falls of the Gifford Pinchot:Little Niagara, wildcat, ect.

Discussions and Trip Reports for off-trail adventures and rediscovering lost trails
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fallguy
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falls of the Gifford Pinchot:Little Niagara, wildcat, ect.

Post by fallguy » July 6th, 2009, 8:30 pm

What an awsome weekend it turned out to be. My original planned trip of 2 days in the Goat rocks wilderness and east Mt Rainier was a no go as I couldn't find a camping partner. I did however meet a new friend that responded to a CL post. We started Friday at 5:30am and headed for big spring creek falls on the west side of Mt Adams close to where 23 and 90 meet. It was beautiful as usual. It's not big but very photogenic. Next stop was wooden arch falls on the Lewis river. The fall was nice and easily viewed a short distance from the road. I wanted to explore up and downstream of this cataract but after assesing the time it would take I decided to save this for next time. Next was steamboat falls down the road a few miles. This was my first visit and I wasn't disappointed. A beautiful 2 tiered fall with a splash pool big enough for swimming. It was a 15 minute hike to the falls. We stopped by twin falls compground to get a quick pic and moved on to pin creek falls down the road a couple miles. We dropped down to the creek and headed upstream. The creek is open and pretty but the water was super chilly. The falls are reached in a short distance. The sun was high in the sky and the heat was on so my buddy V braved the water and jumped in the large splash pool at the base of the falls. The falls and canyon surrounding was one of my favorites of the day. V took a spill on the way back up the rocky slope to the car crushing his thumb and scraping his arm and leg. OUCH! After he bandaged up we headed to the grand finale of the day and one of my personal favorites, little niagara falls. It took me multiple attempts to reach this fall a couple years ago but it was well worth it. The gravel road leading to the falls was in ok shape. It took us an hour of steep crumbly thick bushwacking before we reached the creek above tillicum creek falls. I visited tillicum creek falls a couple years ago and V was toughing it out with his wounds so we kept our eyes on the prize. Pictures don't do this scene justice. It is a real treat for a waterfall lover and the fact that you have to work to get there makes it all the sweeter. I fought a steep slope of devils club to get a perspective of the whole falls. I have seen bears in this area a couple times before but none today. We dragged ourselves out of the canyon and headed to paradise creek to relax and reflect. tomorrow I will post the next days trip to chinook and wildcat falls.
Attachments
wildflower on lewis river (1 of 1).jpg
wildflowers at wooden arch falls
me at tillicum creek falls (1 of 1).jpg
tillicum creek falls from 2 years ago
little niagara mushrooms (1 of 1).jpg
mushrooms with little niagara in the background
mushroom on lewis river (1 of 1).jpg
mushroom on the lewis
big spring creek falls close up (1 of 1).jpg
close up
big spring creek falls (1 of 1).jpg
big spring creek falls
wooden arch falls (1 of 1).jpg
wooden arch falls
steamboat falls (1 of 1).jpg
steamboat falls
twin falls (1 of 1).jpg
twin falls from the campground
pin creek falls (1 of 1).jpg
pin creek falls basking in the sun
little niagara detail special fx (1 of 1).jpg
a close up of the bottom right
little niagara falls vertical (1 of 1).jpg
little niagara from the creek downstream
little niagara falls wide angle (1 of 1).jpg
little niagara from the right upper slope

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Sore Feet
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Re: falls of the Gifford Pinchot:Little Niagara, wildcat, ect.

Post by Sore Feet » July 6th, 2009, 9:31 pm

Okay, how the heck did you get that last shot?


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greglief
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Re: falls of the Gifford Pinchot:Little Niagara, wildcat, ect.

Post by greglief » July 7th, 2009, 2:27 pm

Wonderful photos! You reminded me that I must get to "Little" Niagara at some point in my lifetime.

Greg

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airdrum
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Re: falls of the Gifford Pinchot:Little Niagara, wildcat, ect.

Post by airdrum » July 7th, 2009, 4:59 pm

Great adventure and report!

Looks like you gave me a good reason to keep carrying my epic first aid kit on my shwaks, hope your friend is healing up alright - it's one of the bummers of summer, the ground, rotting wood etc just isn't as soft and wet to fall on in the dry months!

Some cool falls here and it looks like you have some spots that I need to check out for my ever growing list of off-the-beaten path waterfalls that are great for swimming!

Thanks again, keep them coming!
Andy

fallguy
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: SE PORTLAND

Re: falls of the Gifford Pinchot:Little Niagara, wildcat, ect.

Post by fallguy » July 7th, 2009, 7:37 pm

It wasn't easy. I climbed that slope poking into the right side of the frame of the second pic from the bottom. It was thick with devils club but I have been looking foreward to getting that shot for quite some time. Thanks again for the survey. You have helped create a monster! lol
Sore Feet wrote:Okay, how the heck did you get that last shot?

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