Leon Turnbull Photography

So I had this great idea to hike up in the dark to Hourglass Lake in the East Kootenays to be there by sunrise. I had very little idea what it would be like there at sunrise, but I imagined it would be a great place to be at sunrise with the first light hitting the mountain peaks, not to mention that there is a 500 ft. waterfall there (though I wasn’t too sure how the waterfall would be flowing this late in the year). I was totally looking forward to this hike, more than any other on my trip. I wanted to drag my wife out to it as well, but she balked. She said it would be too hard for Grandma to watch the kids that early. She probably just didn’t want to get up so early herself. She’s not much of a morning person. So instead, I dragged my dog out of bed. She was more than willing to accompany me.

The drive out to Hourglass Lake trailhead is a long one, about 30km on a forest service dirt road (about 20 miles for you Yankees). It is not a particularly a rough road, but it is littered the entire way with very sharp shale rocks. And about 5 miles from the trailhead, one of them tore a big huge gash into one of the tires on my SUV. Ugh! It was still very dark out, and I was out in the middle of nowhere, in bear-infested country, and I had to change a tire (Rob, I’m blaming you for this one because of your recent incident at Lassen – ha ha). It took me quite a while to change the tire, mostly because I had troubles getting the spare out from where it is lodged underneath the vehicle. By the time I had it changed, it was much too late to continue up to the lake for sunrise. And I didn’t feel like going on that hike anymore either. I think God was telling me something, such as: there’s a big Grizzly waiting for you along that trail. Or maybe it was the Devil’s fault, cuz he didn’t want me to see a beautiful sunrise. Or maybe both. Or maybe none of the above. Whatever the case, I decided to turn around and head back to find Meachen Creek Falls.

Meachen Falls is located along the same road, but is only at the 8km mark (5 miles for you Yankees). It is a very short walk to the viewpoint from the road, and my dog Kaya and I found it very easily. The viewpoint of this 85 ft. high waterfall is a pretty decent one, though it is partially obscured by trees. This is a very cliffy area, and there are steep drop-offs all around. I tied my dog up so she wouldn’t wander too close to the edge whilst I was taking photos. She has done dumb things before, like almost going over Whiskeytown Falls in northern CA. She likes to get right in the creek whenever she can. But this creek was a hundred feet below us.

Anyhow, after taking photos from the viewpoint, I noticed that the trail continues on down (around the cliff section) to the bottom of the canyon. I was not expecting this at all. I thought the viewpoint was about all I’d see of this fabulous waterfall. So Kaya and I went down to the bottom. It was steep, but do-able. Once we got down to the bottom, however, you need to work your way up the creek where you will soon come to a huge jumble of logs and rocks that you need to get up and over in order to get up to the waterfall. This part was too much for my old dog to handle, and I did not want to leave her alone while I went up to the falls. Fortunately, I had one more day in Cranbrook, so I figured I could come back here the next day sans dog. That is exactly what I did. It wasn’t too hard to get up over the logs and rocks, and I found a fabulous spot right in front of the falls to enjoy the view and take photos. Meachen Creek Falls is officially bagged. This was definitely my favorite waterfall from my trip up to BC this summer, and only because I went down to the bottom and got right up close to it.