Upper Rainbow Falls

RATING - 38.0

VR - 8.0 (Big) HR - 4.0 SR - 6/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Very Difficult

LOCATION - Baker Lake Road

TYPE - Plunge

HEIGHT - 70'

WIDTH - 20'

GPS - N48 47.191 W121 42.312

ELEVATION - 2681'

DIRECTIONS - No directions provided. Dangerous access.

Rainbow Falls is one of the few named waterfalls around Mt. Baker. A through-the-trees view of the falls can be had from just off the Forest Service road. Unbeknownst to most people, there is another waterfall about 2 miles upstream on the creek. I had seen one set of pictures of the falls before my trip. The pictures were taken from the creek, looking into the face of the falls, which were two side-by-side plunges with some steep boulder cascades above. After two failed attempts, I finally reached the falls on my third trip. The only clear view I could find was between a couple of branches while perched atop a 100' sheer cliff. What I saw was one large, very powerful plunging drop of around 70' tall. Above that the creek cascaded amongst some large boulders, making it a little tricky to figure out where the waterfall officially started. Upper Rainbow Falls isn't exactly pretty, but it was extremely powerful and if one was able to get to the base (probably by rappelling down the cliff) it would be quite a sight. As is, I highly recommend leaving this one alone. It's almost as tough to view as Rainbow Falls itself, but you have to bushwhack through two miles of thorny hell to get there.