Whatcom County

This is Racehorse Creek, a tributary of the North Fork Nooksack River. Racehorse Falls is located upstream near the notch in the distant trees. We were there recently with a group of school kids doing some fossil hunting and exploring of the geology.

Saturday we hiked to Racehorse Falls just upstream from where the creek of the same name empties into the Nooksack River. The hike is a short scramble over downed trees and boulders, though it is a bit more difficult to get to the vantage point from which the second picture was taken. I wanted to try some time exposures, but it was late in the day, the light was not very good and this was the best I could do. This was shot in RAW and processed Canon's Digital Photo Professional.

I'm finished with photos from Australia, at least for a while and am going to post some pictures from back home in Washington. This is of Racehorse Falls (if you look carefully you can see the outline of a horse's head next to the falls). I was there on October 6 along with a group of school kids exploring and hunting for fossils. The area is littered with fossils of ferns, palms, leaves and other plants embedded in shale and sandstone and that fit well with their earth science studies. The falls are on Racehorse Creek, a tributary of the North Fork Nooksack River and are worthy of a visit apart from the fossils. The inset photos show some of the fossils that can be found there.

This is another shot of the same falls I posted recently, this taken from up near the main falls. This part of the falls drops about 30 feet or 10 meters. There are a few moere smaller sections above and below the falls but this is the most impressive.

Racehorse Falls is in the foothills of the North Cascades, not very far from where we live. It is named for the horse-head shaped opening to the left of the falls, not visible here. We were there in March with a friend who had not seen the falls before and due to an abundance of rain there was more water coming over the falls than I've ever seen. It is quite an adventure getting to the base of the falls when the water is high, though somewhat easier on the other side of the creek. Racehorse Creek is a tributary of the North Fork Nooksack River.

The photo was taken from Oyster Dome in the Chuckanut Mountains and looks to the southwest over Padilla Bay, Samish Island and Hat Island, the refinery on Fidalgo Island, the town of Anacortes (also on Fidalgo Island) to Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains in the background.

This was taken just a couple of hours ago from Oyster Dome in the Chuckanut Mountains and looks out over Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands. Son Edward, another friend and I are planning on climbing Mount Baker in a couple of weeks and decided to do the Oyster Dome trail this evening as part of our conditioning for the climb. We ended up going with a group that included my wife and number of other friends and did the seven mile round trip in a bit under four hours. We started at 6:00 and had to come down in the dark which seriously delayed us, but the sunset at the top made the difficulties of the descent worthwhile.

Racehorse Falls is named for the outline of a horse's head that appears to the left of the falls in this photo. The falls are on Racehorse Creek not far from where the creek empties into the North Fork Nooksack River. The falls drop 139 feet in four cascades and at the base of this part of the falls there is a large pool. My wife and I were there this summer with Edward's girlfriend and another family friend and after crossing the creek and climbing up to the pool the three girls decided to go swimming (pictures of them swimming can be found at the link below). The days was very warm and we had climbed Slide Mountain earlier, so I am sure the water felt wonderful, but I decided to stay dry. Slide Mountain (located above the falls) and the falls themselves are one of our favorite places for a day's exploring. Do you see the horse's head?

Racehorse Falls is not far from where we live and in the foothills of the North Cascades. Racehorse Creek, the creek on which the falls is found feeds the North Fork Nooksack River. The falls is named for the shape of a horse's head which can be seen to the left of the falls in this photo. When we visited the falls last, at the time of this photo, there was not a lot of water coming over. At snowmelt time, however, the falls are much more spectacular than this.