Upper Stevens Creek Falls

At the head of Stevens Canyon, there are two large waterfalls; Upper Stevens Creek Falls, and Fairy Falls. Fairy Falls is the taller and much more famous of the two, though is difficult to reach. Upper Stevens Creek Falls is by far the superior waterfall, even though its two-thirds as tall as Fairy Falls. However, and very much to my surprise, even though it is sublimely easy to view this waterfall, I have never heard mention, nor ever seen a (good) picture of this waterfall until I made a serious attempt on it. Even more shocking is that this is easily one of the best waterfalls in the state. Let me run that by you again. This, one of the best waterfalls in Washington State, located within spitting distance of a tourist-magnet trail, is virtually unknown to the world. I can think of two defining factors for this misfortune. One, the trails in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park are lined with "Do not trample the meadows" signs (for good reason, of course), and Two, even though the falls can be viewed literally 200 linear feet off a major trail, they cannot be heard at all unless you are standing at the edge of the canyon in which they are situated. There are faint paths along the canyon rim, evidence that I am not the only one to have ever looked down upon this waterfall, but it is almost startling to me that the National Park Service hasn't built so much as a spur path to a point where the falls are plainly visible. Unfortunately, like most of the great waterfalls of the Northwest, there is a downside to this one as well. Even though the easily accessed views of the falls are quite impressive, they do not justly illustrate the magnitude of this waterfall. Significant off trail travel is necessary to view this waterfall properly, and due to the fragile nature of the area, I will not post directions to said viewpoints. Needless to say the easy-to-reach viewpoints aren't ideal, but they do well in a pinch. In addition to the sub-par viewpoints, the 375-foot falls thunder into a narrow, barren canyon, where snow often lingers due to the lack of exposure. Despite these small shortcomings, it's difficult not to consider this one of the great waterfalls in the northwest.Logic would dictate that this waterfall was known just as well as Fairy Falls was when Mount Rainier was being explored in the early 20th century, why it escaped being named is a mystery (though there are reports that a Granite Falls was named approximately 3 1/2 miles from Paradise and that mileage could conceivably be worked out to fit this location).