Skamania, Washington - January 22, 2011
Push play and be patient... the video takes about 30 seconds to load and start running
Returned to Archer Mountain on January 22, 2011. Success!!!!!
6.6 miles round trip which took about 4 1/2 hours
Finding and getting to Archer Falls is definitely a non-trivial undertaking! I've
made several trips out this way and I've talked to numerous people who claim to have
a lot of knowledge about Archer Mountain. But for the most part, these guys have been
long on brag and short on useful information on how they actually got here! Talking
to the many Locals I've met, they are all very familiar with Archer Falls and
apparently frequent them often. There is always a car or two in the parking area
when I've been here. There's also a LOT of ATV activity out here.
This hike starts at the Southwestern end of Archer Mountain. You get to the
trailhead by traveling to the end of Smith Cripe Road.
I'll pick this up just past the High Valley Commune area going down the middle
trail marked with a National Forest Service 159 sign. You can also go up the left
trail, past "The Wall" and eventually join the 159 trail. There are various entry
point options but not all are open.
We traveled East until we got to a high elevation rim trail that runs along Archer
Creek. You'll want to keep Archer Creek, which will be waaaay down below, to your
right the entire way. This is a somewhat faint trail although we saw evidence of
recent Hiker activity along the way.
We start at the High Valley Commune with Archer Mountain off to the right.
Fletcher Flat is to your left.
You'll come up to a scree field fairly quickly. Going up the hill to the left
will (I think) take you to the top of Fletcher Flat. There are several (we saw two)
"trail closed" signs which we honored and went a different way.
That talus slope is a LOT steeper than it looks in this picture. We avoided those as well
There's not much of a trail here, as you can see. I don't consider myself to be
much of a woodsman but I have to say that for the most part I did seem to find some
kind of a trail... although there were way more deer droppings than human footprints
at times. Last Summer I ran into a couple who had just returned from a "love
walk" to the falls. Considering that they were not young, I'm guessing they took
a better trail than this one. I suppose in retrospect I should have asked them what
route they took.
This picture illustrates the difficulty of getting up this slope a little better.
Didn't take many pictures of the first couple of miles because unless you are
turned on by bushwhacking, there really wasn't much picture-worthy scenery.
There isn't just one falls at Archer Mountain. There are many. When you get to
the end, there is a 180 degree panorama of wall-to-wall falls.
It's VERY cool! These small falls are the first we saw.
After a couple of miles of thick forest, you come out into a clearing to this
magnificent view!
Who knows if/when we'll ever get back here so we took a LOT of pictures!
Had a difficult time keeping the lens from fogging up. Here's Julie going
down her first scree field. She's a lot more sure footed than I am. I wiped
out several times.
There's a gazillion falls at the end of this canyon!
According to one "Archer Mountain Expert", the power line service road is just
over that tiny little hill of scree that would take a mountain goat over an hour
to climb. I did survey the North entrance extensively and did not find any
open, reasonable looking trails that might head down this way.
We're pretty pleased with our success. Here's Julie with Archer Falls in the
background.
Here's a view of what we just came through to get here... this was an intense
afternoon for a beat up old geezer like me. I was soaked in sweat by the time
we got here.
We gave some thought to hiking across the scree field for some pictures of us
behind the waterfall... but it would probably have taken an hour to travel that short
distance and back and we definitely did not want to be out here after dark. So...
perhaps next time.
Julie's pretty happy with herself. Me too.... it was a magical afternoon!
Here's the obligatory picture of "The Wall" back at the High Valley Hippie Commune
Pretty amazing day. I've come a long way since my first "hike" up Beacon Rock
last Spring. In 17 more months I'll be on Medicare for cow's sake... my 52 year old
Brother dropped dead two weeks ago so squndering whatever time I have left is no
longer an option. Ride like you stole it and take the time to smell the roses, right?
After our return, several much more experienced Hikers advised that we may have
visited areas that were officially closed. This could be true although we
judiciously honored any signs we saw. I also spent quite a bit of time last Summer
looking over the State web site for information about restrictions on Archer.
Nevertheless, be advised that there is confusion about what is open and what isn't
so observe all ordinances if you decide to go out there. I've run into so many
people who regularly go out to the falls that I never really thought much about
possible trail closures.
