Thimble Creek

A nice open creek with lots of swept bedrock. The descent of the lower section is pretty action-packed without much walking between rappels. There are at least three options:

From the Lewis River Horse Camp, follow FR 93 northward for 5.8mi to a T-jct. Turn right on FR 9341 for 0.2mi. You will pass the top of Thimble Creek (good checkpoint). Continue just head to find two decent campsites, one on the left (drive in) and another on the right. If no shuttle, thrash your way up the north side of the creek and bear over into the hanging valley to begin the first drop at ~3,800 feet. The walk is through a beautiful forest, although the bushwhacking is thick in places. Expect the approach to take at least an hour even for experienced off-trail hikers. Return to the T-jct and head south (straight) on FR 93. Continue for ~6mi before taking a sharp right turn onto FR 9331. Follow the main road upwards for ~3mi to locate the unsigned Blue Lake Trailhead. This road has several large berms, so drive caution. High clearance probably best or a 2WD you don't love too much. The shuttle takes about 20min one-way. At the Blue Lake trailhead, locate the unsigned trail heading off north into the forest. It's obvious when you see it.

Watch your footing in Thimble as it can be quite slippery. At the bottom of R3, follow the water downstream through an overgrown talus field. The slide alder has grown over the top in places to create sort of a tunnel. This section takes awhile and is the worst part of Thimble. When you can exit the creek DCR/DCL into forested terrain and head downstream a short distance. When the banks start getting steep on either side, drop back into the creek (now wider), and continue a few minutes down to the start of Lower Thimble (R4) - see below. This is a northern tributary of Thimble that's probably best visited earlier in the year for water. It was a trickle on the FD in September. Head downstream to arrive at Upper Thimble Falls (N-R1 & N-R2) at around 350ft high. It is rappelled in two stages. DANGER - A dangerously sketchy traverse is currently required to get up to the N-R2 anchor, which is another big tree DCL above the next drop. Getting to the anchor is very difficult/impossible to protect. It would be much better if another rappel station could be established somewhere in the bowl or one of the tiers above. A quality bolt station would make the next stage a lot safer. Options for natural anchors as an approach anchor were limited to non-existent. e Short drop: 15ft. Downclimb DCR or rappel. At the bottom the creek flattens out and the terrain opens up. Continue downstream to a short 6ft drop. Downclimb DCR. Below this last step, you've reached the hanging valley between sections of the creek. Either stay in the creek and follow it down, or exit DCL and follow animal trails down to the top of the lower section. Distance is around 0.2mi and takes about 10min. Easy off-trail. Continue with Lower Thimble. Somewhere in the valley the tributary enters from Blue Lake and the the flow will double, if not more. The lower section of the creek has 6-8 rappels and none bigger than 200 feet. Beginning the descent around 3800' elevation, expect a minor downclimb or two before things get rolling. Thimble could use some bolts to stay in the flow. Below R7 are several downclimbs. Bypass a big fallen tree DCR. Climb down an easy ramp to reach a logjam barricading the creek. It proved possible to downclimb around it DCR. This is right above R9. Continue downstream ~5min to the road. There are a couple minor drops that can be easily downclimbed. On reaching the culvert, exit up to the road.

At the culvert, scramble up the bank to the road. Turn left and walk 1min back to your car. If you're not beat and have a little extra energy, go through the culvert. A few hundred feet downstream, reach a large bedrock waterslide. Continue downstream a few hundred feet. Just ahead is the confluence with Straight Creek. The creek abruptly changes character becoming quite broad and full of rocks / fallen trees. Just before reaching the confluence, exit the creek DCL wherever is easiest and go right up the nose of a forested ridge. It's a little brushy but not that bad. Weave in and out through the trees staying right on the nose. You'll pass a nice view of the 70ft falls on Straight Creek. Keep going and bear slightly climber's left when the terrain flattens out. Pick up a user trail that leads you back to the campsite where you parked.