On the last day of May, 2002, I took the day off and hiked up to the falls on the North Fork of the Blackfoot River. It was a gorgeous sunny day, with Spring in the air. Too good a day to spend inside or working.

It's seven miles up to the forest service cabin, and another mile from there to the falls. Most of the way, the trail winds through a forest badly burned by the Canyon Creek Fire of 1988. Many of the trees have started to decay and are now falling over, and high water this spring sent some of them down the river. At one point, I could see a tree completely spanning the river right at water level; not a good thing to see if you are coming down the river in a boat!

About three miles up, the trail crosses the river, just after the Scapegoat Wilderness boundary. It's a good place to take a break, relax, reflect, and recharge.

I didn't get started very early, but in less than two hours I was at the cabin, and another twenty minutes or so and I was at the falls. And what a spectacular falls they were! Hot weather was taking a lot of snow off in a hurry. Everything was white foam, from the falls itself to the water for over a mile downstream. In the pictures below, remember the scale. Most of the things that look like sticks in the water are full grown lodgepole pine trees.

Before the falls, there is a half mile or so of canyon that was nothing but foaming white-water.

The falls themselves are in two parts. The upper part is not particularly high, maybe 15 or 20 feet. The water comes through a narrow slot, then dumps over the falls into a big pool. Often there is a tree bridged across the slot, but at this high water level you couldn't see much except foam. The pool had a few trees lodged here and there, waiting for a disruption of the currents or increase in water level to free them and send them on over the big falls. I kept hoping for that to happen, but was disappointed.

The tail of the pool then dumps over the big falls, crashing to the rocks below. In the third picture, note the "sticks" next to the shore in the lower right hand corner. They are full grown trees.

It was fun to sit on the edge and look down at the torrent of water churning on down the canyon.

The wildflowers were starting to pop out, as well as serviceberry and other shrubs.

Just before the falls, there is a small pond. It seems oddly situated, more or less at the top of a ridge.

All in all, a great way to start out the hiking / riding / boating season!