I did something a little different for me, and headed west to the area south of Tillamook. First stop was Munson Falls, but it's not so photogenic. Next stop, Niagra Falls... Ok, so it's not much of a "hike" at only 1 mile, but it was a new place for me - kind of nice and such. Also drove up to Mt. Hebo to see what's there - I was hoping for wildflowers, but it looks like everything is pretty "late" up there, still kind of brownish and chilly. (I did stumble upon a geocache up there though, who needs a GPS?) 

So, all the photos are just from Niagra... the ferns along the trail were just at that great "unfurling and fresh" stage... very nice. The trail also passes a falls called "Phantom Falls", but again, just not the most photogenic I guess. All these are described in the Sullivan "Oregon Coast" book. Didn't see any people. A couple pics are below, and more on my web site at:

http://www.phlumf.com/other/photos/niagra/index.htm

-Jonathan

Love these two shots, Jon.  Never would have though of shooting from behind the falls before - didn't look like there was much room back there my previous visit.  That fern is wicked too.

Also, FYI and to add to the ferverous waterfall debate on the site - the other waterfall is Pheasant Falls, not Phantom.  And for that matter, I have a strong suspicion that you've actually photographed the waterfall known as Pheasant Falls and Niagara Falls is actually the other one.  All photos and guidebooks seem to contradict this theory, but there is info on the FS website that leads be to believe it actually is switched around (plus, the plunging one IS on Pheasant Creek).

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Bryan Swan
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com

I think Pheasant Creek Falls is the one you see right from the footbridge..

 

Which should make this one Niagara from the front side..

 

And Munson Creek Falls isn't too bad when there's a good flow of water coming over the top...

 

The Siuslaw Forest Service site lists Niagara as a 'plunge-type' falls and Pheasant Creek as 'segmented' so I think I have them correct but that's just from the printed info....

Oh, Pheasant Falls then... oops... I kind of like Phantom better ;-). Actually, I don't like the name Niagra at all... It just sounds like someone was being lazy. I mean there is no lack of "northwest-sounding" names to use. Maybe there's some good story behind the Niagra name, but I doubt it. I'll have to look it up in the OR place names book.

Munson Creek Falls is a fine waterfall, and was flowing nicely, it's just that the viewing area is quite a distance from the falls, and I couldn't see an easy way to get closer without spending a lot of time. I guess it's all just a matter of what you like, etc... Here are a couple photos I took of each FWIW:

Munson Creek Falls:


Pheasant Falls:


-Jonathan

Munson Creek definitely looks nicer with all the greenery when you went vs. all the dead stuff when i went in the late fall. There is supposed to be a second old and unused trail that leads to a higher viewing spot along the upper north slope but i looked all over and couldn't find anything that didn't dead end a few yards from where I started.. It's got to be in there somewhere though... Chunks of it were washed out in floods of 1996.

Greg Lief has photographed Munson from the upper viewpoint - here's his photo from a few years ago:

http://www.pbase.com/greglief/image/55039892

-Tom

The old trail to the upper viewpoint at Munson Creek Falls is really heavily overgrown and isn't maintained any longer.  Its a shame, because its a fairly decent viewpoint, but I think the trees in the foreground might have gotten thick enough that its starting to lose its worth.  You can scramble up to the old view from the end of the trail to the base of the falls.  Its steep and crumbly (and you'd probably get yelled at by the State Parks people if you got caught) but its not too far up.  150 vertical feet or so.

This is what is throwing me off about the whole Niagara / Pheasant debate.  Look at the map and read the description on this website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw/recreation/tripplanning/tillnewp/trails/niagarafalls1379.shtml
The map illustrates the left waterfall as being on Pheasant Creek, which is correct, and then the paragraphs above it refer to it as "Pheasant Creek Falls", not "Pheasant Falls".  EVERY reference I'd seen up until I saw that had it flipped around and had Niagara Falls as the plunging one.  The second reason I really think we've all been getting it wrong all these years is because Niagara Falls was named for Niagara Point, not for the falls in New York.  Niagara Point just so happens to head the watershed of the small stream that the waterfall next to the footbridge is on.  Furthering this theory, the FS website calls Pheasant Creek Falls "a segmented waterfall of 112 feet".  Segmented in the waterfall bagging community usually refers to the stream splitting into two channels and creating parallel waterfalls, but it is often misused to describe a waterfall of two steps, one above the other.  The waterfall on Pheasant Creek does have a small upper step and it is clearly the taller of the two.  Because there have never been signs labeling each waterfall with their respective names, I think the reason we've all gotten it wrong is because the trail is named after Niagara Falls, and the falls on Pheasant Creek flow all year, while the other one dries out, so the fall on Pheasant Creek naturally would be thought of as the final destination.

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Bryan Swan
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com

Cool, haven't been to this one yet.  What kind of lens was used for the fern shot?  That is one dinky depth of field!

The fern was with a 100mm/f2.8 macro - shot at f2.8.
The waterfall shot was with a 15mm fisheye, so it's a bit distorted... sort of. I mean it really looks like that back there, but it's not like there some huge cavern.
The trail is pretty short, so I think it's worth stopping by some other short hikes nearby (i.e. Munson Falls), unless you live in the area of course...

-Jonathan

That's a pretty good explanation, Bryan - I'd run with it.

Tom