Back to one of my favorite trails. Falls are amazing and lunch on Lunch Rock is a must. 

We arrived at the trailhead at about 9 a.m. on a beautiful sunny Wednesday morning. Still tons of parking available in the main lot. I even remembered to bring my Northwest Forest Pass. Bathrooms are better than average.

It was pretty warm and muggy on the way up and the bugs started before the turn off for the falls. They weren't biting, but just a bit annoying. Annoying enough that we stopped and pulled out the bug spray and that helped alot.

With the temperature likely to hit at least the mid 80s, we debated skipping the falls since we'd all been there before, but we decided to tough it out. We also wanted to check out the great new rock staircase that WTA finished last week. Stairs look great. Falls never disappoint.

Back to the main trail and up to the lake. Trail is in great shape. Rocky as ever and lots of stairs. We hardly saw anyone on the way up. There were two groups of 4 on Lunch Rock when we stopped there for lunch. Then my daughter went for a swim and we headed back.

Another great day in the woods. We were all glad for the drinks we left in the ice cooler when we got back to the car. Only complaint is Zeke's is closed on Tuesday/Wednesday so we weren't able to get our favorite Huckleberry Frozen Lemonade on the way home.

Arrived at the trailhead just before 8:30am on this lovely summer Tuesday. Ten cars were in the parking lot when I arrived, with ample room for more. Toilets were clean and well-stocked. Trail is in good condition, the couple crossings are shallow and easy to cross on rocks. Trail towards the falls becomes rocky and uneven interspersed with trail stairs, a nice work-out for the lovely pay-off of one of my favorite local waterfalls. The falls are lovely, if not at peak spring raging, but the cool mist is still there and lovely ready after the climb. Buttercups and other flowers still blooming, salmon berries are mostly done for the season, but I was able to find a handful. All in all, passed about three dozen other hikers and returned to my car shortly after 10:30 to find the main parking lot close to full, including several summer camp vans unloading groups of hike-ready kiddos. Happy hiking!

I am hoping to one day see these falls. My BF and I came to hike to the Falls this Saturday and made the mistake of not making it an early start. At 9:30am the small parking lot was already full and cars were being parked along the one lane gravel road, both sides I might add. The crowd prepping to climb to the falls was close to the line going into a Taylor Swift concert. 

 Since we like to enjoy quiet nature with our hikes, we opted to hike this one another day. A day when this hike had been pushed out of the limelight by a better hike. 

My advice? Go early and during the week, Not in the summer? 

The trail was mostly unobstructed except for one fallen tree that was easy to go over. A couple of small creek crossings (not very difficult). Much of the trail is quite narrow, single file, so coming up to people going the opposite direction can make for slow going. The elevation gain made for a solid workout and we were both sweating by the time we reached the falls despite most of the trail being shaded. Fortunately, the falls put off a gentle spray that is a perfect cool off. Bugs were pretty heavy, so bug spray would have been good.

Well maintained trail, some bugs along the way. A moderate amount of people on the trail.