Medved Falls

RATING - 38.0

Bear Creek is a large volume creek that drains the basin between Bear Mountain and Spire Mountain into the North Fork of the Skykomish River. The creek contains at least five waterfalls along its descent and they are all amazingly beautiful.

Medved Falls is the first major waterfall encountered as one travels upstream on Bear Creek from the river. There is actually a very pretty cascade downstream but I considered it too small to be a "real" waterfall. The falls drop a total of 53' via a 13' plunge and the cool 40' main drop. This drop begins vertically before striking the cliff face and gradually flattening out. A cool mini-amphitheater surrounds the falls and makes for a beautiful pool. A couple logs have found their way into the canyon which detracts a little bit from the scene. The water downstream runs through a narrow channel and gets deep enough that wading will be a little tricky. If you are careful, you can climb down from the top of the canyon but it's pretty steep so use good judgement and don't do it if you aren't comfortable. Like all the waterfalls on the creek, I've given this one a name meaning "bear", this time in Russian.

OTHER PICTURES

VR - 6.0 (Medium)

HR - 3.0

SR - 20/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Medium

LOCATION - Index-Galena Road

TYPE - Tiered

HEIGHT - 53' *

WIDTH - 15'

DIRECTIONS - Follow the directions to Bear Creek Falls. You'll have to ford the river which can be downright suicidal if the river is high. Once across, Bear Creek is obvious as it joins the river at the base of the falls. Medved Falls is about 500' upstream, but you'll have to climb around the small lower cascade first. Be careful if you climb down to the base.