Blum Basin Falls is a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

Whatcom County Whatcom County (, ) is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the Canadian province of British Columbia to t ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. It is located in

North Cascades National Park North Cascades National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in Washington (state), Washington. At more than , it is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the No ...

on the headwaters of

Blum Creek Blum Creek is a small glacial tributary of the Baker River in Washington state, in the United States. It is sourced from the Hagan Glacier and another unnamed glacier on the north face of Mount Blum, and flows approximately from there to its mo ...

, a tributary of the Baker River. Fed by two small retreating glaciers and several snowfields on the southern side of

Mount Blum Mount Blum, or Mount Bald, is a summit of the North Cascades range in Washington state, on the western edge of North Cascades National Park. It is the highest summit of a string of mountain peaks located east of Mount Shuksan and west of the Pi ...

, the waterfall is formed by the largest meltwater stream that feeds the mainstem of Blum Creek. The falls tumble down a high glacial

headwall In physical geography and geology, the headwall of a glacier, glacial cirque (landform), cirque is its highest cliff. The term has been more broadly used to describe similar geomorphic features of non-glacial origin consisting of a concave depress ...

several miles within the national park in two distinct stages; the first is a series of slides over rounded rock, above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

, and the second is a series of near-vertical plunges to the forested valley below. Although most of the falls is clearly visible, parts of it are obscured by tall pines that grow at its base. There is no trail leading to the waterfall.

Etymology

The falls takes its name from the creek, which in turn receives its name from Mount Blum, which was named for

John Blum John Joseph Blum (born September 8, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Detroit Red Wings between 1982 and 199 ...

, a

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

fire patrol pilot killed in an early 20th-century plane crash.

Statistics

The series of cascades totals in height, although this distance has never been officially measured. The falls occur over a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

of Blum Creek, although again, this distance is only approximated. During peak flow, when high temperatures accelerate melting of ice and snow in the upper basin, the creek may be able to flow over per second, with an average width of . Contrarily, during low winter temperatures, the ice and snow ceases to melt, and the falls diminish in volume or may stop flowing completely.

History and access

In 1920, the first reported sighting of the falls was by Pacific Northwest photographer

Asahel Curtis Asahel Curtis (1874–1941) was an American photographer based in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. His career included documentation of the Klondike Gold Rush, Klondike Gold Rush period in Seattle, natural landscapes in the N ...

, who also photographed the falls. However, as that date was before Mount Blum was named, the waterfall was also unknown and unnamed, and remains obscure to this day. Today, the Baker River Trail leads upstream several miles along the Baker River, and as it crosses Blum Creek, one may obtai
a view of the upper portion of the falls
The falls is also visible from a portion of the Shuksan Lakes Trail, which climbs

Mount Shuksan Mount Shuksan is a glaciated massif in the North Cascades National Park. Shuksan rises in Whatcom County, Washington immediately to the east of Mount Baker, and south of the Canada–US border. The mountain's name ''Shuksan'' is derived fr ...

on the opposite side of the Baker River valley. From this trai
better views are obtained
However, as the falls are not the best in the area, and as more well-known Sulphide Creek Falls is close, the falls are little-known by most visitors to the area.

References

{{Authority control Waterfalls of Washington (state) North Cascades of Washington (state) Waterfalls of Whatcom County, Washington North Cascades National Park Cascade waterfalls Segmented waterfalls

Etymology

Statistics

History and access

See also

References