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Database Additions
Posted 2013-04-15 00:32:22 by Bryan Swan
We've just rolled out a content update that added about 400 more waterfalls to the database for both Washington and Oregon. This update has pushed the number of waterfalls we have cataloged in Washington State to over 2,000, and Oregon has eclipsed 1,200. A lot of what we just added isn't necessarily going to be well-rounded content because most of the waterfalls in question lie in harder-to-access areas (such as the backcountry of Mount Rainier National Park), but there were a number of glaring holes that this update has now filled in. We'll be slowly fleshing out the new data as we have time, as always, and will be adding several more new full survey reports in the next week or two before the season really kicks into gear.
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Geodata Updates
Posted 2013-03-24 16:41:59 by Bryan Swan
Those of you paying attention to the Updates page might notice a whole lot of changes going in over the last couple weeks. Unfortunately this isn't an exponential increase in field survey work (as much as I'd like it to be), but rather some much needed house keeping. Google has recently started adding - en masse - LIDAR data to it's topographic models for Google Earth. For those who aren't familiar, LIDAR - which stands for Light Detection and Ranging - is a technology that can be used for topographic surveying without being inhibited by trees and plant growth, and its results are incredibly accurate. So what this data being loaded into Google Earth means is the terrain models it uses results in being able to accurately locate waterfalls with not only a high level of accuracy, but also gauge their height nearly as accurately as if it were surveyed in the field.
Over the last couple weeks, I've been editing location data for a ton of waterfalls where this data has been made available, and there's still a ton more to come over the next several months. Most of what you're seeing in the updates page is not being updated beyond adjusting the Latitude, Longitude, Elevation and sometimes the height of the waterfall. But in some cases, we've been able to provide some much more detailed information (see Wahe Falls and Oneonta Falls in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge, for example).
The added bonus of having this LIDAR data at my disposal now is that I've been mapping a ton of new waterfalls which I either wasn't aware of, or was only partially convinced actually existed. Right now I'm sitting on about 400 new waterfalls to be added in to the database and I hope to have that up by the end of April, if not sooner (especially since some of the new finds are being catapulted to the very top of the "to survey" list for this summer).
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Up In Flames
Posted 2012-10-04 16:11:55 by Bryan Swan
Several particularly large forest fires were sparked in mid September around the Pacific Northwest and have grown to considerable size thanks to the severe lack of rain over the last two months. Several of these fires have resulted in closures to large swaths of National Forest land out of safety concerns (which really messed with our plans to get to new waterfalls). But more relevant to this website is the fact that three of these fires have affected areas known to harbor several significant waterfalls.
The Table Mountain fire burning east of Highway 97 near Blewett Pass in Washington has burned an area of over 42,000 acres so far. It is known to have burned around both Jillian and Howard Creek Falls (neither of which we have yet visited).
The Cascade Creek fire on the southwest side of Mount Adams has burned over 20,000 acres and has consumed almost the entire Cascade Creek and Salt Creek drainages, which includes at least half a dozen significant waterfalls (all of which are off-trail and have yet to be surveyed). Several of the falls in this area were in sub-alpine zones, or are above tree line, so it's not clear how significantly the burn has affected the area - it may actually make cross-country navigating easier.
The biggest casualty thus far is from the Pole Creek Fire, east of Oregon's South Sister and north of Broken Top. The fire has burned out nearly the entire Whychus Creek drainage, which includes some of the best waterfalls in Oregon. Some photos suggest that the burn hasn't affected the bigger trees nearly as much as it has the understory, but expect the Chush Falls Trail to be closed for a while once the fire has been extinguished, and dont' be surprised if there are a lot of new logs fallen into the streams in the area.
One last note - the Top 100 Page is back up and working as it should be after we revamped the ratings a bit to account for the changes needed to reflect the true stature of the waterfalls in the Bacon Creek drainage of North Cascades National Park.
