Category: Waterfalls

Sol Duc Falls

Sol Duc Falls – 1 (upstream from the bridge)

We hiked to Sol Duc Falls on the first day of the government shutdown. The ranger station / toll booth was closed so I didn’t have to show my lifetime pass. The Sol Duc River is on the Northwest corner of the Olympic National Park … there is a fully commercialized hot springs about 2 miles below the falls … getting to the falls is a short hike (about .7 miles or 1.1 km) up the Sol Duc Trail – which is a section of the High Divide Loop … the most heavily visited back country area in the park. It’s a well maintained trail, but has a lot of exposed roots from having the dirt eroded away from the hikers constant tread.

Sol Duc Falls – 2 (downstream from the bridge)

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Enchanted Valley Trail

Enchanted Valley Trail 1

The Enchanted Valley Trail runs up the East Fork Quinault River valley in the Olympic National Park. It is one of the most heavily used trails in the park. The big attraction for hikers is in the spring and early summer when they hike in to see the abundant water falls (some claim a thousand) flowing off the ridge to the north side of the valley as the snow melts out of the high country. In the summer, many hikers cross the Olympics using the North Fork Quinault trail up to Anderson Pass and then continuing on the West Fork Dosewallips trail. Below is one of the many stream crossing.

Enchanted Valley Trail 2
View from the East Fork Quinault Trail

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A Refreshing Break

A Refreshing Break

Any time you have a small (in this case, unnamed) creek crossing the trail, you have an opportunity to enjoy some natural air conditioning. Nothing is finer on a hot summer hike than walking through a cool breeze coming down a stream channel. This was the North Fork Quinault trail at mile 10 or so, in the Olympic National Park.

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Waterfalls

Small Waterfall on Unnamed Stream

The North Fork Quinault is one of the main access trails into the central area of the Olympic National Park. The Quinault valley is prime rain forest and there are numerous small (often unnamed) streams crossing the trail. The one above was one of these unnamed streams. I was pleased with the way the water blurred with this hand held image.

The image below was taken a few miles further up the valley, close to Low Divide … the point where the trail quits climbing and drops down the a junction with the Elwha River Trail at Chicago Camp. It shows Seattle Creek … which drains off of (wait for it) Mt. Seattle.

Seattle Creek Cascading Down from Mt Seattle

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