Well, I'll try and keep the text short and let the pictures speak for themselves.  Along on this trip was Jamie, Lindsay, I, and the man himself, Don Nelsen.  It was time for some whacking!

We started out early at the Eagle Creek host parking lot and made our way to the Ruckel Creek Trail.  We headed up and went right on through the Indian pits eventually coming to the first switchback after the pit area where we went straight.



We traversed game trails on hanging meadows, with some great views and dreams of what the wildflower displays would be like.

Don't slip!


Long ways down from here!


Eventually it was time to start poison oak dodging our way down to the creek, let the bushwhacking begin!  Check out this action shot of Linds using a tree to her advantage.



We eventually made it down to the creek and walked the short distance to the first (Midlle) Falls.  The stream takes an immediate east direction after the splash area, meaning the front of the falls is obstructed by brush and trees.  I dreaded trying to photograph it but I aimed for the stream and all of a sudden hit the awesome view, what a photogenic falls after all!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=346643473879403924&hl=en



Yep, thats a big overhang back there and you can walk right behind the falls.  Perfect for a trail someday.



Then it was time to make way up a crumbly but incredibly moss covered slot.  Wow, the moss was beautiful in this canyon, hopefully someone got a good shot of it!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1599231997555954175&hl=en

Now came time for the sketchy if there is a sketchy part.  You are forced into switching back on a curiously perfectly placed indent in the rocks.  I knocked loose a huge rock here, it is nervously unstable, but the exposure is only 15-20 feet, so it's not too terrifying.  Not for the faint of heart, but quite easy for the sure footed ones.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4115703916350760681&hl=en



Then Don went super human and got down this little slide above the brink of the falls.  Lindsay and I somehow managed to follow.  Here is the slide, it was dissapointingly short, only 6 feet or so.  But wow, quite photogenic. 





As I took those pictures Don and Lindsay teetered over the brink of the falls behind me measuring the height with a string.  70 feet!

Then we made our way to the upper falls.  Wow, what a monster, it is beautiful, and in form remarkably similar to it's downstream pal.  The front is again obstructed by trees and bush, but I managed to move around the sides. 







Don went insane again and stood behind the falls so I could get a shot and do some height estimates.  Here is my poor attempt, 100+ feet though!



Look at this guy hop along!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8751799144761418255&hl=en

  Then Don went far above the east side and grabbed an awesome from-above shot, he'll post it later.

We found the pick and the weird remnants again.



There are some cool views to be had from the ledge behind the falls

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8886935915462677639&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2834895567208008664&hl=en





Then we made way for the lower falls which chameleon had told me about.  We tried to follow the stream down, got into an amazing little slot, but eventually could go no further.  Trying to go up the ridge had us running into cliff after cliff.  We spent at least an hour running into unnegotiable obstacles up and down the ridge, it was tough going, and eventually we gave up and climbed all the way back up to the indian pits.

After some rejuvenating food, we decided we could not be let down so we started to browse the edge of the cliffs looking for openings.  We found one!  And off we went down a classic crumbling talus slope.  Many bruises later we came across an amazing scene.  GIANT boulders, wahclella sized +, with a small, chaming waterfall nearby.  What an enchanting place.  So dark and shady, the moss here was as intense as anything I have seen in the Olympics!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1277396086180817410&hl=en





Then we pounded back up the slope, I was just about ready to die, eventually just crawling up on all fours but I eventually made it up.  We reflected on the day and then punished our already punished knees down back to the cars!

The waterfalls were awesome, the moss was so intense throughout this canyon.  The brush wasn't too bad and the poison oak was only occasionally a problem.  What a great trip!

Really photogenic places, really untouched, and really cool people to go with!  Thanks Don, Jamie and Linds!!!

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Andy

Awesome photos and report, Andy! Excellent videos, too - especially the details on the "traverse" section. Not nearly as exposed as I had pictured! Very helpful.

I really like the split slide - very photogenic, and your pics are excellent. But it looks like more than 6 feet to me. Who is that standing on the top? If it's Jamie, than this is more than 6 feet, easy. I'll leave it to Bryan Swan to decide if this meets his criteria, but it surely does mine!

The lower falls is also very nice - excellent pics! I'll definitely need to visit that one, too.

So, these names really can't stand - they're an insult to some really beautiful waterfalls! I'd be happy to assemble a collage ala the Tanner Creek waterfalls, if you can figure out some unofficial names that are better than "middle lower" and "upper middle lower" (sounds like Silver Creek!). By my count, six of you have been to these falls, and bothered to document the trip: Don, Matt, Zach, Andy, Lindsay and Jamie. Four waterfalls to name, that's 0.66 waterfalls for each! (this is beginning to sound like the Michigan and Florida revotes) Anyway, it would be nice to have some creative energy put toward this.

One more question: beyond the sketchy rock that Don stepped over in his traverse behind the upper falls, does the shelf actually extend all the way across the canyon, e.g., could a trail pass behind this falls, too? You know where I'm going with that...

