ABSTRACT DESIGN T SHIRTS

SPECIFICS:
Walupt Creek waterfalls: My son and his wife alerted me to the existence of these waterfalls. There is no trail so cross country travel and care in navigation is required, even though the hike to the falls is short (about a mile). There are two critical points to getting to the base of the big falls safely and easily. The first is avoiding the alder thicket tangle to reach Walupt Creek and secondly (and most important), finding the straightforward but steep down to a nice campsite at the confluence of Walupt Creek (right bank) and Cispus River (left bank).

I at first missed the route to avoid the alder tangle (ouch) and also the best way down to the base of the big falls. Instead I found a “doable - but much steeper route off the canyon wall, which brought me down to the Cispus River about 100 yards upriver from the confluence. I waded down the river to find the Walupt Creek “big” falls, the camp, and the best path back up out of the canyon.

The time spent at the base of the big falls on Walupt Creek was the high point of my two days tromping around the Lewis River Basin. I wore Nike trail shoes that are light and good wading shoes, with excellent tread for slippery creek bottoms. Oddly enough the thick mat of moss on the bottom of Walupt Creek allowed me to wade up steep creek beds with impunity. Wading the Cispus River however, on smooth slab rock river bottom and no moss, I came very close to doing a spectacular horizontal flailing windmill fall into the river, on more than one occasion. The river was shallow so I wouldn’t have been hurt, but I wouldn’t have wanted to get the Canon G10 I was carrying or the backup G9 in my pack, wet.

I’m going back to this waterfall. I hope to do so in fall, if not this year then next year. I want to photograph the falls with more water flowing and I just plain old love being in this place. The next hike there will start early morning, so I can linger and soak in the atmosphere without hurry.

THE STORY:
Thursday August 20th:
1. Took a challenging cross country hike to a beautiful set of waterfalls on Walupt Creek, where it enters the Cispus River. The hike was not long but required some nasty bushwhacking (most I found on my way out, could be avoided); a steep descent (I took the wrong way into the canyon and my route was MUCH steeper than it need to be).

Friday August 21st
2.I drove up early in the morning to Windy Ridge to see if I might bet a peak “up” at Mt. St. Helens or a peak “down” at Spirit Lake. Fogged in completely, a bust. It is amazing though how the entire area is growing back. The down timber that use to be so impressive to view, that was laying on the ground like matchsticks, pointed away from the Mt. St. Helens “blast” are quickly disappearing as “new life” takes over and covers the area.

3.I continued on down Forest Service Road 25 and then up Forest Service Road 90 to take a lot more waterfalls photos a long the way. Most involved just a short hike. Some like the Lower Falls of the Lewis River; I had visited many times before. Others like Big Creek; Middle Lewis; Upper Lewis; and Twin Falls Creek - - I viewed for the first time.

4.Starlisa, a flickr photographer, had done a masterful job of organizing a get together at a non-fee, secluded camp site on the upper Lewis River, across the river from where Twin Falls Creek falls, jumps into the river. A truly lovely place to camp. I felt honored to be invited on this get together. Seven flickr folks showed up (plus Starlisa’s dog, Rio). I had never met any of the other six, so it was truly a great experience. Three of us, who arrived at the rendezvous, visited a short while with the group, then headed on home. Four set up tents and planned to spend Friday night at the site. Thank you Darlisa!

5.I left the flickr group at 5 pm and returned to Randle via Forest Roads 90 and 23. I took a short four mile round trip detour to get “fading light” photos across Takhlakh Lake of Mt. Adams. I got back to my home in Eastern Washington at 9 pm Friday night, with a few mosquito bites, a little darker tan, a few bushwhacking cuts, AND a ton of great memories of beautiful places seen and nice people met.

A couple of those little happenings on a trip like this that will always stick fondly in the memory bank.

The Italians: A mother and son from Italy were taking the “back way” (to say the least), from Portland to make their way to the Olympic peninsula. They actually put faith in their rental car’s voice navigation system and ended up ACROSS from the Flickr camp, with a flat tire and completely lost, without map or any idea how to get out of where they were. The mother spoke good English but her son did not. Praise to the flickr encampment folks, who worked with the lady (and gave her a map), so they could make their way back to “civilization”.

The Weenie dog:At Takhlakh Lake, there was an assortment of people “using” the lake for recreation. There were a couple of swimmers; a fly fisherman with fl

I was happy when I got home and found out the cute snail I got for 10 cents is a Keyper and I got Scowlene from Moondreamers, and LOTS of double bunny points...Oh yes 5 American Girl outfits for $9.00.

Does anyone know anything about the shoes with the word "Trappers" on them. Did they come on the Cabbage Patch dog?