Midweek escape to the Vertigo Mile! (Eagle Creek on May 15)

[Splintercat]

I celebrated my 20th anniversary at work by... taking the day OFF! Did a midweek hike up Eagle Creek -- pretty much the only time I go there during the spring and summer, when the weekends are a mob scene. I only saw about 20 people over the course of the day, very pleasant, indeed! Conditions where perfect for hiking and waterfall photos, too. Definitely a nice break before heading back and starting Year 21 at the office today..!

Some photos from the trip, starting with the always lovely Metlako:



A bit beyond the Punchbowl overlook, the odd milepost marker -- I'm now thinking this points 11 miles east (to Wahtum Lake) and 3 miles west (to the TH)... but hard to really read this:



iPhone pano at 4.5 Mile Bridge:



The somewhat menacing truncated-basalt-column trail section above Grand Union Falls -- wouldn't mind a hand cable here, not sure why the builders didn't provide one..?



Promised this party I'd post these, in two shots (a group of at least six, the largest I saw up there):





Friendly photographer and his dog that I chatted with at Tunnel Falls:



Weird, crudely routed milepost marker just beyond Tunnel Falls (saw one near Skoonichuk, too -- just sitting loose on the ground):



Not sure what to make of that!

Finally, the cliff where I do a fine job of polishing the hand cable with my anxious hand:



...yowsa! That Vertigo Mile section always gets my adrenalin running... especially that one spot where there's sort of a notch in the cliff that results in a VERY narrow spot in the trail that you have to step... gulp... over... while looking down the rest of the notch! For us cable-clutchers, it also happens to be a spot where one of the iron supports is located, so there's a brief moment when you have to take a long step... and let go of the cable, ever so briefly... before grabbing it on the other side..! Yikes!

Spent a good while enjoying the scene at the top of Twister Falls, as always, but this was the first time I'd been up there with lower water levels in some time, so I noticed a nearly perfect version of the Devils Pool at Victoria Falls..!



I'm sure many have noticed this, of course... but it got me wondering if anyone has every seen a swimmer over there...? Hmm...

-Tom

[Crusak]

Nice, Tom! Great way to celebrate work, by taking a day off! I'm itching to get up Eagle Creek again soon.

It's fun negotiating the vertigo mile section when you pass hikers coming the other direction - and figuring out who gets to keep their hand on the cable.

[Eric Peterson]

Great pics!

Those blocks with the mile markers were done a few years ago by a boy scout troupe, IIRC.
Don't think most of them even lasted a year?

Glad I don't share your fear of heights on Eagle Creek, UNLESS there is a icy section like I
had to get over near Twister Falls a few years ago

[kepPNW]

I celebrated my 20th anniversary at work by... taking the day OFF!

Perfect!

Great report, and fantastic photos as always. The difference between a real camera, and a pocket one like mine, really stands out on this beautiful trail.

We saw those funky new 4x4 markers last time, and also noticed they were being kicked out of the ground. I think they're only about 8-10" long, eh? What's up with that?

My wife won't watch video I've taken along the Vertigo Mile. Especially after realizing that I had poles in one hand and a camera in the other.

Love that trail!

PS -- Did ya notice that the English Ivy is completely gone???

[Splintercat]

It's fun negotiating the vertigo mile section when you pass hikers coming the other direction - and figuring out who gets to keep their hand on the cable.

I am not proud, Jim -- in the event I truly get stuck in the middle, I have already planned a polite retreat, since I'm not about to offer to be on the "outside" lane..! With Tunnel Falls, you can pretty much get a straight shot of oncoming traffic from the tunnel, so less an issue. But with Twister, there's that pesky bend in the upstream direction, where you can't see if someone is coming down the trail, and already in the cabled section, right above the falls. Coming downstream, that section right above the falls is a lot less exposed, so I simply wait there if I see a group coming up the stretch in my photo... because I'm such a gentleman..!

Glad I don't share your fear of heights on Eagle Creek, UNLESS there is a icy section like I had to get over near Twister Falls a few years ago...

I thought about that when I was taking the last photo, Eric. In fact, I will ALWAYS think about that when I walk through that section... just as I cringe and think about Don Nelsen's photos of a 45 degree snowbank entirely filling the trail (and burying the hand cable!) on one of the lower cliff sections... with little boot prints along it...

Especially after realizing that I had poles in one hand and a camera in the other.

Gulp. That's what a helmet-mounted GoPro is for, Karl..!!!

Did ya notice that the English Ivy is completely gone???

Absolutely - just a shriveled up remnant near the top. Thanks for taking care of that, Karl! It would really have been going to town by now, given the spring we're having and the fact that it had found its way to bright sunlight.

My only regret on this hike was not cleaning up a fire ring at the campsite opposite Tenas Falls (just beyond 4.5 mile bridge). I didn't have anything larger than a sandwich bag with me, but was really kicking myself even more when I got back to the trailhead and saw the sign banning ALL campfires! Had I known that, I would have improvised something for the trash and taken the opportunity to scatter the fire ring, as well. Shoot! So, for anyone reading this and heading up to EC, there's an official Friend of Nature award for taking care of this:



(...unless I get there first...)

Tom

[kepPNW]

Especially after realizing that I had poles in one hand and a camera in the other.

Gulp. That's what a helmet-mounted GoPro is for, Karl..!!!

It's funny. I'm not generally "good" in vertigo-inducing situations, but EC has never bothered me. Can't explain that!

when I got back to the trailhead and saw the sign banning ALL campfires!

That right? I thought it was only below High Bridge. Huh... New rule?

[Splintercat]

That's what I thought, too, Karl -- and when I got back to the trailhead, there was indeed a notice limiting camping to above High Bridge, but there were some new restrictions that I hadn't noticed before:



At first I thought the yellow signs were seasonal, but then I walked back to the main (somewhat disassembled) signpost, and the all-year ban on fires is clearly there, too (the sign on the right). Also of note: leashes required! Boy, I wish this were enforced. It's just not fair to put a dog in the position of walking along a bunch of sheer drop-offs with all the temptations and distractions for dogs that come with any hiking trip. It's a recipe for disaster (I actually wouldn't take mine up there, at all, since I need to keep one hand for hiking pole/tripod and the other to keep my iron grip on those hand cables...)

Oops... and I think I just outed myself (again) as an obsessive sign/structure/weird ephemera photo-documenter when hiking...

Tom

[Chase]

My guess would be a ban on campfires between the TH and the Hatfield boundary. Anyone know anything to support or contradict that?

Nice report, Splinty!

[kepPNW]

Yeah, we need higher-res crop on that yellow sign! Enquiring minds...

[Splintercat]

Hmm... well, we're testing the limits of my iPhone, Karl... not to mention my shaky hand after 8+ hours on the trail without caffeine..!



So, now that you mention it... it's a bit less absolute than the "no fires" iconic sign on the main signpost. But no question that the Tenas Falls camp is within 200 feet -- as well as most of the trailside campsites, for that matter. Ahem... is my anti-campfire bias showing..?

Tom