Otter and Big Creek Falls

I love a good hike, and this was a good hike.  The hike to Otter and Big Creek Falls was fairly easy, maybe slightly longer then I was ready for (10 miles round trip), but I made it back to the car so all is well.

We were at the Snoqualmie Lake trailhead by 10:30am to start our hike to Otter Falls and then Big Creek falls after that.  The last bit of the road leading there is quite full of potholes and my car is absolutely filthy!  The road wasn't so bad that it can't be done by a regular sized car, you just have to pay attention to where you're going before you get there.

Right at the trailhead is a bridge that crosses over the Taylor River (see picture above).  It was absolutely beautiful and I could tell we were going to have a wonderful day.  Thankfully the rain was only a sprinkle from time to time, barely enough to make it through the trees.  The trail is beautiful, winds through old growth.  There was moss everywhere and the ground cover was beautiful.  The bleeding hearts were in bloom along with violas and a few trilliums still had their blooms.  Along the entire hike you could hear the river, waterfalls and birds.  It was just perfect out today!

Richard was slightly surprised by the number of people out on this trail as it's not one that is commonly called a busy trail.  I didn't think it was all that busy, especially for Memorial Day weekend.

We stopped at Otter Falls and had lunch, so beautiful.  I was reading online that you can't even see the top of the falls from where we were.  Now I want to hike somewhere I can see the whole thing.  It is the third highest falls in the state.  I loved the way the water slides down the rock face!  Just beautiful.  It falls into the beautiful, tiny and incredibly clear Lipsy Lake at the bottom!  I loved it!

After stopping for lunch at Otter Falls we went the extra half mile to Big Creek Falls, they were gorgeous as well.  There is a bridge built by the falls, at one point and time there were plans to build a road out here, for one reason or another those plans never happened.  The bridge makes for a great place to sit and enjoy the roaring fall!

After Otter Falls and before Big Creek the trail isn't quite as well maintained.  I caught a pretty neat picture of Rosco and Richard jumping the fallen trees!

There was this really cool looking cracked boulder in between the two falls, I said to Richard "Take my picture in the crack".  He says, "Why, are you serious?"  I say, "Yes I'm serious, people take pictures of silly things all the time".  I think the picture is cute.  Here's that picture and the boulders without me trying to squish between them with my pack on.

Did I mention just how amazingly green everything was?  The moss was hanging off of everything, drapping the trees in green. It was absolutely beautiful!  There was another small fall with a bridge crossing it along the way, Martin Creek Falls, I love the picture I got of that.  One of the washouts that was rebuilt has quite a few little rock piles that people have made, I always think they look neat.  Lets see what else did I take pictures of? Oh yes, the mastedon tree, we liked it. 

Thanks for checking out the pictures from my hike, I hope you enjoyed them!  I had a great time hiking, so many beautiful things to see.  God really did make a gorgeous place for us to tend!