East Nickel Falls

This waterfall is marked with a generic "Falls" marker on the current 1:24,000 USGS Mount Rainier East topographic quadrangle. The marker shown on the map is actually indicated on the wrong drainage however, the falls instead occur on the next stream immediately to the southwest of the indicated location - there is a small waterfall on the marked stream however that stream is considerably lower volume (essentially just a trickle) and the next stream to the southwest is clearly the primary headwater channel for Nickel Creek. The falls drop a total of about 45 feet in two primary steps, each about equal in height. Both sections of the falls are heavily encroached by thick growth of Huckleberry, Heather, and small Alpine Hemlock trees, which makes viewing either part of the falls difficult. When a survey of the site was attempted in August 2017 the volume of water present in the stream was found to be exceedingly low despite the tiny basin above still harboring some snow from the previous winter, and coupled with the surrounding bushes obstructing portions of the falls, it was not worth spending the time to conduct a thorough observation of the feature. With a heavier flow the falls might be worth investigating fully, but if the observed flow rate is indicative of the average conditions to be found in the summer, this waterfall should be written off as insignificant in every sense of the word.