Rush Creek Falls
Why do I do the things I do? I don’t understand. Someone please help me. What sane person would scramble down impossibly steep terrain, though bushels of poison oak, all to see a partial glimpse of a 23 ft. high waterfall? Apparently, I would.
This is the main waterfall on Rush Creek. It is not visible from the trail and bridge over the creek. I had been here before and knew this. But it was probably about 7 years ago that I was here, and I didn’t remember what it was like. I had written that it was “too dangerous” to get down to the lower falls. But I reasoned that I had gotten more daring in the past 7 years, and what was too dangerous then would be a cakewalk now. Ha!
As I approached the bridge over Rush Creek, I saw that the canyon was a lot steeper than I remembered. Did it get steeper in the past 7 years? I wondered how I had gotten down to where I was the previous time? The terrain looked pretty treacherous, and my “too dangerous” annotation looked fairly accurate. I tried looking for a way down on the far side of the creek first. I saw a possible descent from the bridge, but I could see a wall of poison oak blocking the way, and not to mention a mound of bushes blocking any possible view to the waterfall. It did not look very promising.
I returned to the near side of the creek. It had looked too steep at first, but as I re-examined it, I saw a possible route down to where I “might” possibly have a view of the lower falls. I decided to go for it. It was steep, but it was do-able. But there was a big swath of poison oak I had to go through. No possible way around it, I had to go right through it. I tried not to touch it with my hands, and I thought I had succeeded, but two days later, the “itch” has appeared on my arms and legs. Ugh! Well, I continued down the steep terrain, and then I came to a dead-end. It was definitely impossible to get right down to the creek. I had a view of the falls from where I was, but it was obscured through the trees. I took a photo from this location, and I think it would actually be a decent view if it weren’t for the two bushes blocking the top part of the waterfall. Well, it was the best I could do. Was it worth the effort? Am I just insane? You be the judge.
2 Comments
June 13th, 2022 at 7:43 am
Don’t worry, you are no more “insane” than I was. I too found myself under the magic spell of this mysterious mossy waterfall where few have gone before. The allure of mysterious Rush Creek Falls was too difficult to resist. In childhood, I had long admired the Rush Creek canyon and the mossy cliffs surrounding it, and had long known of the mysterious “inaccessible” huge waterfall much larger than the one I often visited at the end of the ramp. When I got old enough to become an “experienced bushwhacker” or at least to think I was one, I climbed hazardous cliffs for a glimpse of this waterfall. I found a different viewpoint though: a rock ledge that looked out to a view of the entire waterfall. This was a pretty decent viewpoint. However, the left side of my image is plagued by some darn distracting dead brush that blocked the mossiest cliff that you captured in the foreground of your image. Despite seeing more of the waterfall, I think I failed to capture the same defining magical mossy character you captured in your image. I hope some storms clear that darn brush out, so I can risk life and limb again to revisit the viewpoint I found and obtain better photographs of this waterfall, hopefully with the additional moss on the left side the next time. I think this falls is quite impressive for my local area. Rush Creek Falls is perhaps only beat by Beale and Hidden Falls (unless you probably know of more?), but they don’t have that same aesthetic, that unique mossy character found in the lush canyon of Rush Creek that remains unmatched in any other place I know of. I guess I will probably continue to be insane, but hopefully I will continue to live to tell the tale. Fingers crossed:)
June 14th, 2022 at 6:15 am
thanks for telling me your story Joshua. 🙂