Harper Creek Falls

[flyminion]

Last August, I decided to start going on solo swimming hole treks due to the difficulty of finding swimming/hiking buddies. Two thirds of the summer had gone by, and most of my attempts at swimming hole adventures had been foiled by last-minute cancellations. When I saw a sunny Saturday coming up, I tried to find someone to accompany me to my favorite swimming hole, Upper Creek Falls. One of my friends said she could go, but she got sick and had to cancel at the last minute. Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I had a list of other swimming holes to explore in the Wilson Creek area (to which Upper Creek Falls belongs), and Harper Creek Falls was at the top of the list. I had read that getting down to the swimming hole requires holding onto a rope while walking backward down a steep rock, and I wasn’t sure if any of my friends would go to that extreme for a swimming hole, so I figured it would be a good solo trek if no one could go with me.

Getting there required driving through Wilson Creek Gorge, which was the surprise find of the trip. I knew it existed, but I had underestimated how inviting it would be. Normally I’m not interested in swimming holes that are just off the road, but this place was a swimming hole paradise in itself. It was basically a four-mile stretch with one swimming hole after another, all in a scenic gorge. I found myself stopping multiple times to get out and check out the views. There were lots of swimmers, tubers, and people camping along the creek. Here are some miscellaneous shots from Wilson Creek:







I decided not to get too sidetracked here, since I didn’t know how long it was going to take me to get to the falls. After about four miles, the gorge ended and Wilson Creek became pretty uneventful. I drove through an area of vacation cabins, motorhome campgrounds, and a couple of quaint little “general store” type places. The trailhead for the Harper Creek Trail was a little further up the road. The trail wasted no time getting down to business. It immediately climbed about 200 feet from the parking lot in about 0.1 miles of switchbacks. There was a bench at the top of the ridge, which has probably gotten more ass than Ron Jeremy. The trail was pretty easy with only gradual elevation changes (mostly downhill) after this point. Along the way, there was a large primitive campground where Raider Camp Creek flowed into Harper Creek. I somehow lost the trail wandering through the maze of campsites. The Harper Creek Trail was supposed to join up with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) around this point. I followed the campground upstream along Harper Creek until I reached the point where the MST (with its distinctive white blazes) crossed the creek. I followed it upstream and found where I would have intersected the MST if I had stayed on the Harper Creek Trail. From there, it was only a short distance to the falls. The MST bypassed the falls from above, but there was a side trail to the falls. At the end of the trail, I could see the falls through the trees, and I came upon the rock face with the rope that I would have to descend. It was… a lot bigger that I had imagined.





I hesitated for a moment, but then someone else went down it and made it look easy. I grabbed the rope and stepped onto the rock, but I didn’t feel secure, so I opted to do it barefoot. I felt much more secure with my shoes off, and I held on for dear life while watching where my feet were going. The swimming hole was well worth the descent. The upper pool was almost completely enclosed in a rock chasm, except for the part where the creek spilled over the lower falls, which in turn fed into another large pool. The lower falls was a sliding waterfall about the size of the one at Upper Creek Falls.

Watch on YouTube

I swam around in the upper pool and slid down the lower waterfall a few times. I thought about using the ropes dangling over the upper falls cliff to climb midway up and jump into the pool, but even though other people were there, I figured there would be no one keeping an eye on me. I got out my diving mask and snorkeled the upper pool; it was about 10 feet deep. I was starting to get cold, and the sun-heated rocks felt great after a long swim in brisk mountain water.



I made small talk with some of the people there and watched people jump off the falls. One guy ate it, and I got it on video.

Watch on YouTube

When it started getting late, I climbed back up the rock (which was way easier than going down) and hiked back to the car. I stopped and checked out a few more places in Wilson Creek Gorge that I had passed up on the way in. Harper Creek Falls is one of the best swimming holes I have been to. It even gives Upper Creek Falls a run for its money.

So yeah, that’s the story of how I got into the habit of going on solo swimming hole treks. It would have been more fun with friends, but it was definitely worthwhile in its own right. Still, it feels like something is missing when I don’t have someone to share the experience with, so I have decided to blog my recent swimming hole treks so I can share indirectly (and hopefully entice my friends in reasonable proximity to join me on future adventures). I have also found other people’s blogs helpful in planning my trips for some of these places, so this will be my way of paying it forward to other swimming hole aficionados.