| Taken (Date) | Added to Wikipedia (Date) | Coordinates | Accuracy of Coordinates | Facing (N,E,S or W) | Facing (Upstream or Downstream) | Camera |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 20th of 2009 | July 30th of 2009 | 49°09′52″N 120°34′29″W / 49.16444°N 120.57472°W | Almost Exact | Northwest | Upstream | Nikon |
I believe this is the first ever image of Similkameen Falls to ever be posted onto the internet that actually gives one a good idea as to what the falls look like. Well, not completely, but it does give one a very good idea as to what the first drop of the falls looks like. This one, which can be found on Google Images, is a bit troublesome because although it shows the lower portions of the falls it is really small even at full size (& becomes blurry if you try to make it big on Word so either way it's hard to understand). It was probably taken by some person sitting in the navigators seat of a car that was driving by (nothing wrong with that; the main picture on the Okanagan Lake article I took from the navigator's seat as we were approaching Trepanier). While not a gem, it is an okay shot (they could have made it bigger on Google Images for sure!)
Anyhow, this shot shows the uppermost drop of the falls. Like it says in the description, it's not very tall but the cool part about it is that it is so narrow & all the water of the Similkameen River goes through it, creating a powerful punchbowl (it drops into a deep pool). It was low water when I saw it but it sure would be interesting to see when the river is high!
It is actually kind of cool how the river suddenly just drops into this chute without any real warning. It is just bubbling along beside some cabins there (there is a gravel road that branches off the highway at 49°09′55″N 120°34′47″W / 49.16528°N 120.57972°W but it is gated off because the cabins are obviously not for rent or the people want to be left alone) before suddenly thundering through this chute & exploding into a deep pool. After that are some big rapids; all of which make up the falls. From the start of the chute to the base of the falls the river drops about 25 feet. Whoever named this location Similkameen Falls obviously had had too much Captain Morgan's that day because they resemble rapids more than a waterfall or cascade. I have several pictures of the middle portions of the falls however they really are not very good because they are taken from almost 250 feet above the falls.
You may or may not notice this looking at the picture casually but there are remains, on both sides of the river, of an old bridge that actually crossed the river directly above the first drop. You can see one of the two remains in the right side of the image if you look closely. The other remain is out of sight in this picture as a tree is blocking views of it.
I'd like to congratulate myself for becoming the first person to put a clear, easy-to-understand picture of Similkameen Falls on the net!
