{"id":536,"date":"2011-07-18T04:29:29","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T09:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trailstealth.com\/blog\/?p=536"},"modified":"2011-07-18T14:49:08","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T19:49:08","slug":"margarette-falls-devils-creek-and-more-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trailstealth.com\/blog\/trailstealth\/margarette-falls-devils-creek-and-more-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Margarette Falls, Devils Creek, and More…"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been quite a while since I have uploaded a new trail-blog, which is unfortunate, and I apologize, but please note that I have been very busy and have not given up on either hiking or blogging.\u00a0 While I am way behind in chronicling my hikes, I do hope to get caught up eventually.\u00a0 While it doesn\u2019t take very long to write a trail blog (unless you lose your notes, like I did… and having the pc fried by lightning didn’t help either), sorting through, resizing, and uploading the photos rather does, so I may not go too much \u2018in depth\u2019 like I usually do, but I will try and give a good report, never-the-less.<\/p>\n

Margarette Falls…<\/strong><\/p>\n

In mid-January, I was contacted by waterfall enthusiast and aficionado, Dave Aldridge<\/a>; he had been studying maps and making plans to find the \u2018Bailey Falls’ in Greene County, and asked if I could go along.\u00a0 As it turned out, I wasn’t busy that day, and having never been to Bailey Falls, decided to hike with him in an attempt to find them.\u00a0 We drove to the trail-head just beyond the old ‘Shelton Mission’ about mid-morning of the 20th, and began our quest, hiking up the cold creek trail into ‘Bullen Hollow’.\u00a0 As I just mentioned, it was a chilly morning, particularly in the mountain hollow, and there was still quite a lot of snow and ice in the trail and along the creek-banks.\u00a0 Even so, quite a lot of the snow had melted down over the previous couple of days, and the cumulative snow-melt had made the water-level and overall flow of the creek rather substantial, making every cascade<\/a> along the way appear like a waterfall unto itself.<\/p>\n

\"Margarette<\/a>

Margarette Falls<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Dave, a retired engineer, had brought along his new hypsometer<\/a>, and was measuring the heights of any significant cascade, waterfall, or cliff-ledge<\/a> (there were several of each) all the way up the hollow.\u00a0 Before we had gotten too far, however, we encountered three gentlemen from the National Forest Service, who were working, putting the finishing touches on the new pedestrian bridge<\/a> that spans the creek in a place that appears to be vulnerable to flooding, making it much easier to access the upper part of the ‘Margarette Falls Trail<\/a>‘ (‘Bailey Falls’, as it turns out, is well beyond the Margarette Falls).\u00a0 Anyway, Dave, among his many talents, is a gifted conversationalist, and having known and worked with a few of their colleagues, took a few minutes to tell a few jokes, while I admired the new fiberglass bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Margarette<\/a>

Margarette Falls (from above)<\/p><\/div>\n

The trail beyond the bridge was quite slippery, but the raging creek was inspirational, with several small waterfalls<\/a> and many nice cascades<\/a> to admire as we continued on up the snowy creek trail that skirts below sheer cliff faces, some over 200 feet tall.\u00a0 As fascinating as all the small falls and cascades had been, they all paled in comparison to the \u2018mighty\u2019 Margarette Falls<\/a>.\u00a0 What with all the significant snow-melt waters arching and plummeting over the top-edge<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 (Dave calculated the actual height at 68 \u00bd feet tall) and the way a good quantity of that water was somehow funneled along the length of several rock-ledges on the pathway down, and falling again, spreading the water out darn near as wide as the falls are tall, gave the Margarette Falls a beautiful appearance.\u00a0 I was really impressed.<\/p>\n

\"Cascades<\/a>

Cascades along the Margarette Falls Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

Dave and I took a short lunch break here, soaking in the beauty, while the cold wind from the waterfall quickly chilled us down after our mile and a half hike to get there.\u00a0 I was still entranced by the falls, taking photos (and ultimately a video) and such, when I noticed Dave climbing a steep and rocky path (you couldn\u2019t really call it a \u2018trail\u2019) that was leading up the right side of the falls.\u00a0 I caught up to him pretty quickly, and we continued on up beyond a prominent rock ledge, and after climbing over this solid stone obstacle, made our way back to the left, to the top of the Margarette Falls.\u00a0 What we couldn\u2019t see from below was the long cascading \u2018rock-chute\u2019<\/a> that quickly funneled water down, feeding a small 10\u2019 falls<\/a> that was just before the main fall.\u00a0 The rocks were much too icy and slippery to stand upon the top of the falls, although I did find a perch above that had a similar view.\u00a0 Moving around the rock-chute and the top of the falls was kind of dangerous, given the icy conditions, but we were cautious.<\/p>\n

\"Cascades<\/a>

Cascades Along the Margarette Falls Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

Dave and I contemplated our next move, which tested our determination, and will to find the elusive Bailey Falls.\u00a0 Inevitably, we decided to risk a slippery creek-crossing over a particularly icy, mossy, and extremely slick boulder<\/a> in the creek just above the rock-chute<\/a> and the fast moving stream of water.\u00a0 We climbed up a steep hillside and maneuvered around beneath some fractured rock ledges<\/a>, and made our way up the remarkably narrow<\/a> creek-valley to what we thought were \u2018Glen Falls\u2019, which was where a tributary<\/a>-creek joined the main creek from the opposite side of the Bullen Hollow.\u00a0 According to the map and the information we had, Glen Falls was only supposed to be 8-foot tall, but with the raging \u2018white-water\u2019 snow-melt flooding down the mountain, the cascades above seemed to definitely be part of the falls, and Dave (with his hypsometer) measured them at 28 feet tall.\u00a0 [Note: I have since learned that this cascade\/waterfall is unnamed, and is not \u2018Glen Falls\u2019, which is further upstream, apparently.]<\/p>\n

\"Cascades<\/a>

Cascades above Margarette Falls<\/p><\/div>\n

From here, the creek-valley narrowed down even more, being only about the width of a one lane country road with rock cliffs on either side.\u00a0 Judging by the map, we were within about a 10th of a mile from Bailey Falls; however, it appeared, what with the wider (and deeper) than usual creek, we would have to wade through the cold water to get there.\u00a0 My feet were already fairly wet, but Dave\u2019s feet had somehow remained dry, and the thought of wading through the icy waters, and walking back down the waterfalls and the trail with cold, wet feet made Dave cringe, so we decided to turn around and perhaps come back one day with extra socks and shoes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Creek<\/a>

Creek Along the Margarette Falls Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

With some difficulty, we climbed back along the fractured-rock wall, across the slippery creek-boulder, and back to the top of Margarette Falls.\u00a0 From there we cautiously made our way back down the slippery rock pathway to the base of the incredible Margarette Falls.\u00a0 We took another snack break here in the cold mist and wind, admiring the beauty of the waterfalls and the way they contrasted with the tall, rugged cliffs that towered above us.<\/p>\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

Cliffs near Margarette Falls<\/p><\/div>\n

On our way back to the car, we encountered (for the 2nd time) the Forest Service people still working on the bridge, and (after Dave conversed for a while longer) helped carry a couple of buckets of tools back to their tram-like transport vehicle<\/a> with a large wheel barrow-like bucket on it.\u00a0 Back at the car, we had no regrets, despite not quite getting to \u2018Bailey Falls,\u2019 and I considered it a surprisingly impressive adventure.<\/p>\n