Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Discussions and Trip Reports for off-trail adventures and rediscovering lost trails
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RobFromRedland
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by RobFromRedland » February 5th, 2010, 6:53 am

Splintercat wrote: Rob, here are the maps: Lewis & Clark Wilderness Maps

-Tom
Thanks, Tom!
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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BrianEdwards
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by BrianEdwards » February 18th, 2010, 7:15 pm

Sore Feet wrote:Well this solves all just about all the problems I had seen regarding access to that set of falls quite succinctly. Outstanding job Brian!

Appreciate the compliment Bryan. Your site has been the inspiration for many of my hikes, very informative and very detailed! Great job
Clackamas River Waterfall Project - 95 Documented, 18 to go.

cfm
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by cfm » March 14th, 2010, 6:45 pm

Hi Brian,

Thanks to this TR, I went out this morning, and explored Memaloose Creek and the SFork. So much fun!!!! I loved the scrambles, the tunnels, the falls and all the old waterworks remnants. I had some trouble finding the old road bed and ended up having to rescale the cliffs as I headed downstream to find a better way to the creek, The fawn lillies are about to explode in the upper mossy forest. I didn't go to the base of the S Fork falls, but I did go down to Memaloose falls, looks like a great spot for a summer swim. Also in the area of the confluence, the hanging mosses from the trees are unique- it might be that old mans beard moss.

On the way out, I stopped at the unsightly pile of garbage near the tunnel left by the total jerks who cant pack out what they brought in and grabbed a backpack and filled it with crap. Scrambling back uphill was a bit tougher, but maybe anyone else who visits could remove a little bit on their way out and maybe the pile will eventually disappear.

Really delightful day, thank you Brian! I look forward to returning.

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BrianEdwards
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by BrianEdwards » March 14th, 2010, 8:55 pm

Isn't that a great place or what! You almost feel like you've accomplished something great after a day of bushwackin in there, all the big falls, history, tunnels, you name it! If you ever get a chance to check out the big falls from the bottom, its quite the sight seeing a river drop 120 ft. The noise and mist alone are something to behold. And Kudo's for packing out some of the trash by the tunnel, I'll definitely have to do that next time i'm in there.

cfm
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by cfm » March 15th, 2010, 5:49 am

Here are some pictures from my trip yesterday

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Splintercat
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by Splintercat » March 15th, 2010, 11:18 am

Penelope, tell me that the shot of the rotten bridge by the last tunnel was taken with a zoom, and not from the center of the bridge... :shock: :?

(Great photos, BTW!) :)

cfm
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by cfm » March 15th, 2010, 2:07 pm

No Tom I chickened out.

I took one step out there and almost slipped. If I had gone across, it would have been via my round bottom!

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BrianEdwards
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by BrianEdwards » March 15th, 2010, 3:23 pm

I chickened out as well. I don't know how Pete Giordano made it across that bridge with a kayak on his back, that guy is crazy. :shock: And nice shots CFM. You, ElphabaNorthwest and RobFromRedland have done a great job illustrating all the cool stuff in there.

oregoncurtis
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by oregoncurtis » March 21st, 2010, 8:46 pm

I tried to do this last Saturday, but must say that I failed. I have a feeling I didn't get close enough to the creek. I hiked to the end of the road then went down a path to the right. The path angles to the right (downstream although I couldn't see the creek this high up yet) and then comes to a big opening with lots of rocks. I went do this to what I thought was 70 ft. above the creek and started heading downstream. After a 100 yards or so there was a huge wall of brambles and the path down was wet from a spring so I turned around. Was I heading the right way?

-Curtis

cfm
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Re: Memaloose Falls and South Fork Clackamas River

Post by cfm » March 22nd, 2010, 8:17 am

That's pretty much what happened to me Oregoncurtis. I ended up having to hike up the hill through the brambles and springs to gorgeous mossy point which was directly above the falls and the tunnel. I then had to go further uphill to get around the sheer basalt walls, and finally found a gully to drop down again- picked up the old road on the downstream side of the tunnel.

I think that like me, you angled off too early. Keep heading down into the alders from the open mossy slope, I think the road is maybe about 20 or 30 feet above the creek. A good clue of where the old road/trail starts upstream from the tunnel is a giant logjam on the creek. Below that the creek is really starting to narrow and there are several little chutes and cascades, and you can see the bend ahead and hear the falls.

On the day I went, two fellows had pulled up right behind me as I started my hike, but I never saw them until three hours later. They were wandering around up there all that time and got skunked too.

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