel the next few tumbles/falls, but I recommend rappeling the final bit down Dog Creek falls itself. I know people safely scramble up and down it all the time, but after a long day it's just safer to get the rope out one last time and there's a dandy little tree right there.

Also, unless you're in really good shape, I don't recommend a Mtn/creek descent loop in a day. The problem being, you'll hit the stuff that requires concentration after you've worn yourself out on the hike in and then the very rugged (but non-technical) mile below Elkhorn. I know it's tempting on the map, given the short distance, but its much safer to do as I did. I left late afternoon and had an enjoyable short hike in, a nice night, and then a pleasant morning coming down the stream - fresh and ready to go the whole way. Also, wear shoes with good slick rock traction - I had my Teva's with spider rubber and they worked great! Have a great trip, and I can't wait to see a report!

-Zach

[BCJ]

There are some scattered populations of California mountain kingsnakes (Lampropeltis zonata) in the Gorge on the WA side so that is probably what you saw. They have similar banding to a coral or milk snake, but we don't have milk snakes here so that's not what it was. Sightings of these are rare and considered to be a special treat.

I'm not saying this is you, but a lot of people see colorful garter snakes and mistake them for zonata or coral snakes. What you saw sounds like a very large zonata assuming that it was banded (around the body) and not striped (following the length of the body).

[chameleon]

Yeah, it was banding. I've done some research on it now, but I am kind of stumped. It was much lighter than the photos of California King snakes I've come across. It was also larger than they supposedly get - 33 inches. I'm pretty good with estimating snake sizes, and I know it is probably exceedingly rare, but this snake was at minimum 36-40 inches, and probably closer to 48. I might go back in there on a sunny day and look around in the same spot to to try to get some pics. When I say it was "lighter," I mean that the reds and blacks were less intense and washed out, with larger yellow bands than California kings.

So, it really is a curiosity to me. It might be simply a large, healthy naturally lighter california king. Or there is the possibility that it was a released pet, in which case it could be just about anything. In any case, it was a very unusual sighting. The reason I did not get a pic is that I was walking down a shale area in bright sun right next to a 14 ft bluff falling straight to the stream. I was looking for a place to break down the little slope, and startled it to the point that it freaked out and disappeared down the bluff edge. Several minutes later I got down to the bottom and looked thoroughly, but it may have hid out in a hole or something and gone back up. I tried to climb back up, but couldn't.

So without pictures it remains a mystery. Hopefully I'll cross paths with it or one of its bretheren again.

-Zach