On what we knew would be our last visit to the frozen waterfalls of Matthiessen State Park, we were lucky enough to find the two waterfalls in this canyon still frozen. The other more popular and easier to access waterfalls were no longer frozen, so these were exciting to find still somewhat frozen. While not quite complete, and missing the intricate ice patterns that form when the weather is very cold, they remained interesting to explore.
Generally, we could climb behind the ice and enter the caves formed by the ice, but with the warm temperatures and melting ice, it was very wet, and a little hazardous if a huge chunk of ice decided to break loose and fall. While the ice looks a bit undefined and dirty as it melts, the running water provides a fun challenge to capture - especially when you leave your tripod behind and need to attempt a slow shutter photograph holding the camera.
This waterfall is one where we usually explore the cavity behind the ice, and it's tall enough to stand up inside, and about 12 feet tall to the first major cascade on the rockface. We did head inside but were immediately soaked with water dripping from above. We were already soaked to the knees from crossing the swollen stream at the head of the canyon, we didn't need to get our gear wet as well.
After crossing the stream, we had a narrow strip of ice to walk along to reach the waterfalls. This is often a shallow creek in the warm months, so generally only about 3 inches of our boots get wet, and in this area, only the soles. Mud is usually the normal in this section, so the remaining ice was a welcome sight, almost like a white carpet leading us to the frozen falls.
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