Standard Falls (Acme Area)
Most people who drive up Highway 9 near Van Zandt notice Hard Scrabble and Sygitowicz Falls coming down off the west side of the valley.  I had looked at the topo maps and I was pretty sure there was also a falls or two on Standard Creek, a little south of Hard Scrabble.  On Sunday I headed up there and investigated the creek and its very steep, imposing canyon.  I found a ton of small falls but no big one.  The largest single drop is around 35' tall.  The falls are grouped into 3 sections:  Standard Falls, Middle Standard Falls, and Lower Standard Falls.  The Lower Falls is fairly easy to reach requiring a mile walk along a logging road and then bushwhacking about 500' upstream.  This is also the prettiest of all the falls (except maybe the Middle Falls) as the rest are covered with fallen trees.  I got above the Middle Falls but never got a good view of it.  From what I could tell it is between 25-40' tall and spreads out to 10-15' wide.  I forgot my sunglasses that I use as a polarizer so my pictures are not quite as good as I would like.  I'm going to head back up in the near future for better pictures of the two tiers of the Lower Falls as well as a picture of the Middle Falls from below.  Check the site for new pages in the next couple of days.

Trip this Saturday

The weather is supposed to be pretty nice all week and Saturday is looking really nice.  We're definitely heading out somewhere.  Depending on the snow level we might be going to Anderson Falls:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of the few waterfalls in Northern Washington that you can walk behind so it's a pretty special one.  The trip in involves a 3-4 mile hike up a logging road and then smashing through the brush for a couple hundred feet to the falls.  Last time Brett and I went we only viewed the main drop shown above and the cool slide below it.  There is more to the falls above that and I really want to climb around to get above this and see what else we can find.  Consider this an open invitation to anyone who wants to come along.  It's a great falls.

Oregon Waterfalling This Weekend?
I'm heading down to the Portland area this weekend so I'm hoping to do a little something while I'm down there.  The main problem is I won't have a car available so I have to talk my dad into going up the gorge with me or dropping me off at a trailhead and picking me up later or something.  Wish me luck.

Hard Scrabble Falls Covered In Ice

Yesterday afternoon I dragged my dad up to Hard Scrabble Falls to see if it had any ice on it.  The falls were almost completely covered with ice and the whole area around the bottom was a solid mound of snow and ice.  The scene was incredibly beautiful and was one of the better waterfalling experiences I've had in quite a while.  I'll probably update the page for Hard Scrabble Falls tomorrow but for now here's one picture of the falls:

 

Tons of Snow and it's still coming down
Sometimes in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, it began to snow.  It snowed, then it snowed, then it snowed some more.  When it finally quit falling last night around 4 PM, we had around 14" of snow on the ground.  This morning we woke up and . . . it's snowing again.  Hard.  The snow is beautiful and it really looks like we're going to have a white christmas this year.  At some point this snow is going to melt and then . . . waterfall time!  Enjoy the snow out there.

Snow, Sun, and a Stolen Tree

Well, the snow finally came on Saturday night.  We ended up with about 6 inches here in Burlington and now it's perfectly clear and really cold out.  The snow should stick around for a while too.  The forecast is calling for snow on Weds and snow showers Thursday and the temperature's not supposed to get over freezing until Monday.  I'm hoping to go to Hard Scrabble Falls this weekend to see if it's frozen over at all.  That could be pretty fun.

 My brother-in-law somehow procured us a free Christmas tree and left it leaning against our garage door last night.  When we got home . . . no tree.  So, to the person who stole our tree, I know who you are, I know where you live, and my vengeance is swift and final.  Christmas is the season of giving, and I'm going to be giving you a nice little present.

A Dark Knight
I'm pretty pumped after watching the Dark Knight for the second time in the last two days.  If anyone hasn't seen this movie yet you NEED to see it.  It's probably one of the ten best movies I've ever seen and Heath Ledger as the Joker is every bit as good as the hype.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have a movie to watch . . . again.

Snow coming
Mood:  happy
The weather forecast is calling for snow this weekend, possibly down to sea level.  The good news is, when that snow melts, some of the lowland waterfalls like Hard Scrabble and Bulson Creek will have lots of water going over them.  Could be a good opportunity for some winter waterfalling in the near future.

Peek-A-Boo Falls
Mood:  irritated
Well, winter weather is finally on its way and with it comes the end to a lot of waterfall hunting for the year.  There are still some lowland falls that I'm hoping to get to this winter but I took advantage of the relatively nice weather this past Saturday and headed into a new waterfall that comes out of Peek-A-Boo Lake a little south of Darrington.  I was pretty sure there was a waterfall there based on the Topo map and I was correct.  Check out the new page for it on the main site.