Waterfall Finder's Guide
Western Washington Series
#1, The Northern Counties and Olympic Peninsula

ISBN 13: 978-0-615-14790-1
U.S. $16.95    Purchase...

The Fascination of Waterfalls

The fascination of falling water may be found in our appreciation for its natural artistry. It could also spring more simply from an awesome display of raw power. Its real grip on our emotions, though, may lie in a more deeply recessed primal thread, that of the aqueous origin of life on this Earth.

When the warm winds and heavy rains of a "Pineapple Express" bite into the Cascade Mountain snow pack in Western Washington, it's a safe bet that waterfalls are everywhere. Many of these, however, suffer fleeting existences. It is the ones that run for at least three seasons of the year that this book attempts to address.

Omissions from the list are for a variety of other reasons. I decided early on to include only waterfalls that could be visited in a single day. Another parameter is that trail-less routes (bushwhacks) have generally been kept to a quarter of a mile or less. Some waterfalls were left out because their only feasible viewing places were out on ever-steepening brush or moss covered walls where a slip would be deadly.

Some falls were not included only because they did not pop up in the hunt. The locating of waterfalls for inclusion has been enjoyable, but the process could not be all-inclusive; there is no Falling Waters Gazetteer to light the way. Topographic maps were searched at great length. A dozen or more hiking guidebooks, not your usual source of deep reading pleasure, were perused cover-to-cover for their hidden waterfall content. Of course, use was made of the sparse amount of waterfall literature available in libraries and bookstores.

It cannot be over-emphasized that any waterfall presents at least two dangers, those of falling and of drowning. That closer look from the top, or else a plunge into a raging river above or below a waterfall, could be deadly.

Please exercise caution and good judgment. The better views are most often had from the base of the falls anyway, so why climb around the slippery rocks at the top?

Before You Go . . .

As if we needed a reminder, the violent weather of November 2006, sent a strong message. It is possible that some of the roads and trails described here will not be accessible next month, next year, or even now. Please use the Resources section, page 212, and check routes before you go.