February 24, 2013

My apologizes for procrastinating again.... it seems I have excellent procrastination skills.  Currently we are almost to 300 named waterfalls.  I'm hoping to get caught up.  Got a bit to do and so all I can do is get to it.
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 It was another day heading off into the Gorge.  I grabbed my usual pictures as we headed to Bridge of the Gods.

That day our goals were on the Washington side, so off we went across the bridge.  Snow was still resting on the tops of the mountains.

Our first stop was a little gem that sadly has no trail.  The hardest part here is merely avoiding poison oak and balancing on rocks.

Getting to the top view isn't too bad, although the bottom view is a bit more tricky.

As always it's worth it, here's Spirit Falls.  Thankfully this year the sun wasn't blowing out the picture.

#73  Spirit Falls   (bushwhack ~ access moderate)

And back up we went.  Definitely one way to work in some cardio.

We drove on and stopped off at Cook Falls.  Not quite what I'd consider an official waterfall, but since it has historical value so its still considered one.

#74  Cook Falls   (roadside ~ easy access)

Next up we found ourselves at Dog Creek.  The sun was phases in and out which kept the potential open for good waterfall shots.

The path is a short one to Dog Creek Falls, but it still is pretty.

# 75 Dog Creek Falls   (trail ~ easy access)

Above this falls we had heard of another called Fan Falls.  The canyon is pretty cliffed out, so we went up the left side trying to find a way through.  It didn't get any better the further up we went.  Back we went to look for another way.

Eventually Timothy found a ledge that was big enough to walk on.  It was slightly tilted which at first seemed ok.  Unfortunately the ledge started to get narrower and I pretty much fell apart when we got to a rock outcropping where there was a foot of no ledge I had to step over.  Timothy managed to get me over it even with me shaking in terror.  Yes, I am afraid of heights.  On the other side Timothy looked for a better alternative, but he only found another hurdle.  With no ropes he had to walk me through scaling down a 15 foot wall.  I amazed even my self.

After getting me down that Timothy continued to scout the area.  Unfortunately he discovered that Fan Falls was on the other side of a rock outcropping.  The only view was on the other side of the freezing cold creek water.

Fan Falls fail...

We agreed this one was going to have to wait.  Timothy looked for the best way down, but found my next feat involved me scaling the left side of the waterfall.  To say the least I wasn't happy with the predicament.  He worked me through it and found a lot of comfort when I reached the bottom.  I'm still surprised I didn't piss myself, although more surprising is Timothy did it even with his foot still partly broken.

Dog Creek Falls from above (access crazy without rope)

Not to be deterred we continued on our day.  Stopping only for a moment to grab a shot of Lancaster Falls from afar.

Off of an old dirt road we found Carson Creek and started working out way down.  The brush was a bit thick at time.

Although we got to Carson Creek Falls without any crazy rock ledges to scale, yay!

# 76  Carson Creek Falls   (bushwhack ~ moderate access)

Again up through the brush we went.  It was tiring, although still better than a rock ledge.

On to the last stretch we made our way to Sweeney Falls.  Usually there is a rope to get past this one steep part, but this time we found some steps.  Not sure how long they'll last.  It made this day easier though.

# 77 Sweeney Falls   (off-trail ~ easy access)

With a little day light still left the last goal was the waterfall up the canyon from here.  We worked our way back until there was a way up and went up the canyon.  It was a bit steep at times, but nothing compared to that rock ledge.

Without much ado we reach Crayfish Falls.  It was a little scary grabbing this shot, although it was worth it.

# 78 Crayfish Falls  (bushwhack ~ moderate access)

Getting back to the car dragged on a bit since my legs were a bit wobbly at this point.  Curiosity was getting the better of us and we went to see where Nelson Creek was.

There is a pretty waterfall down there, but sadly the whole area is covered in poison oak.  Considering it hadn't brushed out yet, we weren't going to get very close.  Instead we finished off with a nice drive home.