Scouting Update: Lava Canyon WA.

Mt. St. Helens Washington

On the flanks of Mt. St. Helens lies some of Mother Nature's most dramatic geology! In a amazing bedrock canyon hides a series of cascading waterfalls. This is Lava Canyon! Lava Canyon Falls was formed by the 1986 eruption of Mt. St. Helens which caused a lahar and flood which scoured out a canyon that had been filled with dirt and mud for 1,800 years. The Muddy River's course was redirected to that canyon as a result of the lahar and the floods The canyon drops 1,400 feet (426 meters) in 2 miles (3.2 km). In steep creek'n terms that is 7ooft per mile! About double the Little White Salmon in its steepest section. As the Muddy river approaches Lava Canyon the river changes character from a rocky and probably constantly changing river bed to solidified bedrock. The amazing designs in the cliffs is cooled lava and what looks like layers of Basalt. You can see the different stages of cooling in the multiple layers and shapes of rock as you pan the cliffs that tower over the Muddy River.

This pic shows the dramatic geology and different cooling stages of the surrounding cliffs

But enough about the geology, there is some amazing whitewater in this canyon! How runnable is it?...... Well..... lets just say bring your a game. Besides the fact that it is probably illegal, it is a 1st-d for obvious reasons ultra steep, large drops, portages, and short pools. Yes there are some pools between drops and yes the river is accessible at river level. Runnable? You will have to go check it out and decide for yourself. If you do go let me know and stay out of trouble!

The Muddy River as it approaches Lava Canyon Pure bedrock delight in Lava Canyon

There are about 3-4 nice drops before the river drops over a unrunable 60-70 ftr.

Drop #1
Drop #2

Drop #3
The lip of the unrunable 70 ft. drop You can get an idea of the size of this drop if you look at the two people standing river right on the rock above the falls.

Once the canyon descends the 70ftr it takes off downstream dropping over multiple smaller waterfalls.

Looking down the canyon from the top of the 70ftr

The first in the series of smaller falls with the large drop seen in the background These two drops looked to be some of the best. The top drop looked clean and fun.
Both drops were over 20ft tall. The bottom drop was very narrow, probably just big enough to get a boat through
Looking down on one the falls from the wood suspension bridge
This is the lip of the drop in the pic above showing the foot bridge overhead

Here is what you see when you look down stream. This gives you an idea of how steep the canyon is.

The 2nd drop in this shot is a bit of a dicey one! The only water that was not re-circulating back towards the falls was the water at the end of the boiling pool where the walls start to narrow up. It looked like the pool was maybe 10 ft or so but I have to keep in mind that we were 100ft above the water. If I had to guess on the length of the pool I might assume it to be more like 15-20ft. in length do to the distortion in size because of the height of which we were viewing the drop.

According to the info I found on the Internet there is a 200ft falls in Lava Canyon. The trail leading down stream looked to be washed out from high water so we never saw it. I am sure that one can get to it if they want, but our light was dwindling so we hiked back to the trail head. Many of these photos were taken from areas that were closed by the Forest Service. I do not recommend trespassing as I am sure the consequence is a stiff fine, not to mention it is a dangerous area from exposed cliffs.

This is a cool video of the drops looking down from the bridge

As the sun set I was able to adjust the lighting on my waterproof Olympus Digital camera and catch some amazing color as the sunset reflected of the clouds. What an amazing place! I have not seen to many other places that rival this in pure natural beauty. This place is truly a phenomenon of Mother nature. If you have not had the chance to get up to Lava Canyon take the time to do so this upcoming Spring/Summer after the snow melts and the road opens again.

Happy Holidays!