Wednesday, February 3, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Finding Valhalla in Sisters Country
This week, OPB will
premiere a new, half-hour
Oregon Field Guide special
that reveals an unexplored
geologic wonder in the
Oregon wilderness: a hidden
gorge featuring a chain of 10
waterfalls and unusual rock
features such as a “slot can-
yon” — a deep, narrow can-
yon formed by water wearing
through a geologic fault.
“Discovering Valhalla:
Oregon’s Hidden Gorge” airs
Thursday, February 4 at 8:30
p.m. on OPB TV and online
at watch.opb.org. In its larg-
est, most complex expedition
to date, Oregon Field Guide
traveled deep into the Mount
Jefferson Wilderness Area to
explore and bring back the
first images of the gorge.
The expedition is a result
of a discovery by retired U.S.
Forest Service employee
Mike Malone in the summer
of 2010.
While working as a heli-
copter manager on the View
Lake Complex fire, thick
smoke forced Malone to take
a detour and fly low over the
Mount Jefferson Wilderness
Area. As he flew over the
treetops, he happened to look
down and see what he thought
was a slot canyon. Malone
also noted a large waterfall at
the top of the canyon that he
estimated to be 100 feet high.
After his initial discovery,
Malone recruited a friend to
go into the wilderness with
him — only to be stopped by
a large waterfall they could
not get past. Four years later,
Malone and his experienced
climbing friends finally
reached the slot canyon he’d
glimpsed from the air. He
named it “Valhalla” after the
mythic Norse “Hall of the
Slain.”
He shared his discovery
exclusively with OPB, and
Oregon Field Guide assem-
bled a team for an expedition
in July 2015 to document the
gorge, including the slot can-
yon and impressive series
of waterfalls. The canyon’s
isolation and extreme condi-
tions would make it one of
the most dangerous projects
Oregon Field Guide has ever
filmed.
The expedition team of 24
individuals included:
• Retired Forest Service
employee Mike Malone and
his son Sean Malone.
• OPB Producer Jule
Gilfillan, OPB Senior
Videographer Todd Sonflieth,
and OPB Videographer
Michael Bendixen.
• Mount St. Helens
Volcano Rescue member
and backcountry guide Jared
Smith and his volcano rescue
partner Mike Williams.
• Uncage the Soul adven-
ture photographers John
Waller and Ben Canales.
• “Ascending the Giants”
arborist and rigger Brian
French.
• Safety rigger and arborist
Benjamin Trapanese.
After two brief scout trips
and some aerial reconnais-
sance, the “canyon crew”
of Valhalla explorers navi-
gated the canyon from the
100-foot waterfall Malone
first saw from the air, all
the way down through the
“Gates of Valhalla” slot can-
yon entrance. What they
discovered were towering
moss-covered cliffs that rose
straight up from the river-
bed and several waterfalls,
topped with a wide glade fed
by two 100-foot waterfalls
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from two different streams.
The explorers named this
area “Shangri-La.” They
also discovered a vaulted
grotto fringed with ferns and
trees deep inside the canyon,
which they named “Cathedral
Garden.”
“Discovering Valhalla:
Oregon’s Hidden Gorge”
reveals the never-before-seen
footage of the canyon and its
impressive number of water-
falls. It recounts the story of
the canyon’s discovery by
Malone, and illuminates the
impact of finding what was
once an undocumented gem
in the heart of Oregon’s wil-
derness. It also highlights the
extreme dangers of explor-
ing the canyon, which safety
experts advise should only
be approached by expert
canyoneers.
The half-hour Oregon
Field Guide documentary airs
Thursday, February 4 at 8:30
p.m. on OPB TV, and will
also be available to watch
photo Courtesy opb
adventure photographer Ben Canales in the Valhalla slot Canyon.
online at the same time at
watch.opb.org.
To learn more about
Valhalla, see photos, videos,
interviews and extra features,
visit www.opb.org/valhalla.