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The Big Boys
Posted 2012-09-24 21:36:08 by Bryan Swan
While we've been slow to post any news here, we have been ensuring a slow but fairly steady trickle of new content has been getting posted over the last couple of months. Among that new stuff is our survey reports from the big waterfalls in the upper Bacon Creek drainage in North Cascades National Park - specifically Green Lake Falls and Berdeen Falls, two of the biggest and best waterfalls in Washington State. Unfortunately we couldn't get close because the terrain proved to be much, much more rugged and difficult to navigate than we expected, and time was limited, but there are at least pictures and more accurate information about the falls now available on their respective pages.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this new data is how it affected our Top 100 list. After getting a much better idea of how much water was involved in both Green Lake and Berdeen Falls, our ratings were adjusted and Green Lake Falls fell out of 1st place, with Depot Creek Falls assuming the spot of the best waterfall in the Pacific Northwest. While this may certainly shift back with additional surveys, this was mostly indicative of our overestimating how consistently the volume of these waterfalls would be during the late summer months (turns out the streams shrink more than expected).
Additionally, because of this shift in the ratings, we noticed a huge problem with our Top 100 page and we've had to take it offline in order to fix the issue with the data not populating and calculating the ratings correctly. It should hopefully be back online within the week.
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Workshops are tentative this year
Posted 2012-04-21 03:22:01 by Bryan Swan
For several reasons, both personal and work related, my schedule is not terribly flexible at the moment, so in turn I currently do not have any plans to offer photography workshops for the 2012 season. However, I do expect my workload to lessen significantly toward the end of the summer and if / when this occurs, I may post up to three classes in the fall - likely one each in September, October and November - at locations that have yet to be determined and on dates which will be determined in the future (again, if this happens).
If my schedule does not let up, I will not be offering any classes this year, but I do anticipate offering at least four and possibly up to six classes in 2013, but this is currently way too far in the future to plan for. If you are interested in attending, keep watch here on the site for any announcements.
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Snohomish County wants to dam Sunset Falls
Posted 2011-10-30 15:40:52 by Bryan Swan
While in a serendipitous coincidence three major dams in Washington are being removed right now (Condit Dam on the White Salmon, and the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River), the Snohomish County Public Utility District is seeking to build more dams, specifically targetting several waterfalls as locations to do so.
The PUD just began operation of the first new dam in Washington State in decades, a relatively small project on Youngs Creek near Monroe capable of producing (at peak flow) 7.5 megawatts of electricity - enough to power about 5000 homes. The Youngs Creek project was built well above Youngs Creek Falls, which serves as a natural barrier to migrating fish, and didn't have a terribly sigifnicant impact on the surrounding forest. The Youngs Creek project was done right.
What is now being proposed by the PUD at other locations is entirely different. Licences have been applied for to put a 30 megawatt facility in place along the South Fork Skykomish River, with a dam above Canyon Falls and the powerhouse adjacent to Sunset Falls. The proposed project would house a 19-foot diameter tunnel to flume the river to the powerhouse. This would certainly allow for a minimum flow to be sent over the falls, but the kicker is that the project's capacity would be approximately 2500 cubic feet per second - which is greater than the mean annual flow for the river at this point. This means that while Canyon and Sunset Falls would still flow during the winter months, they may be entirely dry during the summer under this proposal. If such a setup was instituted at Snoqualmie Falls the public would be in uproar, I think the only reason the PUD might get away with this is because Sunset Falls is not a frequently visited waterfall.
In addition to the project at Sunset Falls, the PUD also wants to dam both Calligan Creek and Hancock Creek on the Snoqualmie Tree Farm - both in King County! Hancock Timber would presumably lease the land to the PUD, but could conceivably be compensated with a portion of revenue as well. In the process we would lose (or at least see greatly reduced) four more waterfalls - Calligan Creek Falls being potentially the best waterfall on the tree farm, and three as yet undocumented waterfalls along Hancock Creek.
