Lower Twist Falls

Lower Twist Falls is the first waterfall which is encountered as one follows the East Fork Miller River upstream from the inlet to Lake Dorothy in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The falls drop 36 feet as the river is squeezed through a notch in a low cliff and funnels from a broader stretch into a narrower column of water as it cascades into a small pool below. During periods of heavy flow the falls make take on a more block-type appearance, while in the late summer months we expect the falls to revert to more of a placid cascade. The East Fork of the Miller at this point in its length is considerably more limited in its flow by the drainage basin. The area feeding the river upstream of the falls is about 3 square miles in size, harbors one moderate size lake, and encompasses an area entirely at or above 3300 feet above sea level, so though the basin isn't terribly large the mountainous terrain will ensure that the winter snowpack will retain well and contribute an even flow to the river well into the summer. By the end of August however, expect the volume of water to drop off significantly - perhaps by as much as 80 percent.We stumbled across a photograph of Twist Falls in the US Library of Congress' online archives taken by F.W. Cleator in 1928. Considering the location where that photograph was taken, this waterfall would have almost certainly have been seen as well. Whether the 1928 party felt it should be considered part of Twist Falls, or whether they simply didn't name it, is not known.