Another epic adventure. This is an area I discovered by accident while researching for another hike. Back then, when I found it, I did a small loop and was able to find Hidden Falls, but on that occasion, we only saw archer falls from the top of the rim. This time, I wanted to go to the base of the waterfall not only because the fall itself is incredibly beautiful but also to check out the two gigantic basalt formations in front of it. So, as I did last time, we started from the lower Valley (sometimes referred as Happy Valley for a hippie community that lived here some years ago) but instead of crossing the creek and scrambling up to the Eastern Ridge on Archer Mountain, I decided to take the group forward following the creek to the waterfall. I wasn’t sure I was going to find a way to get to the ridge from that point, but it was worth exploring. The hike on the creek turned to be very interesting, not only because well, hiking next to a creek is always beautiful as you see multiple tiny waterfalls and ponds but also because, on this particular case, the water disappeared in some sections and reappeared in others. After a while finding our way thru the bushes, we finally came out on the upper valley. From there, we continued hiking on scree and talus towards the fall which we finally reached. At that point it didn’t seem there was a way to go around and climb to the ridge but Pete, trying to explore a bit more, decided to climb around the waterfall and get in the cave behind it. I followed and as I was climbing, I noticed that, following the top of the talus, it was possible to reach a forested area and from there bushwhack our way up to the ridge. This section was not very easy as every step made something move, but once we got to the forested area, at least we had trees to hang on to. Being a bit tired already, we made a quick lunch break and then headed up on a very faint, old logging road I had found the previous trip. From that point on, the trip was pretty much the same as the other time so I knew where I was. We continued up until we reached Hidden Falls which, with less water than the first time I went, allowed me to go lower and much closer to the base for some nice pictures. As you’ll see in the pictures, we had a small accident at that spot as Pete dislodged a rock that fell on my while Michelle was trying to stop it. It wasn’t much but Michelle got a bruised finger. After that, we followed the road for a bit and then veered off on a faint foot path that eventually met with the ridge trail that comes out at the top of the rock wall where the cross is. The group got a bit skeptical at that point as we were a bit high and it didn’t seem that we were going to get back down in time. What they didn’t know is that the trail descends very quickly. In the end, we all made it with some scratches and bruises, but we got to see a waterfall most people don’t even know about.
No comments:
Post a Comment