9/6/2010 – South Fork Clackamas falls

Date of Hike: 9/6/2010
Location of Hike: South Fork of the Clackamas River - Old Oregon City waterworks
Weather during Hike: Sunny
Hiking Buddies: Kirk
Hike Distance: 8 miles  
Pictures: Link
Description of Hike:
This was another hike up the South Fork of the Clackamas to explore the old Oregon City Waterworks relics. I went with Kirk and the new objective was to get to the bottom of all 3 of the falls in the area (the two on the South Fork and one on Memaloose). We had tried to do the big falls on the South Fork earlier in the year, but Memaloose creek was rather high and we weren’t prepared to get wet. This time, we were able to cross Memaloose creek with no problems, not even getting our feet wet. The view from the bottom of the canyon on the big falls was quite impressive.

We spent about a half hour at the bottom of the big falls before returning to go explore up Memaloose creek. When bushwhacking down to the Memaloose falls, we started downhill too soon, and it was pretty rough going. On the way back up, we found an impromptu trail that has been forged by all the people who have been exploring this area.

It was much easier coming back up than going down. Nothing else significant on this trip, except that there was shooting debris on the road coming out. They haven’t had the “tank traps” in place too long, and already people have started shooting there, even though it is illegal on that stretch.

First Waterfall on the South Fork:

My upper thighs were complaining for a few days after this trip! It was a pretty good workout…..

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