Great job, all of you! Cool!

Tom

Almost forgot - were you able to get GPS reads on the waterfalls? (and BTW, Andy - Don is an inspiration for the rest of us, isn't he? Somebody needs to bottle whatever makes him go!)

Tom

Okay, so the most pressing question I have is the location of the lower of the three here in relation to the trail and where would be a more logical location to drop down to the creek from the trail rather than just following the creek downstream from the middle falls?  As close as that one seems to be to the one we all know as Ruckel Creek Falls (as far as I'm concerned, that name is welcome to be tossed as well), it seems to me that accessing it from below would be a far easier option than descending from the top.

Tom - as far as the slide, my requirements are 15 feet for a perennial stream unless there has been a long standing precedent for naming of the waterfall (usually by the USGS), so that won't qualify to be included in the database.  Sure is pretty though.  I'd say its probably 5-6 feet tall, taking into account the depth and foreshortening of whoever is standing at the top.

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Bryan Swan
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com

oh my gosh! someone really needs to make a trail. that upper and lowest ones are awesome!!!  120 feet plus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow!

this is great. 

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jamey pyles

We're working on it, Jamey!

Bryan, here are a couple of wide views of the vision quest basin, and I suspect the jump-off point is one of the ravines within the basin. Maybe one of the intrepid explorers can point out some landmarks. This first view is taken from the south edge of the talus area, looking north -- the hiker is right next to one of the more prominent pits:




This is the view north from where the hiker in the previous photo was standing, with the prominent indian pit in the foreground, and the southern of two ravines dropping down from the vision quest area - the large douglas fir marks a spine of trees that roughly divide the talus area into north and south halves, with ravines dropping on each side of the trees:




These were taken in April 2007.

Tom

    OK all, here are some other shots in order of the day tp fill in some blanks, sorry its taken a while Andy and Don turned me onto photobucket to make it easier to do posts and I had to figure it out this morning. Here's some shots of the approach at creek level to the 3rd falls on Ruckel Creek.





This first falls was really giving me Fog Problems on the lens, so don't mind the blurs… I climbed up the banks on the far left side, too many trees to get a clear shot.



This is from the right side.



I grabbed a shot of the small slide just above the third falls from above.



Here's one of the group. Andy should have a shot of me standing on top of this slide, I'm 6ft. exactly, I'd guess this one was right at about 10ft.



Some shots of the ascent up the chute ( really not too bad just watch out for the occasionally loose rock that comes tumbling down at you)





Now it was onto the 4th Falls… I'm just going to add these, but I think to answer your question Tom, on these you can walk behind the falls from one end to the other, although you'd have to get in there and try and make it a little safer.

Brian I believe your mystery shot has been solved, Don and I scrambled up the steep left side to replicate the shot. Maybe Tom can do us a comparison. Also with one of these you can see Lindsay at the bottom and Andy behind.









Nails and Staples on the ground by the pick ax… we also found a grill cover down by the big cedar and some wire stapled to the tree as well… weird??


After descending from the 2 upper falls we descended down stream to find the 2nd falls, which we found out can't be done. You come to a beautiful little gorge, but beyond here it get super steep on both sides. Plus if you were able to make it through you'd end up on top of the 2nd falls.

So descending from the indian pits or working up stream from the TH are your 2 best bets, I'd go for the indian pits.

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When going back makes sense, you are going ahead.
- Wendell Berry

Sore Feet:

Okay, so the most pressing question I have is the location of the lower of the three here in relation to the trail and where would be a more logical location to drop down to the creek from the trail rather than just following the creek downstream from the middle falls?  As close as that one seems to be to the one we all know as Ruckel Creek Falls (as far as I'm concerned, that name is welcome to be tossed as well), it seems to me that accessing it from below would be a far easier option than descending from the top.

Brian, here is the GPS track from Sunday with previous tracks added to show the true location of both the Ruckel Creek Trail and the Ruckel Ridge Trail. (Ruckel Ridge track from an older GPS but the track is still pretty close.) I think the way we did it wasn't too bad. Our trip was 5.6 miles and 2,800 vertical - but we explored a bit and did more up and down than would be needed once you know the best way.

I walked a ways downstream before I started back out again and can say that the canyon looks pretty daunting downstream from the Indian Pits but Andy (or Jamie) said that Cameleon either did it or said that it could be done - (I don't remember which and I can't find the thread.)

Lindsay, Andy and Jamie were great companions on the hike and we had a wonderful time and all really got into the beauty and grandure of the canyon. Just about the best 7 hours I've ever spent in the gorge!

Here's the fearless Lindsay at the very brink of the 70 foot falls - I marked the line I used to measure and it turned out to be 68 feet and a few inches when I double checked after I got home.

Here's what the canyon wall looks like on the east side of the upper falls. I was able to reach the oak tree and see around the corner - not possible to go beyond without mountaineering gear! Loose rocks under slippery moss and a slope angle in excess of 45 degrees. This photo shows the least steep line out.  Other than that......

