<< Little River Trail - Once again but a little farther
 

04/18/24 - Sol Duc Falls and Canyon Creek

We hadn't been to the Sol Duc Valley since the fall when we went to watch the salmon fighting their way upstream. This time, we were going to look for trilliums and other spring flowers. Sol Duc Falls is about an hours drive from Port Angeles, but it is one of the prettiest drives in Olympic National Park. Most of the park is roadless, so visitors drive around it on route 101 which runs around the park so it isn't a prime national park experience. Heading west from Port Angeles, route 101 runs through the park along the south short of beautiful Lake Crescent. To get to Sol Duc, make a left turn after the lake and head deeper into the park following the river.

It looks like the hot spring resort is being spruced up for the season but not open yet. We drove to the end of the road. The parking lot was almost empty. We hiked to the falls which is about as far as most people go. The falls are pretty spectacular, roaring under the bridge, nested in the forest. We cross the river and headed up into the hills on the very rocky trail to Deer Lake. It was rough going with rocks and high steps, and we didn't get anywhere near Deer Lake or even the snow line. We made it to the bridge over Canyon Creek. That was enough hike for us.

On the way down, we spotted trilliums, but spring has just started here. We'll be back again soon. Maybe we'll get a bit farther. If not, we'll enjoy the falls and the climb.


The forest trail

Sol Duc Falls

Down below

Ferns

Canyon Creek

The little bridge over Canyon Creek

An old stump

Snow on the mountains across the valley

Pacific dogwood out of season

The rocky trail

Oregon grape

Mushroom log

Trillium

More rocky trail

Life on the rocks

More rocky trail

Even more rocky trail

Small waterfall feeding into the Sol Duc

Another look at the falls

A side creek

Forest green

Another side creek

More trilliums

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