Delate Creek Falls

Delate Creek Falls is found where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Delate Creek within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The shortest approach to the falls is 9 1/2 miles via the Pete Lake Trail and the PCT or 8 miles via the Pete Lake Trail, the Pete Lake Cutoff (which requires fording Lemah Creek) and the PCT.The Pacific Crest Trail passes many waterfalls in Washington, but of those the falls on Delate Creek are probably the most frequently photographed. Delate Creek, fed by the waters of several lakes and snowfields, crashes 95 feet down a funnel formed by heavily fractured granite, roaring under a bridge and out of sight below. At high water, part of the creek splits off at the top of the falls and forms a second segment of the falls about 100 feet to the north of the main channel that actually floods part of the PCT early in the melt season. There appears to be a larger waterfall a short distance downstream, but due to the extremely thick underbrush around Delate Creek, if its possible to approach it, it will require a level of patience that most don't possess.