Mount Defiance, Mount Defiance (Oregon) & North Lake — Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2007

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Starvation Creek Waterfalls 4/18/07 Starvation Creek State Park, just off of I-84 on the Oregon side of the Columbia gorge offers 4 large waterfalls within a short 2 mile hike. They each have different shapes, characters, and settings. The first is Starvation Falls just east of the park picnic area. It falls 186 ft. with a large volume. Rated 4 stars. Next heading west on the trail (#413 Mt. Defiance) is Cabin Creek, 3 stars. After the trail Heads uphill for a bit comes Hole In The Wall, also 3 stars. Finally after a bit more climbing, with views down to the Columbia River, comes Lancaster Falls, 4 stars. On this rainy, gray day I left my large SLR camera in the car and packed a miniature Olympus in a safe dry parka pocket. I did get several photos of each falls (shielding the camera under my hood). Some spring wildflowers are out in the Gorge. On this trail I saw lots of Bleeding Heart, Solomon’s Seal, Siberian Spring Beauty, and Saskatoon. Other than a 50 ft. muddy section the trail was in perfect condition. The star rating system is from Plumb’s book “Waterfall Lovers Guide to the Pacific NW”. As a reference point, Snoqualmie falls gets 5 Stars, the highest rating. Ratings are of course subjective, but are based on height, volume, beauty and uniqueness. Robert Michelson