Eagle Creek and Wahclella, Jan 13th 2017

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Don Nelsen
Posts: 4377
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Eagle Creek and Wahclella, Jan 13th 2017

Post by Don Nelsen » January 13th, 2017, 6:23 pm

I just couldn't help my self this morning. 13 degrees at my Vancouver home and reports of a nice east wind in the gorge! How good it is!!

Heading out I-84 I was buffeted by thirty and forty MPH headwinds but the road was mostly clear of ice. A few slick spots but at these temperatures and with the proper tires and 4WD no problem at all.

Arriving at the Wahclella TH I donned my mountaineering crampons and took an ice ax but as it turned out, that was overkill for the conditions. Lots of folks had already beaten down a track and though the crampons were great, I barely needed them and would have been fine in regular micro-spikes. I saw a few others on the trail and not one of them had any traction and seemed to be doing ok.

A few photos:
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Now off to Eagle Creek.

Bring a snow shovel if you go as there are only three or four parking spots at the south TH. The main lot is not plowed. My 4WD can make its own parking spot but a 2WD may have a problem. There is only about a foot or less of new snow though. My micro spikes worked fine but there are a few problem spots along the trail. No wind at all in the canyons.

The little bridge at the start:
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No one except one guy had gone beyond the second set of cliffs with the cable railing but he went all the way to Punchbowl and his tracks, though from snowshoes, were good enough to make the trek not too difficult. Beyond Punchbowl, it looked like this:
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I hiked down the side trail to the base of the falls and found that the anchor ice in the stream from a few days ago had disappeared lowering the water level in the pool. I could walk out much farther and get a shot of the falls:
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All the photos are here:
http://www.fototime.com/users/donnelsen ... a%20011316

dn
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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Sean Thomas
Posts: 1647
Joined: February 25th, 2012, 11:33 pm

Re: Eagle Creek and Wahclella, Jan 13th 2017

Post by Sean Thomas » January 13th, 2017, 8:51 pm

Wow, beautiful shots DN! You really are a living legend!

scschmits
Posts: 5
Joined: January 13th, 2017, 9:47 pm

Re: Eagle Creek and Wahclella, Jan 13th 2017

Post by scschmits » January 13th, 2017, 9:50 pm

Thanks so much for sharing !!! So beautiful! Heading to Walchella to snowshoe tomorrow!!! :)

Sarah

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woodswalker
Posts: 835
Joined: November 25th, 2012, 4:51 pm

Re: Eagle Creek and Wahclella, Jan 13th 2017

Post by woodswalker » January 16th, 2017, 9:08 am

Beautiful shots!
Woodswalker

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