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NOHOKOMEEN FALLS
RATING - 78.0

VR - 8 (Big)               HR - 8.0                  SR - 14/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Extremely Difficult

LOCATION - East Side Trail (Ross Lake)

TYPE - Plunge

HEIGHT - 366'

WIDTH - 50'

Top of Nohokomeen FallsAbout two miles upstream from the East Bank Trail, May Creek drops over one of the most impressive waterfalls in the North Cascades.  The large volume creek plumments 282' in a powerful plunge, spreading out to 50' in width by the time it reaches the bottom.  The creek crashes into the rocks at the base right next to an enormous 50' tall, 75' wide boulder that fell off the cliff at some point in the past.  The tumble from the cliff has split the rock in two along its entire 75' length.  There's a great view of the falls with the majority above the rock and then a peek-a-boo view through the boulder at the bottom half.  Unfortunately, this view (like almost every other view within 1/4 of a mile of the falls) has so much spray flying in your face that it's virtually impossible to take a picture.  Below the main drop the creek continues to cascade for another 84' bringing the total height to 366'.  In addition, satelite imagery indicates at least two more tiers directly above the main drop but I didn't add them into the height because I have no idea how tall they are.  It looks like the waterfall was much more volumnous when the most recent Google Earth image was taken, so the waterfall is even more impressive at times than when I went!

To the north of the falls is a massive cliff face rising at least 800' in height and running for half a mile towards Ross Lake.  This enormous cliff can easily be seen from Highway 20 around six miles away.  On the right side is a huge rockslide where part of the mountain fell off and tumbled down the hill towards the creek.  There is at least one more notable lower falls a short distance downstream from Nohokomeen Falls.  I couldn't see this waterfall from the south side of the creek but it looked to be in the 80'-100' range.

The trip into Nohokomeen Falls is extremely difficult.  Even if you were to take a boat to the campsite and only have the bushwhack portion of the trip, it would still garner an Extremely Difficult rating.  The first half of the journey isn't too bad, but from there you'll be required to climb up a VERY steep hillside, over and around vertical cliff bands, traverse a loose, crumbly boulder field, ford the large creek, and finally scramble up a soaking wet hillside covered with every form of pokey vegetation imaginable.
DIRECTIONS - First you need to get to May Creek Camp.  This can be done by hiking 9 miles along the East Bank Trail near Ross Lake, or taking a boat to the May Creek Boat Camp.  Once there, head to where May Creek crosses the East Bank Trail.  Staying on the south side of the creek, head into the woods and work your way upstream for around 2 miles to the falls.  It's easier to stay away from the creek a ways and try to stay on top of the ridge instead of constantly sidehilling.  You'll have to climb up some super steep hills and tire yourself out but you'll eventually bump into the falls.  Make sure you take a GPS so you know when you're getting close.

ADDITIONAL PICTURES (CLICK TO ENLARGE) AND VIDEO

Very bottom of the falls     Closer look at the top of Nohokomeen Falls     First view of the falls from across the avalanche field     Attempted photograph from the front     Pano from the side    

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