Hourglass Falls

As Chinook Creek cascades down from its source in Tipsoo Lake, it drops over many waterfalls, each of which get progressively taller and more significant than the last. The fourth falls down from the pass is an exceptionally scenic 36-foot veiling fall we are referring to as Hourglass Falls for a striking hourglass shape which the main column of water forms as it cascades down the cliff. The base of this waterfall is situated only about 230 feet upstream from the top of Upper Chinook Creek Falls, but because the two cannot be seen together at all we opted to list them individually. Between these two falls Chinook Creek also accelerates through a short but very narrow gorge where it drops another 15 feet or so. At this point along its course, Chinook Creek is sustained entirely by snow melt from the Chinook and Cayuse Pass areas. Though the creek technically heads in Tipsoo Lake, the lake is not large enough to ensure a stained flow throughout the summer and the outlet will sometimes dry out as the water level drops. This means that Chinook Creek itself behaves almost as a seasonal stream at this point - though it rarely seems to actually go dry. In following, Hourglass Falls is not terribly noteworthy a waterfall beyond the beginning of August, but because it's relatively easy to access it may still be worth investigating if one can confirm an adequate flow is present in the creek where it crosses Highway 123.This waterfall has not been previously recognized by name, and in our effort to come up with a title for reference we felt the most striking feature about the falls was the distinct hourglass shape to the central part of the falls.