Fantastic Falls Finally!

I have been searching for a way to get to a waterfall named Fantastic Falls for almost 7 months. The first time I went looking for it, I gave up and instead found Crater Lake Falls coming of the northwest side of Mt. Si. It was pretty cool to find a 700 ft. waterfall without even looking for it. I also encountered a man who came out with his shotgun just because i was standing on a public street. Well I didn't go back in that area till about 2 weeks later with a friend who is a waterfall hunter as well and another hiker looking to get to the top of Kanim Falls to get some water.

Well I decided to go back last Saturday. I went up North Fork Rd and parked where I thought I would find the falls. Unfortunately a lot of topo maps are a bit outdated and the map became useless since the fork of the logging road I was on wasn't to be found. Well I went on a trek and I ended up finding Rachor Falls. Lets just say the in my hiking group NW Hikers I created stir with everyone wondering if I really did find it so easily or if I found a lower Rachor Falls that was unknown.

Well I went back again a day later to get more proof and take another crack at finding Fantastic Falls. Once again I never found it. Now on these hikes I been doing something that may send me to the loony hospital if I was doing it on the street, but for me survival comes first. What I have been doing is just singing to myself out loud. Loud enough for a bear to hear me or a mountain lion.

Now a mountain lion doesn't bug me as much. If I come across one I just act aggressive towards it and it should run away. It's the bears I'm worried about and I finally had my first indirect encounter with one. The moment I got out of my car I notice near the trail that there was freshly dug dirt. Then I noticed plants with roots and all near all these dirt mounds. Now I watch Man vs Wild religiously to learn survival techniques and the first thing that popped to my head was bear! Now I kept going, then I noticed poo, and no it wasn't a dogs either, they don't eat plants and this one had it all. Now I'm really signing out loud! Then near my photo area I notices that twigs and grasses were all flat as if someone had been laying on the ground. Well that was all I needed to know.Ii took my pics and got out. as I went out i notice fresh bark of a tree and then looked down and there in front of me were bear tracks. Now all that was missing was the bear and I had no intention of saying "hi" to Yogi Bear out in the wild. Made it to my car and in my car I had my lunch. That is the closest I have been to seeing a bear in the wild.

On Thursday I got a clue to where I might find Fantastic Falls. It turned out to be exactly where I thought it would be, except I had no idea how to find this road. Went back Friday and I found another road and took it. Well it wasn't it, but I came across what I thought were Boy Scouts, it turned out it was a husband and wife hunting for bears. Chatted with them and realized I was on the wrong road. Left the trail and went back to my car and drove looking for this road and then I found it.

Well I went on it and could hear the river roaring and raging. I knew the falls were close and from there on I let the "Force" guide me and I ended up near the falls! I had finally found them after 4 tries!! I knew there was a closer place to see them but it was getting late, so I went back today. Today I became the first person to get pictures of the falls that were basically forgotten and I "rediscovered" them. Yeah, I know I wasn't the first to see them again, but I know I'm the first to get pictures of them and submit them. Not even Washington State has a picture of them. So here it goes - pictures of a "lost" waterfall: