Bridal Veil Falls
Sunday, June 28, 2009I'm so thrilled to be able to blog again about family hikes. Yesterday was another beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest, so we decided to go for a short day hike to acclimate Jesse--now age 3--to the idea of it. (Plus, Connor was nearly boycotting hikes since a couple of previous experiences had not gone so well for him, so I was hoping to get him interested again.)
Our original plan was to visit Troublesome Creek, about an hour's drive east from our house. We got to the little town of Index, WA, and were supposed to drive 10 miles past, but a sign said the road was closed. So, we stopped at the general store and asked the shopkeeper what to do. She said, "Oh yes, Troublesome Creek. You go left on that road, and drive about 10 miles." She pointed, and then added, "But you can't, because the road's washed out."
Yes, but tell me something I don't know!
"But, hey, you can camp anywhere along the river!" She added helpfully. "And hiking, there's hiking everywhere!"
We left the store and I consulted my wonderful guide book "Best Hikes With Children: Western Washington & the Cascades" (which unfortunately is a little out of date, as it turns out). It told me there was another trail very close by. The trip to Bridal Veil Falls was supposed to be 2 miles each way, and we figured we could never make it, but we thought we'd go ahead and walk a little bit.
We started on the trail, which was an old logging road, through a lovely forest. We crossed a creek a few times, once over a rickety bridge, a few times over rocks, and sometimes we just splashed through the shallow water. Jesse and I walked slowly, stopping to admire leaves and rocks and things. We all took breaks to throw rocks at trees. Bella kept trying to herd us along.
Rick and I took turns carrying Jesse on our shoulders for stretches of time, but he did quite a bit of walking and climbing himself and eventually we made it the 1 1/2 miles to the turn-off for the waterfall. The last stretch was a bit hair raising, climbing some rocks, a lot of rustic railroad tie staircases, but eventually we made it to the waterfall! Oh boy was it worth it:
I took this picture with my camera phone! It's really much more impressive in person, of course. Jesse loved how the mist was coming off the rushing water and splashing him in the face. The big boys thought it was very cool, too.
Here's another not-so-fantastic picture of me, the three kids and Bella
I'm so happy to report that a good time was had by all, even Connor, who doesn't want to go on another hike today, but would be open to one in the future!
