Forum Index > Trip Reports > Waterfall photography - West Fork Foss River
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Scrooge
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Joined: 16 Dec 2001
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Scrooge
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PostMon Jun 24, 2002 6:08 pm 
"Waterfall photography" was the way this hike was billed three months ago when I introduced it in our "Partners" section. Sore Feet (Bryan Swan, - Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest -) signed on immediately. No surprises there. After a lot of backing and filling, Bryan and I headed for the Foss Lakes trailhead on Sunday morning. About 15 minutes into the hike we were joined by Tom Davenport a pleasant surprise. The result was about as good a group as we could hope for on this particular hike: everybody interested in taking time taking pictures; everybody able and willing to do some really serious brushbashing to photograph the full length of the Delta outfall. After my first two trips to Delta Lake, I had the impression that the two big steps of the Delta outfall probably constituted the most impressive waterfall in the Cascades, but on the "trail" going up you really only get one good look at each step. You just know there has to be more because the trail keeps climbing steeply up each bench, and you can hear that the Foss River is falling steeply, even if you can't see it. Sunday we saw it. We left what passes for a trail and pushed through brush and scrambled around cliffs, keeping as close to the water as we could. We managed to see almost all of it and were able to get into position to photograph at least three-quarters of it. It's really quite overwhelming. Bryan estimates the total fall at about 500' or 600', and I think that's about right. You can't tell it from the map, at all, because it's just one linked step after another, each step being 20' or 30' or 50', the kind of things maps just can't show. Our timing was perfect. I had hoped to get there at the height of snowmelt and that's just what we did. The volume of water was incredible. Four of the biggest Foss Lakes drain into Delta Lake, which in turn dumps all of the water into the West Fork Foss River and over those waterfalls. On this trip there's also the crossing of the Copper outfall, a 1000' waterfall fed by three of the Foss lakes, plus numerous waterfalls on tributary streams. This is certainly the premier waterfall hike in the Cascades - and almost nobody goes there. smile.gif

Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!

Bruce Albert
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Randy
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Joined: 18 Dec 2001
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Location: Near the Siamangs
Randy
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PostMon Jun 24, 2002 6:55 pm 
Good report Scrooge. Did you guys get a look up the hill from where the outlet of Otter dumps into Delta? Curious about snow conditions up towards Otter.

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Scrooge
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Location: wishful thinking
Scrooge
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PostMon Jun 24, 2002 7:09 pm 
Snow level - Foss Lakes area
Tom and Bryan went on up to the Otter outlet stream, which was too full to cross (see Tom's flooded fireplace pic). I stopped at the Delta outlet. From what I could see of the surrounding hills (quite a lot), the snow level was about 3800' or 3900', a little below the level of Otter. Reports last week had Copper and the upper Foss Lakes still frozen over. Allison camped at Copper. See her report or e-mail her for more detail. Based on what we saw, my guess would be that, next week, you would not run into solid snow until you were actually above the main section of the Otter outfall ...... and the snow is melting fast. biggrin.gif

Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Randy
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Randy
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PostMon Jun 24, 2002 7:35 pm 
I think that's good news, thanks. I am hoping that I can get my boat from one end of Otter to the other in the near future!

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Sore Feet
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Sore Feet
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PostMon Jun 24, 2002 8:04 pm 
I'll fill in the rest of the blanks here. First of all, the Copper outlet crossing is nothing short of trecherous this time of year, immense amount of water coming down it (I'm half tempted to go back next weekend to photograph the falls coming down from Copper and Malachite Lakes), as well as everything else in the area. Scrooge's log is the ONLY feasible option until the creek mellows a bit. Between the Copper outlet and the Lower Falls on the Foss, there seemed to be a good amount of new blowdown. There were several places where the trail was easily lost since I was there last year. The main crossing of the small stream below the small stairstep waterfall just above the main part of Lower Foss River Falls is VERY slippery, and this time of year, you will get wet crossing it, guaranteed. Next up, if one wishes to continue around the lake, bring either hiking poles, an extra pair of socks or water shoes, because unless you've got a raft (*shoots menacing glance towards BPJ*) you're gonna have to ford the eastern half of the outlet on the half submerged logjam. Tom and I got across easily in knee deep water with the help of some underwater logs, but if the water were to get higher, it may be tricky. As for snow, there were spotty patches just above the top of Upper Foss River Falls, and then around the east side of Delta, starting just past the boulder field. It looked like there was serious snow still up at Big Heart (or at least around the outlet), and Angeline. Otter is probably not as bad, but I imagine there will be snow up there (there were some large drifts along side Delta's west shore, as seen in Tom's picture). I was hoping to check out the waterfall on Otter's outlet, and continue around Delta to the base of Big Heart Falls, but after putzing around for 7 hours along the Foss, I didn't really have the energy or patience to keep bushwhacking, and with the Otter outlet running as high as it was, I'm sure the Angeline would have been worse, and Big Heart even more so. Next time I guess. This is denfinitely the time of the year to do this one for the waterfalls though. Big Heart was spectacular (though I think the falls on the Foss were the best on this trip, mainly because you can get so close to them).

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Tom
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Tom
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PostMon Jun 24, 2002 9:07 pm 
Man, I love it when I don't have to write up a trip report. Better than getting out of doing homework biggrin.gif. For those of you that can handle 40+ brand spankin' new pictures fresh out of the digital oven, click here. BTW, I took the liberty of hyperlinking a few of the comments above to some of the pictures (feel free to replace my links with your own).

