Waterfall Extravaganza! Lewis River, 8.30.20 - 9.2.20
Before we ever even started planning our upcoming big adventure that kicks off on Monday (Labor Day) we had booked three nights in a place none of us had ever been to. I had seen one of those explore Washington type Facebook posts with a photo of an amazing looking waterfall and the more I looked into it the more I knew we had to go check it out.
The Lewis River originates from the glaciers on Mt. Adams and runs very near the southern border of Washington before joining the mighty Columbia. Dana, Bob, Bridgit and I stayed at a campground called Lower Lewis Campground in the RV’s and had booked the sites months ago. Just getting there was a bit of an adventure. I-5 was closed in both directions the morning we left for a construction project and the detour sounded like it would end up as a horrible bottleneck so we opted to drive way east around Mount Rainier down past Packwood to the town of Randle. From there we followed a road south to connect to our original route. The road south from Randle was in pretty rough shape with a lot of sloughing so we had to be really careful not to hit a dip too fast in the RVs. It was slow going but sure beat sitting in traffic trying to negotiate I-5.
Southeast side of Mt. St. Helens from Road 25
After booking the sites I came to realize that this campground and corresponding day use area are hugely popular due their proximity to Lower Lewis Falls. I saw some pictures of hordes of people hanging out at the falls. But luck was riding with us and the day use area and parking lot were completely closed due to Covid and only folks like us with prior reservations were allowed to go into the campground. No one else was allowed at the day use parking which dramatically reduced the number of people there.
There is a trail that runs along the north side of the river for what I believe is twelve miles. There are numerous waterfalls along the way and our campground was situated right at Lower Lewis Falls. Our two sites which were secluded and surrounded by lush forest were right across the camp loop road from pretty much the middle section of the Lewis River Trail.
We arrived on Sunday so there were still lots of weekend campers there. Our first order of business was to check out Lower Lewis Falls. From our camp we just hopped on the Lewis River Trail and walked downstream about a third of a mile until we came to a view platform high over the falls. They were really impressive standing forty five feet high and spanning the entire width of the river. An extremely inviting green pool formed right at the foot of the falls and a large flat rocky shelf stretched out halfway into the river. The entire shelf was actually underwater about ankle deep so you could walk out to the edge of the shelf and sit with your feet dangling into “the deep end” of the pool.
First viewpoint of Lower Lewis Falls.
The sun was way too bright for silky effect long exposures and there were quite a few people still there catching the last rays of the weekend. The forecast had called for cloudy skies and a slight chance of rain the following morning until 11AM so I planned to return early in the morning to see if I might get lucky.
I woke up at 7AM but it was still pretty dark so I brewed up a coffee before grabbing my tripod and camera gear and heading back down to the falls. Oddly enough, for such a popular place there is no official trail down to the river at the base of the falls. Over the years people have cut super steep way trails down the cliffs to get to the water. I followed one that turned out to be really easy with lots of roots and even a rope to hang on to if needed. Once at the river I was staring straight at the falls and they looked even bigger from river level, really impressive. The river was very shallow with lots of flat rocky shelves so I set up my tripod in the middle of the river and conditions were perfect. With an ISO of 100 at F16 I was able to shoot at a quarter of a second to get some really nice results.
Lower Lewis Falls
Lower Lewis Falls
Lower Lewis Falls
Lower Lewis Falls
Lower Lewis Falls
Another tidbit of good fortune was that at 7:45AM on a Monday morning I did not see another soul the entire time I was shooting the falls. I was really happy after my photo op and went back to the campsite for a big eggs and bacon breakfast (cooked outside like the pioneers did!). By mid-morning we decided to head up the other way on the Lewis River Trail. By heading up about three miles we would pass Middle Falls and Upper Falls. We somehow missed the side trail dropping down to Middle Falls but eventually came to Upper Falls. This was also a very muscular waterfall, still raging in the late stages of summer but the light was really in a bad spot so I only got a couple of photos there.
Upper Lewis River Falls
As I worked my way back on the same trail I spotted the side trail and went down to check out Middle Falls. These were really cool. Not nearly as high as the others, they still spanned the width and cascaded over the rocks in several tiers. This looked like a great place to hang out and swim for a day. We never did swim as the water sure felt a bit chilly but we saw several swimmers and even some guys jumping off the top of the lower falls. Too high for me!
Middle Falls
Yesterday we had all day so we just puttered about, went back down to the base of Lower Lewis Falls and generally just relaxed. Evenings were spent with cigars, campfires and a bit of guitar. This was a really nice place and I would think it would be a very beautiful hike along the trail to the three falls in late September or early October when the leaves change colors.
Lovely Lower Lewis Falls and my even lovelier wife
Ahh, good times!