Okay, we have already hiked a Falls Creek Falls, but that was when we were camping in Twisp, WA and the National Forest was Okanegon Wenatchee. This time we were in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, about 25 miles north of the Columbia River and just west of Mt. Adams. Again, a beautiful drive through forest land with huge Douglas Fir and Western Cedar trees looming over us as we drove along FS 30. Found the parking area, changed into hiking boots and off we went.
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| Lovely drive in to the trail head |
Well worn path, very flat, it is also a bike trail and also horse trail, neither we saw. Passed some folks coming back, said to keep going - well worth the trek. Passed over a foot bridge, then started the climb. We eventually would climb 1,150 feet up. I got very pooped out. Not knees or foot problems, just hard to climb up and up and up. Passed over the second bridge and Dave wondered how they got the structure up to this point. Looking at it closely - it was treated wood.
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| Falls Creek flowing below us |
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| This second bridge was made of treated wood. Impressive |
And up we climbed. Could eventually hear the falls, saw our first peek, then kept going. The end result was spectacular. Have to say that the best waterfalls I have ever seen were at Yosemite, but this waterfall was rated just as pretty. Falls height was 334 feet high, one of the highest we have seen. And of course, if you went up, you have to go back down. In all we hiked 3.4 miles. Yippee!
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| First glimpse of falls |
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| Falls Creek Falls, awesome! |
Ask anyone who has had knee problems - going down is worse than going up. And it was the case. But, did return to the car much quicker than the going up!
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| Trail hugs just to left of this cliff, sometimes pretty narrow |
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| Couple of rock slide areas to maneuver through (those were tough) |
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| Got back to Columbia River and saw this barge heading to Portland |
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| Look closely - there are at least 18 windsurfers having fun |
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