Otter and Big Creek Falls

by oBelIX

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/taylor-river

All right, tl;dr, we did this on a day when there was a lot of snow and very little water in the Otter Falls. It was disappointing; a 10 mile walk in snow and slush. Or perhaps we just complain a lot … who knows …

Let’s get cracking. We left on a Sunday that turned out to be a good day despite a gloomy start. As usual, food was gulped down at Panera and Subways (yes, I intentionally misuse that word, and no, I do not remember the reason why) were purchased.

The drive on I-90 was routine. That is one of those fancy-artisty-photos-of-something-awesome-in-the-rear-view-mirror which did not come out very well.

After getting of I-90 and onto a dirt road (this was one of the times I was not driving because apparently the road has potholes which a sedan cannot handle – pure BS that was) we were driving next to the Taylor river and we got some great views. There is just so much water here, and very nice, pale green water. There was a lady with a big-ass camera on a tripod taking pictures. We pulled up behind her, I took down the window, took a picture with my Nokia Lumia 900 ™ and we carried on.

this phone does a decent job

and there were kayakers in the cold

and a tributary joining the Taylor river

Oh and since we are in the cascades, as a friendly reminder, there were quite a few mountains nearby. See below.

So, we drove, on this road which had potholes which a sedan could not handle and we drove and we drove some more in a behemoth SUV. Eventually, we reached the start of the trail and everyone had to take a leak.

The hike started off well enough, like any hike. It’s a total of 650 feet of elevation gain which is nothing.

We crossed a stream (above) and were soon greeted with what was to be our constant companion through the hike.

Snow.

More SNOW.

Yet MORE SNOW

and YET MORE SNOW

to say that there was Snow On Trail would be an understatement

The snow did have it’s advantages. The sophisticated, well-mannered gentlemen that we are we soon came up with ways to amuse ourselves. The most fun way was to throw snowballs at whoever needed to take a pee break which did reduce the number of pee breaks that were taken. Also, snow is very comfortable to life on.

that was epically comfortable,
just look at the dude in red,
asleep on a feather bed

a snow angel was made. the depression is someone’s butt

So, after much walking, we reached Otter Falls. We clambered over rocks and did what in hindsight seems dumb. Otter falls was this sliver of water that drained into a frozen lake. It was picturesque.

I liked Otter Falls

A little further on we reached our target. Big Creek Falls.

Yes, that. That. After all that walking in the snow.

We sat down. Ate.

hell yeah, nothing beats a subway, the sauce oozing out, soaked into the bread.

Then we walked back. To pass the time there was a little snowball fight.

Did I survive the snowball? It was headed right at me.

We walked back in the evening. I am not much of a photographer but even I know that the light was amazing. The best picture of this hike is the one below, I just love the way the sunlight is shining through the trees.

I did get a little creative. So did Tipo but he hasn’t shared his pictures so …

After that it was just a long walk back to the car.

The boots were a light tan when I started the hike.

we were tired, really tired

10 miles will do that to you

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