Here's Andy and Lindsay by the upper falls cedar - the falls is just to the left of the picture fron this angle:

Jamie and Andy atop a giant stump wedged in the canyon above the lower falls.

I went a little farther but found this impassible small falls and canyon. We all turned around and headed back to the Indian Pits via game trails.

Thanks again to Linsay, Andy and Jamie for helping to make this a great day in the gorge!

Don

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"If I had known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself" - anon

Splintercat:

....beyond the sketchy rock that Don stepped over in his traverse behind the upper falls, does the shelf actually extend all the way across the canyon, e.g., could a trail pass behind this falls, too? You know where I'm going with that... Great job, all of you! Cool! Tom

Hi Tom,

Yes, the ledge goes all the way and with a little work could be made into a good trail.  Right now, it's way too dangerous for the general public - it's not a "survivable" distance if one stumbled or slipped!(about 50 feet)

Thanks for the compliment, by the way - its coffee, Cheerios, maple bars and some chardonnay from time to time - works wonders! :-)

Don

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"If I had known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself" - anon

Wow - more great photos! Thanks, Don and Jamie! So, can on of you take a look at the indian pit photos I posted, and see if your descent point is visible in these shots?

Don, that last shot seems to show another falls of enough significance to be documented - any idea of the height? Looks to be 10-15 feet, based on the big log. Lovely canyon in there - very beautiful country!

Tom

(Thanks, Don - we doubled up there... I'll try the Chardonnay on my Cheerios in the morning, and see if that does the trick... already quite familiar with the maple bar therapy...)

    Tom not really seeing it in those shots but the best way ( which is the way we came out ) is as soon as you exit the wooded trail and enter the Indian Pit areadescend down along the tree line to your right to the top of the ridge and then walk along the ridge to your left and look for some fairly visible game trail type tracks. As you descend it starts to become apparent where to go, especially about half way down you can see and hear the falls upstream.

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When going back makes sense, you are going ahead.
- Wendell Berry

Splintercat:

Wow - more great photos! Thanks, Don and Jamie! So, can on of you take a look at the indian pit photos I posted, and see if your descent point is visible in these shots? Don, that last shot seems to show another falls of enough significance to be documented - any idea of the height? Looks to be 10-15 feet, based on the big log. Lovely canyon in there - very beautiful country! Tom

We went down on the far side of the group of trees in the right center of your first photo (left center in your second photo.) Once over the edge of the Indian Pit area, we angled to the left a bit and went down the slope. Aside from the occasional poison oak, not too bad a descent.

The falls in my last photo is about ten feet, maybe twelve. I'll go back eventually to check out the canyon between there and the lower falls so I'll get an answer. - but since doing it would guarantee getting soaked, I'll be waiting until the water warms up a bit!

don 

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"If I had known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself" - anon

Thanks, Don - very helpful. That last falls may not meet Bryan's database threshold, but it meets my definition of a waterfall morphology, so I'd like to include it on a composite map that I'm going to assemble. Though I still need to earn my stripes and head up there (plan to shortly), I'd like to facilitate an informal naming exercise, with naming rights distributed, as follows:

Ruckel Creek Falls - No Change
Second Falls - Zach
Third Falls (10-footer in the tight gorge) - Jamie
Fourth Falls (68-footer) - Matt
Fifth Falls (10-foot split slide) - Andy & Lindsay
Sixth Falls (120-footer) - Don

I agree with Bryan that the Ruckel Creek Falls name is pretty boring, and it's certainly not the most impressive on this stream. But even though it's not official, it has been in use for a long time, and is associated with the historic highway bridge. So thus my thinking in leaving that one be.

Anyway, if this sounds like an equitable division of naming rights, then post your names, and I'll put together a composite, illustrated map, along the lines of the Tanner map. My ulterior motive (at least in part) is that both creeks fall into the TAO trail concept!

Tom

    Hey Tom, I think your list is great, but the shot of me and Andy on top of the log jam was really no more than that… a log jam. I think your list is good but I would exclude the one you have listed as the third falls just because I don't think personally it warrants a name, plus it could be gone next year after a big rain storm.

So maybe the list looks like this:

Ruckel Creek Falls - No Change
Second Falls - Zach
Third Falls - (68-footer) - Matt
Fourth Falls (10-foot split slide) - Andy, Lindsay, Jamie
Fifth Falls - (120-footer) - Don

This seems fair to me since Don, Matt and Zach have brought attention to this area and these 3 falls.

What does everyone else think?

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When going back makes sense, you are going ahead.
- Wendell Berry

Splintercat:

I'll try the Chardonnay on my Cheerios in the morning, and see if that does the trick... already quite familiar with the maple bar therapy...)

Ack!!! Chardonnay and Cheerios... :-),

BTW, I fixed the map and added the location of the 10 footer. The rest of my pics are here:

http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/pictures?userid={D3C58769-9326-4837-93AD-4AE9F4F0B2FE}

dn

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"If I had known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself" - anon