My previous visit to Eagle Creek didn’t make a strong impression. The temperature was 102 degrees. When I exited the air conditioned car my stomach lurched, and I thought I was going to be sick. We got back in the car and left in search of easier destinations.
Today I actually got around to hiking Eagle Creek. Since it was a longer hike I needed to be mindful of the time. That meant that I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked. I think that overall this would not have been as photo rich (for me) as some of the other creeks I have visited during this trip. But a lot of the time I had to just keep hiking instead of stopping to take pictures. Of course that was easier during the times when I had the sun shining on the creek.
I had expected that Tunnel Falls would be sort of a novelty. I have to say that when I was able to experience it in person I really liked it a lot. It was actually pretty darn cool. There are many spots along Eagle Creek where the builders blasted the trail out of the cliffs. This spot was one of those locations, except that there happened to be a waterfall flowing down the cliff. What do to? How about blasting a tunnel behind the fall? So you’re walking on an exposed cliff. You enter a short tunnel maybe fifteen feet long. When you emerge there is mist from the waterfall flowing at the portal. Right after that you’re walking through rain, which is water falling from the cliff. Oh and you’re still on a narrow ledge. Hike a short distance farther and you’re looking at the waterfall you just bypassed. Well I don’t know. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much to you. But I really enjoyed the experience.
Twister Falls was spectacular, but I was looking directly into the sun, so I didn’t even shoot any frames.
On my way back, I kept feeling like I was forgetting something. I checked to see that I had my tripod, camera, and other assorted paraphernalia. I did have everything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was forgetting something. I finally figured that it was my subconscious mind telling me that I was forgetting to take pictures. As I previously mentioned I knew that I was going to have to choose between actually completing the entire planned hike or taking a long time shooting as much as I normally do. I rationalized that the majority of the creek scenes were not drastically different than other creeks I’ve visited. In addition, much of the trail runs high above the creek. I did pass up a few opportunities to get down to creek level. One in particular was a spot with green mossy rocks sprinkled with fallen leaves in the middle of cascades. I couldn’t tell if I was actually going to get a good vantage if I headed down there. I was saving my time for something else.
The light was less than desirable at Punchbowl Falls on the way in. My plan was to return on my way back. My thought was at that time I should have better light. Perhaps more enticing was that I thought I might actually enjoy numbing my feet in the chilly water in the afternoon. I’m not sure why since I had about thirteen miles of trail rocks providing a relaxing Shiatsu massage to my feet. I was disappointed to find that the light was not much better when I returned. I’ve seen some stunningly beautiful photographs of Punchbowl Falls, but it appears that I won’t be adding to that particular bounty.
Eagle Creek has a very bad reputation for car prowls. I considered changing my hike to Saturday since I thought that more activity might mean less privacy for crooks. Instead I opted for a week day for a less crowded hike. I think that turned out to be a wise decision since even on a Friday I saw around sixty people on the trail.
To wrap up, photographically my day was mostly spent just taking quick snapshots along the trail. I didn’t end up with much worth sharing. In fact, I had a hard time finding anything at all I felt like uploading. The picture I finally chose was just a quick hand-held snapshot before I entered the tunnel behind the waterfall. What I like about it is that it gives you a feel for the trail cut into the cliffs. There is about a sixty foot drop in this location. Oh, and you can see a little bit of columnar basalt. Just before reaching this location, I passed through another blasted ledge. The rock looked a bit strange. It took a minute to hit me that I was walking on columnar basalt. The interesting thing is that the tops of the columns were mostly slightly convex or concave.