Ultimately, in the case of Calligan and Hancock Creeks, because the waterfalls lie on private land there isn't much the public can do other than voice their opinion. But because the project along the Skykomish River lies partially on public land, we do have a say. And this is where things get tricky. Clean energy projects should definitely be pursued and as water is something we have in abundance in the Pacific Northwest, hydro power is the most logical method of producing clean energy. But at the same time sacrificing some of the best waterfalls in the region should not be necessary. We strongly urge those of you who care to make known that you do not want to see Sunset Falls destroyed.
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New Content...Finally!
Posted 2011-09-13 00:43:26 by Bryan Swan
Its taken seemingly forever to deal with the server switch, but it looks like we're finally good to go for the most part. All pictures and content for this website will now be hosted by the World Waterfall Database, so anything you see here will also be available over there (plus additional info in some situations). Over the next week, we'll be shifting to the new database and a whole bunch of newly content will start showing up in the Updates page.
Additionally, due to the differing design of the WWD database and the old one, there have been some changes to the site as a whole as well. First of all, because we're trying to standardize as much data as possible, it will no longer be possible to search by Watershed. This may be something we bring back in the future, but for the time being it was too much work to make it function with the new system.
Secondly, we've had some trouble integrating the adjusted rating system in the new database (and by proxy in the World Waterfall Database) to this server, so for the time being changes to the ratings and new entries which end up with high scores will not show up on the Top 100 list until we can get this fixed (the Top 100 list will not change until the problem is resolved). Additionally, the search feature is limited for the time being to being able to search for the name of waterfalls - searching by strings was causing some strange issues and is likewise temporarily out of commission.
Third, because the database has in essence moved, the URLs for every waterfall have changed as well. We've set up automatic redirects if anybody has direct links from pages around the interwebs, so there shouldn't be much trouble. However, if you do see any problems such as links not going to the right page, please let us know ASAP so we can fix them.
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For the Academy's consideration
Posted 2011-04-19 01:02:35 by Bryan Swan
While you're waiting for the months and months worth of new stuff I've got sitting in my backlogged inbox, here's a little video I shot a couple weeks ago at Kamikaze Falls near North Bend. First time I had been there, and the first time I properly shot with my camcorder, so progress on both parts. Information about the falls isn't posted yet (won't be up until the server migration is complete, and I've been busy enough that I haven't been able to do much lately), but its a good one - worth seeing while its still flowing.
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2011 Workshop Schedule Posted
Posted 2011-03-01 00:57:25 by Bryan Swan
For those of you interested (and paying attention), the schedule for my 2011 workshops has been posted. I'm only able to hold four this year due to scheduling limitations in June and August, but I've expanded the capacity of each to six people per class, with the locations split between Oregon and Washington. Hurry and sign up ASAP because space goes fast!
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Forthcoming changes and 2011 Workshops
Posted 2011-01-26 01:07:35 by Bryan Swan
Just want to address a couple points. Those of you who have sent me emails or pictures, your messages are not being ignored. I'm just focused on transitioning the site to the other server right now and will deal with those when I can. As far as the transition goes, I hope to have the changes complete within the next 2-3 weeks (knock on wood), which means potentially the official switch could take place as soon as the end of February. When this happens, however, not all the pictures may be ready to go, so there may be a period of catch-up.
The whole reason for this server switch is so I can administer the data for this website jointly with the World Waterfall Database. Both websites will be hosted on the same server and the eventual idea is to seamlessly merge the two entirely. I will be keeping this URL indefinitely, but will use it primarily as a more focused outlet of information while the actual waterfall data and pages will be the domain of the World Waterfall Database. For the immediate future, the two sites will still visually look independent.
I do still have a huge backlog of additions to get up from this past summer, and when the server switch goes down, that data will become available (but again the pictures may not be ready right away), so don't fret the shrinking "Recently Updated" box on the home page.
Some of you have also asked me whether I plan to conduct any Photography Workshops this year. The answer is YES, but I haven't laid out the groundwork for the classes yet. There will be at least four of them, the cost will be the same as last year ($150 / person) and I hope to have the schedule and locations posted by the end of February at the latest (at this point, all I can say is there will be at least one in Oregon, but where I haven't yet decided). The earliest class will be in May, so there is still plenty of time to plan.
