Silver Falls Loop
May 15, 2010
by
Dave from Indy
—
last modified
May 16, 2010 02:10 AM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Silver Falls Loop
- Region: Mt. Rainier -- SW - Cayuse Pass / Steven's Canyon
- Agency: Longmire Wilderness Information Center
- Avg Rating: 2.90
Silver Falls from foot bridge.
It's good to be back on the trails around Rainier. Cayuse is open, but Stevens Canyon Road and the Ohanapecosh VC are closed. We had never visited the Grove of the Patriarchs, so ducked into that lot and set out for the grove.
The giant firs, hemlocks, and spruces are truly inspiring - and we took our time on this short loop.
However, once that was done, we decided to head to Silver Falls and the Ohanapecosh Campgrounds and back, just to stretch out a bit.
It's a very easy hike. The trails are well maintained and have very little vertical to them. What vertical there is runs up and down the cascades, of which Silver Falls is the most notable.
It was a stunningly beautiful day, and once the trail opened to the Ohanapecosh River, we were very glad we'd decided to explore this section of trails. The river is clearly different from the other rivers and streams coming off of Rainier's glaciers - there is no sediment in the water - "glacial flour" - produced by the grinding of active glaciers. The glaciers that feed the Ohanapecosh do not move; no grinding, no rock dust in the river.
Once we encountered the first of the many significant cascades - and they were THUNDERING with many thousands of gallons of water per second - the deep percussive sounds of the falls dominated the senses. There were plenty of places to step out onto huge outcroppings to get a birds-eye view of the various cascades. We spend a good half hour on one, eating lunch & soaking in the awesome spectacles all around. Finally, we headed on down to Silver Falls, the crown jewel of these cascades. We had the wooden foot bridge to ourselves - no crowds this day. In front of us, Silver Falls and natures own "Bellagio Fountain", behind us a very tight and somewhat tubular box canyon through which the Ohanapecosh rapidly escaped the turbulence of the cascades above. We spent another 20 minutes here, switching our gaze from the towering jets of water kicked up as the thundering falls exploded into the rocks and violently tumbling water below the falls to the beautiful yet completely contrasting spectacle of a beautiful turquoise stream calmly yet rapidly moving through a very tight box canyon.
The rest of the trip was pretty routine. From the Grove of the Patriarchs to the Ohanapecosh Campground and back, the loop was about 4 to 5 very easy miles. I'm not quite sure why this loop only rates 3 stars - unless it is dragged down when the river is at much lower levels and the falls not nearly so spectacular.
Come in the early summer - - it's most definitely more than a 3 star ! !
The giant firs, hemlocks, and spruces are truly inspiring - and we took our time on this short loop.
However, once that was done, we decided to head to Silver Falls and the Ohanapecosh Campgrounds and back, just to stretch out a bit.
It's a very easy hike. The trails are well maintained and have very little vertical to them. What vertical there is runs up and down the cascades, of which Silver Falls is the most notable.
It was a stunningly beautiful day, and once the trail opened to the Ohanapecosh River, we were very glad we'd decided to explore this section of trails. The river is clearly different from the other rivers and streams coming off of Rainier's glaciers - there is no sediment in the water - "glacial flour" - produced by the grinding of active glaciers. The glaciers that feed the Ohanapecosh do not move; no grinding, no rock dust in the river.
Once we encountered the first of the many significant cascades - and they were THUNDERING with many thousands of gallons of water per second - the deep percussive sounds of the falls dominated the senses. There were plenty of places to step out onto huge outcroppings to get a birds-eye view of the various cascades. We spend a good half hour on one, eating lunch & soaking in the awesome spectacles all around. Finally, we headed on down to Silver Falls, the crown jewel of these cascades. We had the wooden foot bridge to ourselves - no crowds this day. In front of us, Silver Falls and natures own "Bellagio Fountain", behind us a very tight and somewhat tubular box canyon through which the Ohanapecosh rapidly escaped the turbulence of the cascades above. We spent another 20 minutes here, switching our gaze from the towering jets of water kicked up as the thundering falls exploded into the rocks and violently tumbling water below the falls to the beautiful yet completely contrasting spectacle of a beautiful turquoise stream calmly yet rapidly moving through a very tight box canyon.
The rest of the trip was pretty routine. From the Grove of the Patriarchs to the Ohanapecosh Campground and back, the loop was about 4 to 5 very easy miles. I'm not quite sure why this loop only rates 3 stars - unless it is dragged down when the river is at much lower levels and the falls not nearly so spectacular.
Come in the early summer - - it's most definitely more than a 3 star ! !
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Jill sizes up one of the Patriarchs
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NOT Silver Falls - a lovely little cascade in a stream that meets up with the Ohanapecosh.
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One of the many upper cascades ...
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