Goat Falls

Bacon Creek formally begins its journey to the Skagit River by cascading immediately from the outlet of idyllic Berdeen Lake in the form of a rather scenic 282-foot tall waterfall set in a slot canyon-style recess in the bedrock. The falls are made up of seven tightly grouped individual steps, with no more than about 10 linear feet between each one – sometimes significantly less – so that when viewed from below it appears more or less as one continuous drop. The narrow alcove which the falls occur within also serves to obstruct views of the falls from all but a head-on angle, but as the falls twist slightly counterclockwise as it descends, the upper tiers are a bit less visible from where the lower tiers can be clearly seen. Below the falls Bacon Creek meanders through a large meadow pockmarked with wildflowers and the summits of Hagan Mountain looming above to the north (and apparently frequently populated with bears as well). Bacon Creek at this point in its course is significantly smaller than at its mouth, however the stream is continuously fueled by multiple sources upstream which allow the volume to remain consistent throughout the year. Berdeen Lake, immediately above the falls, is one of the largest alpine lakes in the state of Washington and often remains entirely frozen until August. Additionally, two modest glaciers on the east face of Hagan Mountain provide an ample inflow to the lake when (or if) the winter snowpack melts off.We recently stumbled across a photograph of this waterfall dating back to 1916 captioned as "Goat Falls, Bacon Creek". The photographer who produced the picture was not identified, but the source of the picture seemed to be archives from the US Forest Service (pre-dating the modern National Forest Service). This also raises questions about whether the larger falls downstream (Berdeen Falls and Green Lake Falls) may have also been named at one point in the distant past as well.