Kitsap Waterfall Survey: Upper Dickerson Creek.

Thus far, I have written about four of Dickerson Creek's waterfalls: "Elegance," "Divergence," "Dickerson Creek", and "Beaver Dam Lake Falls." Finally, I'm crossing off the final two waterfalls. Both are located on upper Dickerson Creek before it enters Beaver Dam Lake.

Dickerson Creek spawns in a marshy lake in southwestern Ueland Tree Farm. There are several lakes like this on the farm, resting in valleys gouged out by the glaciers that covered the Kitsap Peninsula 17,000 years ago. After it exits the lake, the first half-mile of Dickerson Creek is calm, flowing through the dense second-growth forest. This quiescence is cut short as the creek encounters the first rock layer on its tumultuous journey to Chico Creek.

"Cedar Gorge Falls" The first waterfall on Dickerson Creek. Photo by Micah K.

What the first waterfall on Dickerson Creek lacks in height, it makes up for in character. Here the creek intersects a basalt ledge and dives ten feet into a shaded, dark pool carved into the head of a steep-sided gorge. Several young cedar trees overhang this pool, adding to the shaded environment. For the presence of these trees and the overall location of this fall, I have named it "Cedar Gorge Falls."

"Upper Dickerson Falls" upper tier. Photo by Micah K. 

Flowing for another 60-70 feet and around a slight corner, the creek exits the gorge and drops over another, more striking fall. This is "Upper Dickerson Falls" This waterfall is composed of two tiers totaling about 30 feet in height. The first tier begins as a shallow cascade hissing over orange-red colored basalt which rapidly steepens into a final slide into a shallow basin. In low to medium water levels, only a small portion of the basalt face has water flowing over it, but I imagine in the height of winter or after a heavy rain, the entire shelf is one roaring mass of violent whitewater.

Between the two tiers is a section of level creekbed with a bottom of rounded stones. These stones range in composition from the basalt of the falls to pink-tan granites transported onto the Kitsap Peninsula from the northern cascades by the ice-age glaciers.

The second tier would be as gorgeous as the first, if it weren't for the two massive logs that have fallen across it, effectively blocking half from view. Despite this eyesore, the color of the bedrock is a mesmerizing dark blue-purple. At the base of the falls is another large piece of bedrock checkerboarded red and blue with white mineral veins crisscrossing the surface. Not only is this one of the most visually pleasing falls in the county, but it's also one of the best geologic outcrops Kitsap has to offer too.

"Upper Dickerson Creek Falls" bottom tier, Photo by Micah K.

Kitsap Waterfall Survey: "Dickerson Falls"

This will probably be my last Kitsap Waterfall post for some time due to being at Central Washington University for the next several months, but I wanted to get it out before the summer.

I have made the decision to combine two waterfalls, "Cleft Falls" and "Cable Falls" on Dickerson Creek. I was able to visit these two falls on my last major waterfall survey after I found "Melange Falls" and "Cedar Gorge Falls" (which will have a write up about them in the summer or fall.)

My reasoning for combining these two falls is that they are extremely close together, mere feet. So in hindsight, I think they are really two drops of one large fall. My reason for not deciding to do this when I first discovered them is, quite simply, I was inexperienced and hadn't made up my "requirements" for the survey. So now, I'm going back and correcting that.

So, since both of these falls are being combined, the names "Cleft" and "Cable" are going to be dropped and I'm going to rename this waterfall "Dickerson Falls" after it's source creek, and since that's what the Ueland Tree Farm calls it. It is also sometimes referred to as "Chico Falls" by locals.

The upper horsetailing tier of "Siletzia Falls" at moderate flow. Photo by Micah K. 

"Dickerson Falls" begins immediately after Dickerson Creek pours over a small abandoned concrete dam which backs up the creek to form Beaver Dam Lake. The first tier cascades five to ten feet before horsetailing over a large basalt shelf around 20 feet into a large plunge pool, which is frequently used as a swimming hole during the summer. After exiting the plunge pool, the second tier begins. The second tier cascades 20 to 25 feet over a big buttress of blocky basalt, it's rather ugly: crisscrossed with huge downed trees and several old logging cables. Below the falls the creek heads into a narrow gorge with some smaller cascades and rapids, before continuing down the canyon.

Kitsap Waterfall Survey: "Beaver Dam Lake Falls"

It's been almost a year since I've surveyed any portion of Dickerson Creek in the Ueland Tree Farm. The lower portion of this creek has three major waterfalls after it exits Beaver Dam Lake; these have been described here and here.

