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Happy Creek is perhaps known best for the quaint nature trail located off the North Cascades Highway near the Ross Dam trailhead. However the creek also possesses two major waterfalls as it plunges towards Ross Lake. The first waterfall is a very scenic stepped cataract that slides 38 feet into a pair of plunging horsetail over a schistose intrusion located within a fairy-like grotto filled with huge cedar trees and coated in a mossy carpet. Though the Ross Dam trail allows views right over the top of the falls from the footbridge at its brink, I had never seen pictures of the falls before visiting myself. As I walked back to my car, I also noticed strong evidence that Happy Creek went absolutely nuts during the 2006 floods - heavy scouring right above the falls and roots stripped bare just downstream seem to indicate that the creek swelled to 3-4 times its regular volume.
- Cedar Hollow Falls is the Proposed name of this waterfall.
This waterfall is not know to have a historic name, so I've proposed this name for the dark, verdant grotto and the profuse cedar trees populating it.
Cedar Hollow Falls are located about 1/3 of a mile along the Ross Dam trail near Diablo. Access to the falls is had by following the Ross Dam Trail from Highway 20 to the footbridge above the falls. Do not try to climb to the base of the falls from the top - hike further down the trail until the creek can be seen below the falls.
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