Kitsap Waterfall Survey: "Lower Lost Creek Cascades"

Well over a year since I've last surveyed a waterfall on the Kitsap Peninsula, this was a nice return to form. Several months ago, a friend of mine mentioned to me the existence of a small cascading type waterfall on Lost Creek within publicly accessible land. With me being busy at CWU, it was put on the back burner at the time. Not anymore, This past weekend (2/4/2018) I joined my friend, his son, and their dog and set out to document and photograph this cascade with my own eyes.

Our waterfalling dog companion, Delilah.

A half-mile after it's opening fanfare, Lost Creek encounters another outcrop of Siletzia bedrock which underlies much of the Kitsap Peninsula. The canyon walls and creek bed become lined with a gorgeous blue-green-gray basaltic rock. After tripping over a small rapid in the shadow of a massive fir stump, the creek flows around a bend and slides over a ten-foot drop into a beautifully secluded alcove with a surprisingly deep plunge pool.

The initial 10-foot drop of "Lower Lost Creek Cascades" 

Immediately after this drop, the creek narrows from 10 feet wide to less than 3 feet and careens through a narrow slot cut into the rock, dropping an additional 4 feet in the process. The force of the water tearing through this slot has drilled large circular potholes into the bedrock, making interesting shapes and formations.

Lost Creek tearing through the small defile, with several large potholes in the foreground

Immediately after the main slot, the creek funnels through another bottleneck in the rock in a slide 3 feet high slamming into a jutting rock, taking a 90-degree turn to the left and bouncing over a couple small drops, before leaping over a messy 5-foot rock face. This final drop ends in a rocky alcove similar to the large one upstream. Shortly downstream, "Lower Lost Creek Cascades" terminates in a final small 3-foot slide, bringing the total height to ~25 feet.

The bedrock lining the creekbed. 

The geology of the canyon here is both fascinating and stunning. The underlying grey-blue gabbro rock sets the tone, peppered with red-brown pieces of basalt, and cut with white veins of quartz and calcite. In quieter pools and gravel bars, occasional light colored granite clasts can be found from the overlying glacial debris mantling the entire peninsula. At least at one spot within the cascade, I found evidence for faulting and the intrusion of volcanic andesite dikes 50 million years ago. I plan to write posts on both those geologic stories in the near future.

Kitsap Waterfall Survey: The Hidden Splendor of Lost Creek Falls

When I first began searching for waterfalls on the Kitsap Peninsula, one of the first things to catch my attention was the large canyon of Lost Creek. The creek digs a deep gouge over two miles in length west to east through thick glacial deposits, hugging the northern reaches of the Blue Hills. Upon further investigation and observation of the topographic maps, I began to realize that the head of the canyon likely housed one of Kitsap’s largest waterfalls, a hidden giant (in Kitsap terms) 50 feet high or greater. Reading the county parcel map, I also quickly realized that the location was inaccessible as the entirety of the hypothesized falls lied within private property - foiled again!

As my waterfall survey continued, and I checked more and more streams off the list, Lost Creek remained at the back of my mind. Finally, I caved. I sat down and wrote a detailed letter to the property owners along Lost Creek explaining my intentions and asking permission to access the creek. Rather rapidly I received confirmation from all of them; unfortunately, I moved to Central Washington University around the same time, and everything was put on hold. 

Fast forward to this Friday. I sent out an email to one of the property owners asking if it was still ok if I could investigate the falls on their property. I was surprised when I got a very kind reply back that I was more than welcome, in fact, I could come that same day. Throwing my waterfalling gear on and hurling myself into my truck, I made my way over to the Stephen family's property, perched on the precipitous canyon hiding Lost Creek. 

I was very fortunate and lucky that the Stephens family opened up their home and property for me to explore and run around on. That being said, the photos and report of these falls described here are for your reading only. The Stephens have asked that they would like these falls to remain off-limits to the general public, so please respect their wishes and enjoy the photos and detailed description I give here. Do not attempt to reach these falls.

I arrived at the Stephens' property not sure what to expect. I was greeted by Katie and Joe, who grew up on the property, and they happily led me down several trails to the bottom of the canyon, showing the best access points. They returned to the house to let me scamper along the creek. Here's what I observed.

