The Waterfall Tour - Part 2

Day one of the waterfall tour was misty and rainy, day two was a sunny day and we went to a very different stream. Where day one featured a stream with a series of cascades, day two’s stream was one of chutes and potholes and a dramatic 40 foot waterfall.

We walked an old logging road that climbs along the stream; on the way passing a historic log cabin with intricately dovetailed corners –

And picturesque locks on the windows' shutters –

The old road veers away from the stream until it’s above the scenic portion, so we started there and worked our way downstream past the chutes and potholes and waterfalls. The stream enters the drops in a rush –

And then goes through a narrow slot about 15 feet deep –

Speaking of slots, there’s one that’s dry now but many years ago the stream apparently followed that route –

The stream exits the first chute over a small waterfall into a large swirling pothole –

It leaves the large pothole and continues down a deep narrow mossy gorge with mist rising –

That mist rises from a very narrow chute and a complex series of small waterfalls in and below the chute –

The bedrock here is slippery even when it’s not wet, but on this day the rock was wet and very slippery. At least seven people are reported to have died here, including one last year. Falling into the stream from just above the small cascade in the first photo on down is generally not considered survivable.

We watched a fellow who appeared to be in his mid to upper-70s, and not too steady on his sneaker-clad feet, inch ever further out on the down-sloping rock on the left side of the second of the above photos in order to take a photograph with his cell-phone. He survived – by dumb luck.

Just below that series of small waterfalls the stream goes over its largest drop –

It may not look like much from that perspective, but the waterfall is between 35 and 40 feet high and drops into a deep pool –

Unfortunately these photographs really don’t convey the full beauty of the stream, the gorge or the waterfall. Below the waterfall the stream continues in a series of cascades for about a mile.