However, Dickerson Creek doesn't start at Beaver Dam Lake, it's source is much further south in another small unnamed lake higher in the hills near the southwestern boundary of the tree farm. Using Google Earth software I determined that the creek most likely has two falls or cascades between its headwaters and Beaver Dam Lake. On Christmas day I confirmed one of these.

The lower tier of "Beaver Dam Lake Falls." Photo by Micah K. 

Shortly before entering Beaver Dam Lake, Dickerson Creek crosses an old logging road. Just north of this road, the creek drops 22 feet in 3 steps over a basalt formation, creating a beautiful tiered cascading waterfall. 

Kitsap Waterfall Survey: Making breakthroughs and finding traction.

This week two large things happened involving the Kitsap Waterfall Survey that I felt the need to write about. The first being that three of the waterfalls on Dickerson Creek have made it onto the Northwest Waterfall Survey  and the World Waterfall Database. While obviously not standing in the spotlight out of the thousands of falls logged in those sites, just seeing Kitsap County on the map gives me a profound sense of accomplishment. And part of the whole reason that this survey was started was to help "fill in the blank" that was Kitsap County, so I guess you can say that was a success. The man in charge of the Pacific Northwest Waterfall Survey has also told me "Tin Mine Falls" is on the cue to be added to the two databases as well. How exciting!!!

Largest Tier of "Tin Mine Falls," on Tin Mine Creek.
Photo by Micah K. 

The second item of the week is a discovery of mine that can help move this survey along incredibly. It is a fish habitat report for the entirety of the Kitsap Peninsula, included in this report are detailed maps of different sections of Kitsap County, these maps show streams, rivermiles, logjams, beaver dams, manmade dams, and most importantly; Cascades and Waterfalls!. I was not expecting the sheer goldmine this report was. Not only has it marked these water features, but it has also color coded the cascades and waterfalls that are impassable to fish, allowing me to pinpoint where I want to investigate. Now as exciting as this find is, I am almost certain more than half of these "impassable cascades" could be ephemeral, small streams or possibly even dry watercourses that would be nowhere close to meeting the criteria of my survey. Still this is an amazing jump pad to future investigations, and should be a huge help in my continuing search for waterfalls in Kitsap.

Kitsap Waterfall Survey: Lower Dickerson Creek

NOTICE: All boot paths and social trails down to the bottom of the canyon to access "Elegance" and "Divergent" Falls are officially CLOSED with barriers in place.

This closure was a result of multiple rescues being needed in 2018 from falls and injuries in the steep terrain. I talked with the owners of the Tree Farm last night and they said that they plan to open an official trail to these lower falls sometime over the winter. Access to Dickerson Creek Falls over the bridge is still open. PLEASE heed these signs and warnings and do not attempt to go down to the bottom of the canyon until an official trail is built.

The northeast side of the Blue Hills is drained by several creeks that join together to form Chico Creek, which flows into southwestern Dyes Inlet. One of these creeks is named Dickerson Creek. Dickerson Creek is mostly located on the Ueland Tree Farm, a publicly open area that is harvested for resources such as timber and rocks.

About a mile upstream of its confluence with Chico Creek, Dickerson Creek drops over a pair of waterfalls.

At the first falls, Dickerson Creek encounters a shelf of basaltic bedrock and dives 12 feet into a beautiful plunge pool tucked into a rock alcove. A massive nurse log spans the plunge pool, covered in ferns and huckleberries. At high flows, this waterfall can put out an impressive amount of mist and spray for its size. Due to its great beauty, I call this "Elegance Falls."

"Elegance falls" from the base. 2016. Photo by Micah K. 

Following "Elegance Falls," Dickerson Creek flows around a bend and skips down a series of shallow cascades. While pretty, these cascades do not meet the height requirement to make it to my main list of falls.

About 60-80 feet downstream of "Elegance Falls" Dickerson Creek drops over another rock ledge. This fall, significantly larger than "Elegance;" is split completely in two by a large protruding wedge of rock. One half of the creek drops almost the entire 20 feet in a steep sliding cascade. The other side drops two-thirds of that distance in a series of steep cascades, before leaping over the final eight feet in a small horsetail. Because of its bisected appearance, I have suggested the name "Divergent Falls" for this waterfall.

"Divergent Falls" from a precarious viewpoint on the canyon wall. 2016. Photo by Jonas B. 

After "Divergent Falls" the creek quiets down significantly. It meanders through the rest of the canyon calmly, only punctuated by a couple small three-foot cascades. From there, it flows into the lowlands where it eventually meets up with Chico Creek.