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The Reason for Measuring
Posted 2010-10-30 04:07:24 by Bryan Swan
Measuring a waterfall may not necessarily have any practical application (at least where hydroelectric development isn't involved), other than bragging rights and sometimes for use in tourism information. But humans like to quantify things, and waterfalls have been pretty poorly quantified as a whole. Take Oregon's Watson Falls for example. For the longest time it had been suggested to stand 272 feet tall. Where this measurement came from is unknown, but upon visiting the falls in 2009, we measured it and came up with a figure of 302 feet. Thirty feet of discrepancy isn't exactly huge, but it's significant in that Watson Falls was shown to be much closer to 300 feet tall than originally thought.
Fast forward to the summer of 2010. We were contacted by some folks in the Umpqua National Forest with whom this sparked a significant level of interest, because their data had always said the falls were 272 feet tall. After dispatching a professional survey team to the falls to take much more accurate measurements than we are able to do, they determined the falls to drop 292.7 feet - 21 feet further than originally thought, and only 9 feet shy of the measurements we took - which, for a waterfall of this size, is pretty accurate considering the consumer level tools we have at our disposal.
Even though this really doesn't have any relevant bearing on anything, its still gratifying to see our work paying off in helping to further understand the natural world in ways we thought we already knew and understood. Hopefully this will not be the last time we inspire such influence and curiosity.
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Waterfalls of Washington Guidebooks
Posted 2010-09-11 17:21:22 by Bryan Swan
I may or may not have alluded to it in the past but I am in the process of authoring a series of guidebooks to the Waterfalls in Washington State. Since I have a graphic design background, my initial plan was to go the Print-On-Demand route and do all the work myself. However, the cost of printing may limit the scope of each volume to the point where it won't be what I envisioned. So I'd like to get some feedback from you all. Please take this two-question survey to help me gauge the interest levels of those of you who would buy my books. Based on your feedback I may end up publishing through different methods - but rest assured one way or another these books WILL be published.
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September Workshop Openings
Posted 2010-09-06 23:58:12 by Bryan Swan
There have been a couple of cancellations for the September 19th Columbia River Gorge workshop and two spots are currently available. If you are interested in attending, there is now room. If you'd like to sign up, contact me as soon as possible to reserve a spot since the class is less than two weeks away.
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The Summer Season Begins
Posted 2010-07-15 05:17:19 by Bryan Swan
As if someone flipped a switch, as soon as July hit summer seemingly did to here in the Pacific Northwest. While we were enjoying (or not) consistently mild, overcast and sometimes drizzly weather during most of June, the first week of July brought sunny skies and 90 degree heat. Snow in the mountains is still rather profuse thanks to the cool June, so the high country waterfalls will be flowing well for a while still, though this may delay the wildflowers a bit on the converse.
If its looked a bit quiet here recently, that's because it has been. I had little time to get out through June and I've added and updated the handful of falls I visited over the last month. The good news is over the next two months, I will be out in the mountains virtually non-stop. The bad news is you'll have to wait two months to see most of that content because I won't have time to deal with the updating, and when I do have time, I hope to be able to finish up the updated version of the World Waterfall Database so that project can finally expand as it needs to. Lots of stuff to look forward to this summer, so stay tuned!
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Abiqua Falls is open again
Posted 2010-07-04 02:38:56 by Bryan Swan
Abiqua Falls near the town of Scotts Mills, Oregon had been closed off to the public by the owner of the land, the Mount Angel Abbey starting in April of 2010 out of liability concerns after a death at nearby Silver Falls State Park. Many in the hiking communities around the northwest were concerned over the future access to this site and urged the landowners to reconsider. Well fortunately for all who have or wish to enjoy the magnificent waterfall, the Abbey has once again opened the land to access as of July 2010. They plan on removing the sign warning that the land is privately owned and that access is not allowed and posting one stating the public is allowed to proceed at their own risk. So often private landowners would be much less willing to extend the effort and I, for one, applaud the Abbey for being so willing to work to continue to allow public visitation to the falls.
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