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Sore Feet
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Sore Feet
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PostTue Jun 25, 2002 12:49 am 
Hehe. All bow down to the digital camera... tongue.gif It'll be a while before I get all my pictures back, so no need to swap links around. I'll notify once the pics are available on my site. cool.gif

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janders
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janders
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PostTue Jun 25, 2002 9:17 am 
Great pics, thanks! smile.gif

"Oh dang!" - Captain Amazing
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Randy
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Randy
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PostTue Jun 25, 2002 10:57 am 
I'd like to see the Baring pics too since yours are always better than mine biggrin.gif

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Scrooge
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Scrooge
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PostThu Jul 11, 2002 8:09 am 
Delta point and shoot - Part I - the lower falls
While Tom and Bryan were at work photographing the Delta outfall, I occupied myself taking snapshots. We had started up the West Fork Foss River with the idea that we would do whatever it took to explore and photograph the whole thing, all the steps in the two groups of falls below Delta Lake. We didn't quite succeed. The bottom step in each of the two groups was either invisable or unphotographable from the west bank of the Foss, and crossing to the east bank appeared impossible in the high water. We did manage to climb close enough to the falls to see most of them, but I find that the number and variety of falls in the series leaves me still somewhat confused about how many steps there are and how they all fit together. So I guess I'll just have to do it again next year. agree.gif The last two pics are unique, a top step in the lower falls that may never before have been seen or photographed by man. suuure.gif Well, at least it wasn't seen by my two companions, who returned to what passes for a trail up this section of the bench, while I continued to clamber through the spray-soaked brush beside the river. It was worth it. - To give some sense of scale, the log balanced across the center of the falls is more than a foot in diameter.
Detail of lower step of lower falls
Detail of lower step of lower falls
Spray blurs the complex lower step.
Spray blurs the complex lower step.
One of the two views from the trail.
One of the two views from the trail.
Overwhelmed by falling water.
Overwhelmed by falling water.
Discovery - a first person photograph?
Discovery - a first person photograph?

Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Sore Feet
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Sore Feet
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PostThu Jul 11, 2002 11:40 pm 
Great pics old man. biggrin.gif I guess I'll have to join you next year to get that bit you found by yerself (at which point I will speed run across the log because I'm only 21 and I still get to be brash and irresponsible for another 4 years tongue.gif). (I still haven't gotten mine in yet, I'll finish one of the rolls off tomorrow up near Baker Lake, but I won't be able to get anything online until the end of the month 'cause I'll be in Boston for a week).

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Scrooge
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Scrooge
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PostSun Jul 14, 2002 1:05 pm 
Delta point and shoot - Part II
Starting with Bryan and Tom at the Copper outfall and ending with the Stairstep Cascade on the way out, this covers everything not shown in Part I. After taking a bunch of pics of the lower steps of the upper falls, I discovered I was running out of film and decided to skip the top step. It's the most photographed section of the whole falls, being the second place that the trail really approaches them closely - and being very photogenic. I took a bunch last year, one of which I posted with the "Partners" invitation. The best one around is probably the one Bryan has on his website. The difficulty of capturing the true scale of the Delta outfall is illustrated by two sets of pics: the front and side views of the middle step shown below; and the ones of the top step, lower falls shown in Part I. Only the side views give a sense of the actual height of each step in the outfall. If you look through the trees in the "middle step - side view" pic, you'll see a glimpse of the falls in a parallel channel. It's another one of those sections that proved to be unphotographable from the west bank. One more reason to go back next year - equipped for crossing. agree.gif
Bryan and Tom at the Copper outfall
Bryan and Tom at the Copper outfall
Tom at work, lower step of the upper falls
Tom at work, lower step of the upper falls
Obligatory Delta Lake classic
Obligatory Delta Lake classic
The "steps" in the Stairstep Cascade
The "steps" in the Stairstep Cascade

Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Brian Curtis
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Joined: 16 Dec 2001
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
PostSun Jul 14, 2002 5:20 pm 
I just went by Delta, yesterday, on a trip up to Otter and Azurite Lakes. I'm confused by your picture of the log across the Copper Lake outlet. It looks like the same log we crossed, but it doesn't look like it is in the same place. I didn't see any other likely logs all the way from the Copper Lake trail down to be confluence with the Foss. The one we crossed was just below a nice waterfall and was well above the river at its upper end where a cliff dropped 20 feet straight into the creek. Did I miss a more pleasant log then the not very pleasant one we crossed, or is your photo just shot from an angle that cuts off the upper end?

that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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Tom
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Tom
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PostSun Jul 14, 2002 6:03 pm 
Which picture are you referring to? BTW, what were snow conditions like up by Otter and Azurite?

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Scrooge
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Scrooge
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PostSun Jul 14, 2002 8:00 pm 
Copper outfall log
Brian. It's probably the same log, about 100' upstream from where the Foss Lakes Trail reaches the Copper outfall and then starts switchbacking uphill. I believe Bryan's (Tom's) picture does cut off about a third of the south bank (uphill) side of the log. Certainly, when we were there nothing else was feasible all the way down to the Foss, 200' or 300' verticle.

Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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