Little Mashel Falls - Bud Blancher Trail — Saturday, Mar. 25, 2023

woke up to an overcast sky in Tacoma and knew it was a perfect day for a solo waterfall hike. arrived at the parking lot at bud blancher trailhead around 9:30, only a handful of cars. there's a porta potty, very clean and well stocked at the TH. first 1.5 miles are gravel walking trail, as soon as you hit the turn to mashel falls, it's mud and rocks and up.

I stopped at all the falls and they were each pretty great. not a lot of people on the trail until I was heading back. I missed the turn off to the upper falls at first and had to double back. it leads you to the top of the middle falls and you might mistake it for the upper falls.

mud was no joke. by the time you get to upper falls, the whole trail is nothing but mud. it gets pretty technical in places. I kicked myself for leaving my poles in the car several times. I didn't get a the way to upper falls since I was solo and didn't have my poles. I didn't go behind the middle falls either as I saw a young man slip a lot when he went back there so I figure better play it safe.

parking lot full when I got back around 12:30.

tl;dr - great hike, lots of up, lots of mud.

happy trails