I was heading out to Packwood for the weekend, and this little complex of hikes was the perfect leg stretcher. I rolled through Ohanapecosh Campground around 4PM, and found quite a few open parking spots in the day use area. There were signs that the campground was already full, but only the east section was open. Everything over the bridge was not available to campers and was coned off.
I opted to do the Silver Falls loop clockwise, and hit the trail. Though there is no view of Rainier in this section of the park, the deep forest and river breezes make it a wonderful option for hot days. While my car registered 85 degrees, I was never too hot and was in shade the entire time. The flipside of this is that it gets very dark as soon as the sun drops behind the ridge. Be advised if you are hiking later in the day.
I took the spur to Grove of the Patriarchs before looping back to Silver Falls. It is obviously still closed, but I wanted to see if there had been any progress made on it. I'm in agreement with Stever's last report, it appears that little to no work has been done. It's definitely not opening this season and I'd be shocked if it opened in 2024, either.
Silver Falls was still rocking and rolling, even this late in the season. The river is a deep, hazy blue and I even spotted some ambitious souls swimming in the bowl of the falls, despite the cold temps and snags.
Making my way back to the parking lot, I swung back up to the hot springs. In my opinion, they weren't very compelling, but the colors and the smell of them were interesting to note.
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