<< Marine Drive

10/16/23 - Sol Duc Falls

We took a quick trip out to Sol Duc Falls. We didn't go much farther, but we enjoyed the easy hike from the trailhead to the falls proper. En route, we stopped at the salmon cascade, a narrow stretch of the river where the salmon have to leap dramatically to continue upstream. We saw seven fish all told. It's really a matter of luck, but we were clever this time. We had seen six salmon making their magnificent leaps and then, for a fair while, nothing. So, one of us cleverly said in a loud voice that the fish were likely to hear, "That's it for today. I guess there are no more fish coming." No sooner than we had uttered the magic phrase, one more salmon took its great leap.

Then, we headed on to the trail. The forest was suitably dark and green, and there even the minor streams by the trail were gushing nicely. There was spray at the falls, dramatic fall colors and the Sol Duc River racing and plummeting down the falls and under the foot bridge. It was as impressive as ever.


The salmon cascade

That's where the fish leap.

Still watching for a fish

The forest

More forest

Greens and browns

More of the trail

Fall foliage

One of the trail workers

Sol Duc Falls

Another view of the falls

Our spirit animal

Along the trail

Some green, some brown, some mushrooms

More mushrooms

The spirit of the forest

The forest recycles itself.

Another bunch of mushrooms, probably poisonous

The mules heading back for more gravel

More mushrooms

A mushroom forest

The mule team loaded with gravel

Bringing up the rear

Keywords: salmon, sol duc