Klahanie Falls

Bear Creek is the first major tributary to the Baker River (though technically Lake Shannon at this point) which the Baker Lake Road crosses. The stream is quite unassuming at the bridge, but about a half mile downstream it begins a tumultuous tumble, dropping over four major waterfalls in a little over half a mile. Though not the tallest waterfall along the creek, this is by far the most pronounced and most powerful. Here, Bear Creek wraps through a narrow gap in the bedrock and explodes outward in a forceful plunge of 59 feet into a huge pool. While we had known about the uppermost of the waterfalls along Bear Creek for some time, it wasn't until the area became visible on Google Earth that the existence of this waterfall came to light, which surprised us even further upon visiting the falls and observing the relics of the abandoned hydroelectric scheme which Bear Creek was incorporated into. Near this waterfall the penstocks leading to the lower powerhouse can be seen, as well as a nearly perfectly preserved early 20th century steel high tension tower. Fortunately the falls remained unsullied by the development.Bear Creek appears to have been incorporated into no less than three hydro stations along its descent to Lake Shannon, all of which were likely in operation in the early years of the 20th century and were abandoned when the Lake Shannon Dam was completed in 1925. Because of the significant development in the area, there is a good possibility that this waterfall was named at one point, but any such supporting information has yet to surface. In the interim, the name Klahanie has been proposed by local waterfall hunter Aaron Young. Klahanie is a Chinook jargon word with a stem meaning "out" and in some contexts "outdoors".