After hiking Soda creek falls on Sunday, Dennis and I decided to avoid more hiking in the rain and instead turned our quest to finding the snow line. We turned back west from Cascadia state park and took forest service road 11 on the eastern side of Foster Dam. After crossing Foster the road turns east along Green Peter dam, which is what Quartzville drains into.
One of the typical waterfall/streams running into Quartzville creek(f/22, 1 sec, ISO 100)
The Quartzville creek is protected as a National Wild and Scenic River act of 1968. This act was passed to protect rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational value. Quartzville was protected on October 28, 1988 and protects a stretch of the creek from the boundary with the Willemette National Forest down to the slack waters of Green Peter resevoir. Quartzville was protected for its recreational value and spans twelve miles along the creek and is managed by the BLM.
The sign for Quartzville Creek National Wild and Scenic River
Flowing from the western side of the cascades the creek cuts down through the volcanic basalt and other country rock and eventually joining with the Willamette river. Due to the geologic environment that the creek runs through there is lots of quartz(SiO_2) associated with the sediment it carries down from the mountains. This is how it got it's name, from a time in the past when mining was prevalent and quartz and small amounts of gold were pulled out of the region
A nice rapid feature on Quartzville creek just above where it drains into Green Peter Dam
Same spot longer exposure(f/22, 0.62 sec, ISO 100)
As seen in the images throughout this post you can see that Quartzville has many unique and big water features. This makes it one of the the more dangerous kayak runs in the area. According to Soggy Sneakers it's a class IIII-IV and should only be run by experienced boaters. As fun as it looks it's still a bit above my boating level so for now I'll just continue to explore it and photograph the beauty this area has to offer.
The top half of a nasty double drop, the bottom drop is tucked in a narrow slot canyon just below
As far as I know the whole of forest service road is paved. But if you want to do a little hiking or exploring fs road 11 has many gravel roads spurring off of it heading to remote trail heads or just up into the forest. Dennis and I decided to take one of these gravel roads and tried to flow it up along a small tributary flowing into Quartzville. The road eventually climbed away from the small stream so we turned around and continued up 11 in our search for snow.
The gravel road we adventured down for about two miles
After being back on 11 for a couple miles we came to a spot with a nice viewpoint looking up the creek and I made Dennis pull over so I could snap a couple photos. Daylight was still strong and Dennis agreed and stopped without any protest. It was still drizzling a bit so I tried to be quick about it. I think we were there about twenty minutes as I adjusted camera settings and took a plethora of shots so I would have multiple options to choose from when I got home.
An upriver look at Quartzville creek at the pull off
Same spot as above photo with a longer exposure(f/22, 3.2 sec, ISO 100)
After I was satisfied we loaded back in the truck to continue our search for snow. The temperature was about 38 degrees and we figured that snow couldn't be too much further down the road. I think we were back driving for about ten minutes before I saw the flow of water coming down out of the trees ahead on my side of the road. I asked D to stop again so I could snag a couple shots. I was finally set up and comfortable with my settings and where I had the tri-pod when I head the crunching of gravel coming towards me. I looked to see a nice BMW coming right towards me, I was standing almost in the middle of the road, and I got out of the way. The couple waved at us and had two of the biggest smiles I had ever seen on their faces. I snagged a couple shots and we got back on the road following the happy couple up to the snow line.
A stream that flows into Quartzville creek(f/22, 1/2 sec, ISO 100)
From here we didn't stop again till we found the snow, it was probably another 10 miles past our last stop. We started climbing in elevation and watching the temperature drop until finally we found the snow!!! There was probably about eight inches to a foot deep on the sides of the road. There were ruts and we had a nice city BMW in front of us so we continued up into the snow with confidence that we might be able to make it all the way back to hwy 20 on the eastern side of fs road 11.
Snow in the trees and alongside forest service road 11
Not to far after the above photo we came along two full sized trucks coming down the road towards us. Behind them I saw the BMW turning around, Dennis pulled off to the side where a spur road climbs away from fs road 11. I hopped out and went to talk to the gentleman in the truck. He said that it was too deep to punch through to hwy 20 and about a half mile up the road someone was stuck broadside in a jeep. I relayed the info to Dennis and we decided to turn around before things got to dicey. The trucks pulled away around a corner as the BMW drove past us, madly waving and smiling at us again. Something about those two moments created a bind between us somehow in my mind, I don't know why but I could just feel that they were good people and we would probably get along. I started guiding Dennis to get us turned around when I looked back down the road and saw the BMW stopped in the road. They waited there until we were completely turned around and heading down the road again behind them. Like I said, genuine good people. They didn't have to wait for us, hell the trucks didn't and they would have been more helpful in the case that we got stuck or slid off the road.
Dennis spinning the rubber turning around
Not to far down the road the BMW pulled over to let us pass, we exchanged waves and big smiles again. I was starting to really like this people. Just above the snow line I asked D to stop one last time so I could shoot a waterfall that I saw running down a cliff face on our way up the hill. Not thirty seconds after I was set up here came that BMW. This time they were still waving except this time they were laughing madly at the fact they just let us pass them and now so soon they were passing us again. I took my time taking the pictures so they could get a little head start on us.
The last photo of our Quartzville adventure
Once back heading down 11 it didn't take too long before we caught our friends in the BMW again. And without a beat they pulled off at the next available spot letting us pass again for the last time. We exchanged laughs through our windows and one last wave before we put the snow, mountains, and creek behind us. Dennis and I joked about stopping again to let them pass but we just giggled and kept going.
The Quartzville creek National Wild and Scenic River area is as beautiful as it is vast. We only spent about five hours exploring it from inside the truck, and I can say that I will definitely back when winter retreats and hiking conditions in the cascades become more favorable. I highly suggest you get out and find the beauty out your own back door! The rewards given by nature are priceless, help make these rewards possible for everyone by practicing leave no trace principles whenever venturing out doors. Always go prepared for the worst case scenario, take a map, a compass, water, warm clothes and plenty of extra food. The outdoors are a gift that we are in charge of taking care of. I took all these photos with my Panasonic DMC-G1 with the aid of a tri-pod in many cases. Thank you for taking the time to look at my photos and reading my words!!!!!
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