Impassable unless you scale the ‘do not scale’ high slope to the left, and pass through a small loophole at the top.
Having passed the cliff, you may walk up-stream for a little way, until the path crosses to the other side. Another cliff prevents further passage on the left side. The only way across the river is this rope. Having carefully studied ‘Rambo III,’ I knotted my arms and legs around the rope and headed across the river. Getting to the middle was no problem, but then I discovered that the downwards-sagging rope started to slope upwards, my head got lower than my feet, and I couldn’t seem to move. I was about two feet above the icy, rushing water, and visions of it cascading over the waterfall not far beyond filled my mind. Fortunately, a small rock was beneath me in the middle of the stream, allowing me to touch down, reverse my position on the rope, and continue :)
Further again upstream, the river passed between two sheer cliffs. For the very keen, a climbing route was visible up the face of the big mid-stream boulder.
For the less-keen such as me (hey that water was c.o.l.d!), it was up the cliff to the right of the boudler. It wasn’t too steep, and fortunately an old climbing rope dangled from the pine tree near the top.
At the top of the scramble, this cliff offered about six visible climbing routes for the fearless. Well known to local climbers as the ‘Wall of Winter Warmth,’ because of its sunlit position, it complemented about 35 other routes on the surrounding cliffs, according to a brightly-colored climber I encountered.
I rounded the corner at the top of my scramble to discover a beautiful little cave, complete with campfire spot, above a 50 m drop to the river below. This was the view across to the other cliff.
Although close to Boulder Falls car park as the crow flies, this hidden valley would very rarely have suffered the touch of human feet, protected as it was by massive cliffs and a fast-flowing river. Beyond it, the river wound onwards to destinations unknown. My guardian angle needed a break, and besides, night was coming, and so they remained unknown. It looked very ‘Tolkeinistic,’ for fellow Lord of the Rings devotees.
