Oregon “Liquid” Sunshine and Waterfalls – May 18th, 2013

Lead a group of 5 vehicles, 9 people and 4 dogs into the North Willamette NF and Santiam SF for some waterfall viewing and exploring Saturday.  The day was a rainy, foggy day, not ideal conditions, but still a nice day.  Didn’t take as many photos as usual with the rain.

We began by heading into the French Creek drainage area above Detroit. After introductions we headed to our first stop; Marten Buttes falls. It is about a 1/3 mile hike up 175, off 2207.

Then we headed back down and took 2223 up the main French Creek drainage.

We made a few stops at viewing points.

We then headed for Knutson Saddle but ran into some snow.  The first snow crossing was easy, but the next one was on a hill climb so we decided to turn around and took a break for the dogs and kids to  play awhile.

Then we headed back to Hwy 22 and down to Sardine Creek.  With the rain; we headed straight to the first creek crossing which has a falls without stopping to explore the creek as we normally would.

After a lunch break, we continued up valley to the second creek crossing.  This stretch has a rocky climb with one minor obstacle, a rock poised at door height on the down hill-side and a step on the up hill-side.  Everyone made it through fine.  At the second creek crossing, part of the group hung out while a few went to take a quick look on the other side.  After regrouping, we called it a day and headed back down.  The rain let up some, so I made a stop on the way down for some pictures.

There is a more detailed post on our forum at Sardine Creek.

Sunday drive up Sardine Creek (Oregon) – 04/28/13

We planned to travel into the French creek drainage above Detroit, OR.  However, there was still too many snow drifts.   In a small area there are 8+ waterfalls, one over 360’ tall.  With the expected warm weather, we will be back in a week or two to try again.

I had a plan-B, heading up Sardine creek. As expected the water was  flowing strong with many small seasonal creeks flowing.  Worked our way up to  the first water crossing; then slowly worked our way back down.  Here
are some of the sites that greeted us.

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