Emerald Pool Falls

Emerald Pool Falls is pretty, but all too often ignored 60 foot waterfall along the North Cascades Highway east of the National Park complex. An unnamed stream sprays sideways into a narrow gorge, then slides down a long, smooth bedrock ramp interspersed with several pools that possess a beautiful opal green color. Unfortunately, the two best examples of these pools were filled in during the floods of 2003 and 2004, but the color can still be seen near the bottom of the gorge. The falls themselves appear to have been untouched by the flood. I am almost certain there are more tiers to the falls which can't be seen from the bottom of the gorge, which may bring the total height of the falls up to, or above 120 feet. When the creek is low enough to walk to the base of the falls, make sure you have either both hands free, or a walking stick of some kind (tripod works well) to support yourself when climbing up next to the slippery slides, as well as shoes with good grip - the rocks in the area are extremely slick and a fall here would inflict a lot of pain.I had named the falls in 2002 after the beautiful series of pools along the creek below the falls, but the name has lost much of its meaning as of 2003, so if anyone has a good suggestion for a better name, I'm all ears. "A Waterfall Lover's Guide to the Pacific Northwest" erroneously labels this Beebe Creek Falls (Beebe Creek is a mile north).