Waterfall Wednesday: Bechler of the Yellowstone, Part One.

Every hobby has a beginning, and my joy of waterfalling is no exception. I have been chasing after falls across western washington for about a year and a quarter now, and it's fun to look back on where it all began.

In June of 2014 as I was beginning my second season working in Yellowstone National Park, a good friend of mine who was also working in the park came up with an idea. An avid waterfall hunter, he begged me and two other friends to accompany him to a remote section of the park called the Bechler region. He wanted to go see and photograph three massive world class waterfalls there. After looking at work schedules and long term weather forecasts, we decided that we would go on August 5.

The day of departure dawned with the sound of pouring rain, our group realized it was probably a foreboding sign of what was to come. We hopped in the car anyway and drove three hours to the trailhead, with one or two "minor" delays. The trailhead itself is located deep in the countryside, Twelve miles down a winding worn out dirt road that squeezes between the boundaries of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and nearly hidden at the bottom of a old dam.

First starting down the trail it was dry, and actually seemed somewhat pleasant, we eagerly moved forward, hoping to make it to our first waterfall goal of the trip with little hassle. Two miles later, just as we were taking our boots off for the river ford the trail crosses, the sky opened. A deluge of rain drenched us within minutes, and continued for the next hour or so as we began the climb up to a plateau. Finally, just as we were at the point to step off the trail, it let up. Wading through knee high brush in a gorgeous open forest of lodgepole pine, we made our way down towards the canyon which housed our prize. Eventually, a dull rumbling thunder reached our ears, and shortly after, we burst out of the trees onto the rim of a spectacular rhyolite canyon. At our feet, Slamming downward in six consecutive steps totalling 140 feet, was one of the largest, most powerful waterfalls in the Western United States. Terraced Falls.

140 ft Terraced Falls. Note the author and companion on the canyon rim to the left.
Photo by Ryan Maurer, Under A Rock Photography.