Forum Index > Trip Reports > Moon Wall, Rachor Falls attempt - Alpine Lakes, 2/27/02
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Sore Feet
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Joined: 16 Dec 2001
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Sore Feet
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PostSun Apr 28, 2002 11:24 pm 
Perhaps this could be called a warm up for a Foss River outing. Scrooge and I got together to attempt to reach Rachor Falls, about 2 miles due east of Spur 10. Notice I say attempt. The idea was to hike a ~3 1/2 mile loop, up the road that heads towards Rachor Lake (33000 I think), straight down Rachor Creek to the Hydroplant, then out on the Hydro access road. We got to the "trailhead" around 11:30, and started slogging uphill, climbing almost 1200 feet up the road in 1 1/2 miles. Of course I stopped to take pictures of the waterfalls along the way, the SMC outlet, the small stream just north of it, and a pair of pretty cascading streams. Upon reaching the Rachor Vista, we were enshrouded in clouds (unfortunately), so we wasted no time starting the loooong climb down the creek. Most of the initial drop straight down to the creek isn't all that hard. The ground is pretty crumbly, and everything was relatively wet from the previous day's rain (though I stayed drier than I anticipated). After about 200 vertical feet we entered the woods, and another 50-75 vertical feet we reached the creek, maybe 500+ feet downstream of the old Moon Wall jeep road bridge. After emptying our shoes, we started down along the creek, only to be stopped shortly be the first obstacle. The creek dove over the first waterfall, a 25-30 foot slide. The slopes on our side of the creek were covered with nasty thick brush and a small creeklet, and the far side yeilded a small cliff. We opted for the brush, which turned out to be easier than I thought. After about 1/2 hour of dealing with the brush, mud, and everything else nasty, we reached a slide that lead up to the base of the waterfall. I took a quick picture, then we continued downstream, right at the stream this time. Though before the first falls were out of view, we were stopped by another one spilling about 10 feet over a creekwide log. No way around, another falls just downstream and out of site, at least 20 feet tall. We spend a good 5 minutes diliberating where to cross, neither of us looking forward to getting wet. The best option was a greasy, slimy logjam near the base of the first waterfall, which proved pretty easy to cross, with the aid of a big tire sitting just off the creek (how it got there, we'll never know). At this point, out only option was to climb straight up to get around the canyon. Also at this point, we reached an area where literally EVERYTHING was decayed. There was absolutely nothing to hold onto or to get good footing on. Just like climbing St. Helens, two steps up, one step back. By the time we reached a point to stop and check the map, it was already 3:00, and Spur 10 was closing at 5, so, unfortunately we had to bag it for the day. All in all, we probably only got about 1/4 mile down the creek, with at least 1/2 mile to go before we could get over to the Hydro road. A full day would definitely be needed for this trek. As we started to climb back up to the abandoned jeep trail, I grabbed something sharp and sliced my hand right at the crease between my pinky finger and my palm, which still hurts. Low point of the day passed, we slowly slogged back to Rachor Creek at a safer crossing, and then climbed back up to the Weyerhaeuser road and back down to the car, making it out the gate with about 20 minutes to spare. This hike would probably be best done as a shuttle, one car at the Rachor Vista, another at the Hydro access road gate. Anyone else who has a Weyerhaeuser permit for the year who wants to attempt this? (( Edited because I put the wrong date in the title. Should be 4/27/02 ))

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Scrooge
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Joined: 16 Dec 2001
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Scrooge
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PostMon Apr 29, 2002 4:47 pm 
I expected Rachor Creek to be difficult, but it was tougher than I expected. Two days later, my arms still hurt. .... Huh? .... Yeah. My arms. I've used more than my share of blueberry belays over the years, but never before have I wound up with sore arms. The only thing I can figure is that trying to hold onto all the rotten junk Bryan referred to was more like doing isometrics than any ordinary exercise. I really had to have something to hold onto to stabalize myself on the steep, gravel-covered slope, but everything in sight was either loose or ready to disintegrate. You needed a handhold to hold yourself in place but you also had to try to hold your handhold in place. eek.gif It doesn't work very well. Falling off a log probably didn't help. I started to follow Bryan down a slippery log after crossing the Creek, slid off, and wound up hanging upside down underneath, like a sloth, my head lower than my butt. Great circus. clown.gif What really stopped us, though, was the cliff bands. The one on the south side of the creek doesn't show at all on the topo map, but it was consistently more than 20' high and angled up away from the stream. We wound up at least 100' above the stream and well south of it and still hadn't managed to "turn the corner". At this point we were almost as high as the point where we hit the creek and halfway through our available time, so we decided to bag it. The jeep track was maybe 50' above us and, although there's really no trail at all anymore, it makes for much easier travel than anything else in the area. Next time, I think I'll just try it from the bottom up. My idea of a gravity-assisted bushwhack was not a winner. shakehead.gif

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