Lower Cougar Creek Falls

Cougar Creek is a major drainage which spills down the north side of 7835-foot tall Sloan Peak, and provides the most direct access for mountain climbers seeking to summit the mountain. The climbers trail which provides access to the alpine meadows on the flank of the peak allows easy access to the more visible Cougar Creek Falls upstream, but only hints at the presence of Lower Cougar Creek Falls, which splits into two channels as the stream exits a narrow gorge and slides then veils 205 feet down a huge, broad rock face into a large and remarkably shallow rocky pool, lined with huge old growth trees and moss covering literally everything around. Though the falls can be partially seen through the trees from the trail, little evidence exists to suggest that this waterfall is frequently, or even seldom visited despite its prominence. Though Cougar Creek is located in an area which receives heavy snowfall during the winter, and the north face of Sloan Peak is well shaded to allow the snow to persist well into the summer months, it is not a large drainage and the volume of water present in the creek can be noticeably reduced during the dry summer months - one of the two channels of the falls may run entirely dry by the end of August. In converse, while the falls will undoubtedly be at their best during the peak of the snow melt season, because accessing the falls requires crossing the North Fork Sauk River without aid of a developed bridge, it may be extra difficult (if not impossible) to visit the falls while it appears most powerful. To further emphasize the access issues, the trail used to access the falls is indeed a maintained trail, however there is no bridge spanning the North Fork Sauk River, which is quite large. As of October 2013 there are logs in place which allow dry crossings of all four channels of the river which are encountered, however earlier in the year when the river is running fuller, some of these logs may not be possible to access. The North Fork Sauk should under no circumstances be forded on foot without knowing exactly where to cross - the water is swift and there are dozens of logjams in the area which could pin someone swept off their feet - and then ONLY when water levels are at a manageable enough level (anything more than lower thigh-deep and you should not attempt a crossing).