Once again we found ourselves back in the Gifford Pinchot Nat'l forest, it was a great way to spend the 4th of July! Last week we had gone to hike back in to Falls Creek Falls and never made it...too many neat roads to distract us!! Yesterday we made it and I even got to see my second bear in the process, not a good view of it mind you but a bear non the less.
It was cold enough here yesterday morning that we pulled the top back up on the jeep and ran the heater....just had to throw that in for all of you sweltering in the south...our high only reached 76....anyway, I had read an article in the paper about this waterfall and how it was so far off the beaten track that it didn't get many visitors but was just as beautiful as the ones in Oregon along the interstate that have a steady stream of visitors. I said....hummmm, sounds like just the place for us to find!!
It took us a good 2 hrs along dusty back roads to get to the trailhead for the falls and then it was a 1.7 mile hike(VERTICAL)...just to get to the base of the falls...there is an optional 6 mile hike to get to the top of the falls....don't think we will ever do that one!! The effort was well worth it as the trail itself weaved thru an old growth forest of Douglas Firs and Western Cedars with Falls Creek beside us most of the way. The Falls itself was worth the hike as it crashed down from over 250 ft into a small pool of water and on into the creek. Seeing something like that in the wild with no guard rails or anything was a first for me...it was amazing to walk down to the pool and look up and feel the power so close. The spray sure felt good after that climb as well!!!
If you feel spry when you come to visit, we'll spend a day and take you off the beaten track....maybe you'll get to see more than a bears butt as it goes off the road down a hill!!
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