It’s been a tradition for me to invite a group of friends hiking to celebrate my birthday for many years now (see my 2019 trip to Opal Creek Falls). The past few years I’ve tried to organize an off-trail waterfall hike, such as last year on the aforementioned trip to Opal Creek Falls. My birthday trips are a chance to explore, a chance to go see one of the wildest places on my bucket list, in the company of friends. This trip to a waterfall we’ll call Breitenbush Falls was one such adventure.
My friends Tim and Melinda seek out waterfalls with the passion of the most serious collector. Together they have discovered countless waterfalls, and changed what we thought we knew about the best and most beautiful waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest. Those of us who are privileged enough to know them feel grateful to be invited on one of their adventures. Sometime in 2017 or 2018, Tim and Melinda explored a side canyon on the north side of Mount Jefferson and came back with a fantastical story about a waterfall with a huge cavern behind it, where huge cedars grew almost into the falling water above. It sounded almost too good to be true, and I knew that I had to take them up on the offer when they invited me to join them on a return trip. I figured it would be great to make this my birthday hike for 2018. Good call!
The day begin on a trail I know and love. I was excited, so much so that I found myself hiking faster than the rest of my group - I’m still sorry about this, friends! It is true that sometimes excitement causes people to lose their sense of perspective, and I knew I had to slow down because in reality I wasn’t the leader of this particular trip. After a couple miles, Tim directed us off trail and down into the canyon.
Now, about “Breitenbush Falls” - if you know the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region, you have a fairly good idea of where this is. But as always when describing an off-trail location, I am not going to give directions or spend any time describing how to find this place. I can say that this is a different waterfall than Breitenbush Cascades - but beyond that, you’ll need to read between the lines and think about the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region to find this one.
After some time spent bashing our way downhill, Tim directed us around a narrow rock band and over some huge downed trees, until we could hear the sound of falling water. We carefully negotiated our way down a rocky slope, and around the corner the waterfall came into view. It was every bit as spectacular as advertised:
“Breitenbush Falls”
As mentioned above, the falling water has worn away a rocky cavern behind the falls, where cedar trees grow into the falling water. Unlike the caverns behind the falls at Silver Falls, the cavern here looked fairly unstable. It was not a place I wanted to linger:
Behind the falls
Looking through the trees into the falling water was almost an optical illusion, as it was very dark behind the falls and incredibly bright in the canyon beyond.
We carefully worked our way behind the falls and around the other side, where at last the full waterfall came into view:
We sat here at the base of the falls and shared summit beers - the summit of course being the base of the falls, a place few have ever visited. After lunch we explored a little further downstream, finding some neat photo compositions:
The day was getting hot, and we knew we had a steep climb out of the canyon ahead…but it was hard to leave:
On the way out we found the slopes steeper and looser than expected. As I said with Opal Creek Falls, I cannot recommend this to somebody who isn’t committed to wandering up and down steep, crumbly slopes and navigating extremely rough terrain.
Leaving the falls
Eventually we made our way back out of the canyon and onto the trail. When we got back to the trailhead, we decided to stop at one of my favorite spots on the road in to explore a little more, and cool off a little:
All in all, it was another wonderful day with friends in my favorite place. Thanks to everyone who came along that day, and thank you to all who enjoy reading about my adventures!