Tag: Waterfall

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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Ah, a reminder of Summer

Reminder of Summer

I was going through some past photos and came across this one that improved dramatically when I spent some time with it in Lightroom. It was from a backpack trip up the Elwha River valley in the Olympic National Park a few years ago. A nice hike … especially since it was before the road washed out and so was 10 miles shorter than it would be today. Just one of the many unnamed streams.

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