Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Geo 1095: April 22, Day 842: Full-On Koosah

I think this is the best view I've seen of Koosah Falls. There's a direct trail from the parking area to the eastern lip of the falls, and there's a longer trail that heads downstream a bit before heading back up and rejoining the shorter bit, making a brief loop. I'm pretty sure this spot was just below where the longer trail rejoins the shorter segment.  A spur off the longer path provides a more distant, but less obscured, view.

It appears, from this post by Walter Sullivan (If Oregon had a Hiker Laureate, he would be it.), that there is a loop trail between Koosah and Sahalie, with the other portion on the far side of the river. The views would certainly be different, and possibly better, from the other side. However, the hike that I've have gotten myself all hyped-up about, in the course of doing this McKenzie segment, can be seen on the map on page 3 of this PDF: a 7.5 mile downhill hike from Clear Lake to Trail Bridge Reservoir, which would include as a highlight Tamolitch Falls and Blue Pool. From Carmen Reservoir to Tamolitch, the McKenzie goes underground again, to re-emerge full blown at Blue Pool, except during heaviest flow periods. So for several miles below Carmen, the river is present only as a dry bed, and Tamolitch isn't so much a "falls" as a precipice. Logistically, this would require two or more cars, but I've got a lot of Interzone People excited about it, several of whom have vehicles. So I'm just waiting for Dana to start thinking about geogalavanting for the season.

Photo unmodified. July 7, 2013. FlashEarth Location.

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