The first 10 foot drop of the upper cascades. Photo By Micah K. 

Lost Creek babbles onto the Stephens'  property in a quiet, unassuming fashion with musical chattering echoing through the leaves. Shortly after passing the property line, its character rapidly changes. The creek skitters over a tiny shelf of brown bedrock and picks up speed, flowing past a gravel bar and then crashing 10 feet over a brown mass of bedrock into a small plunge pool. Across this plunge pool from the face of the falls is a large outcrop of grey blocky bedrock. The creek skips around this and begins a series of small drops into a deep gorge. I didn’t have the time to explore this gorge in detail, but there is at least one 10 foot drop at its head and a 5 foot drop at the bottom, making this initial cascade at least 25 feet high.

The final drop on the upper cascades. Photo by Micah K.

After this gorge, the creek takes a brief rest, flowing alongside a massive gravel bar of shattered bedrock and occasional glacial erratics transported from the north tens of thousands of years ago. After squeezing through a logjam, the creek begins its chaotic downward tumble again. As soon as the creek escapes the tangled mass of logs, it spreads out across a broad, grooved shelf of grey-blue bedrock that spans the entire floor of the canyon. The creek hisses across this shelf and loses 10 feet of elevation in around 60 feet of run. This shelf ends abruptly in a small 4-5 foot plunge into a beautiful and hauntingly deep pool. Upon exiting this pool, the creek works its way through another loose logjam and immediately hurtles 15 feet over a spectacularly photogenic block into a gorgeous blue-green pool. Without pause, the creek crashes over another  15 foot cascading slide, pooling at the base of a cliff of grey rock. After a short turn around the cliff, the creek trips over a 4 foot rib of rock and flows quietly for 30-40 feet.  

the most significant tier of "Lost Creek Falls" 

After navigating past another small logjam, the creek hurtles 10 feet over a rugged ledge, turns, and dives over what appears to be another 10 to 15 foot drop jammed between two ribs of rock. I was only able to view this final drop from the top, and from my vantage point perched on the precipitous walls of the canyon, the creek calmed down following this and flowed around the corner out of sight. However, I know that the whitewater doesn't stop there, as neighbors downstream have reported several waterfalls on their property. It is inevitable that I will have to strap on my waders once more and return to Lost Creek to finish the survey I started, and I hope that day comes soon. Until then, I am currently analyzing and identifying the rock types that make up the bedrock at these falls and hope to do the same at other falls around Kitsap. 

The second main tier of "Lost Creek Falls." Note the first main tier peeking out in the background. Photo by Micah K. 

Thank you to the Stephens family for opening up their home and canyon to me for exploring! This blog post wouldn't have been possible without their hospitality. 

Kitsap Waterfall Survey: "Kerplunk Falls"

This fall was surveyed a while ago. But I had never written a post about it, so I have decided to fix that.

Lost Creek is one of the largest creeks flowing out of the Blue Hills. It comes down off the eastern slopes of Green Mountain and flows east until it joins with Wildcat Creek to form Chico Creek, which is has one of the best salmon runs on the Kitsap Peninsula. I had long suspected Lost Creek to have a fall somewhere along it's upper reaches, assuming it was a permanent stream. I made the 2 mile hike around Green Mountain to where an old logging road crosses the incipient creek.

Starting upstream, I almost immediately entered into a deep basalt gorge lined with old pillow lava, through which Lost Creek flowed. I scrambled and fought my way up the gorge, becoming rapidly frustrated with the lack of vertically falling water. Finally, probably about 300 or so feet up the canyon, I found a fall, sort of.

"Kerplunk Falls" 

As the creek takes a sharp righthand bend, it has become dammed up with a rather impressive logjam immediately over a small 10 foot basalt ledge. After filtering through the logjam, the creek plunges straight down over the drop, landing in a shallow alcove and continuing along its way. When I first observed this fall, the appearance of the logjam reminded me of the child's game Kerplunk and so I have tentatively named this small waterfall "Kerplunk Falls"

I suspect this canyon has more to offer above "Kerplunk," however at the time of the survey, I was too exhausted to continue further up the canyon, I scrambled up to the rim and began walking back down towards the road. As I walked down the slope along the rim, I noticed numerous signs of bear frequenting the area, A reminder that this is bear country.