Marie Falls

Marie Falls is one of two waterfalls along the upper reach of Nickel Creek that remains a bit of a mystery. The falls have been marked on maps dating back as far as 1916, but there seems to be very little (if any) evidence of exactly which waterfall was meant to carry this name. The current 1:24,000 USGS Mount Rainier East topographic quadrangle marks the falls at the 4700 foot level along Nickel Creek, however aerial imagery and LiDAR data available through Google Earth have confirmed that nothing even remotely resembling a waterfall actually exist at that location.
A 1914 map by produced by John H. Renshawe of the USGS places the falls roughly in the same area that it’s currently marked, downstream of the major tributary that drains from the large basin on the west side of the upper Nickel Creek catchment area. David H. White’s 1928 Atlas of Pierce County places it in roughly the same location as well. Neither however mark the exact location of the falls with the typical “tick” mark. The 1924 USGS 1:125,000 Mt. Rainier quadrangle marks Marie Falls by name, but not its sibling waterfall Mary Belle Falls, and again does not use a tick mark (there is a tick hown where Mary Belle Falls is thought to be located however). The 1917 Washington Geologic Survey Bulletin mentions the falls as occurring on “the eastern headwaters of Nickel Creek”, which suggests it may indeed be located near Mary Belle Falls instead of further downstream where it’s currently mapped (below the confluence with the western headwater stream), but this reference also mentions what is now Twin Falls Creek as the “western headwaters of Nickel Creek”.
Given the lack of specific information and uncertainty about the location of this waterfall, based on what was observed when the area was surveyed in August 2017 we feel the most likely waterfall meant to bear the name Marie Falls is located at the 5250 foot elevation, just downstream of what we suspect is and which the Mount Rainier East quadrangle currently (and probably incorrectly) marks as Mary Belle Falls. The waterfall at this location is a sheer plunge type falls which drops 35 feet where Nickel Creek squeezes between bushes and an encroaching Cedar tree or three and drops into a small basin.
The drainage basin upstream of this waterfall is exceedingly small, covering only about one-tenth of a square mile in area, and ranging in elevation from 5250 feet to about 5900 feet above sea level. Despite the heavy winter snow pack which Mount Rainier receives, because of the open exposure of this basin (which is almost entirely alpine meadows) and the lack of permanent snow or ice to feed the creek, the volume of the stream will dwindle quickly once the snow has melted out for the season. When surveyed in early August 2017 the creek was found to be flowing with slightly more than what could be deemed a trickle of water. It is expected that by the end of August the falls may dry out entirely in most years.Marie Falls were named by former superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park Ethan Allen for Marie Hall, one of three daughters of Edward S. Hall, the first superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park. Because it's not clear which waterfall was meant to bear this name we are making an educated guess based on the consistent fact that both Mary Belle and Marie Falls have been marked on maps in the same fashion - Marie Falls being the downstream of the pair. Given the sisters each got waterfalls named for them, it seems likely that Marie and Mary Belle Falls would have been two waterfalls located in close proximity to one another.