roadtrip | summer 2011 | sat aug 6 | hot spring, cold lake & a waterfall

We left the campground after a lovely pancake breakfast, and headed up the road to Sol Duc. The sun was shining and the mountain valley filled with daisies, foxglove and yellow buttercups.

We stopped along the road at a trailhead for the Ancient Grove, and wound around through moss and giant trees. The trail went alongside the Sol Duc river, which carved the valley down from the snowy peaks. It was rushing below, fast for so late in the season. There are many places where the river has carved out the banks, leaving an enormous tree's roots exposed. Only a few well-placed supports keep the giants standing upright. Fallen trees, too, dot the forest floor in all states of decay.

These old-growth woods are the stuff of fairy lands, with wood bridges, sunlit clover and carpets of thick neon moss. It's a place of decay—but not the sad, ruinous type of decay, rather the joyful thick scent of wood so old and wet and soft it falls into pieces at a touch, where beetles and birds flicker in and out of the sunlight, and creatures make their homes in the hollows of giant tree trunks.

We kept going up the road to the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, a developed site with several different pools. We took in the baths and the stinky, sulphury water for a couple of hours. The fountain pool was warm and soft, crowded with visitors of all ages. The small pool was hot and muscle-meltingly delightful, even in the warm sun. And the big pool was the perfect temperature, and it was fun to dive and swim in the un-chlorinated water.

At the Sol Duc Hot Springs, cold pool.

After the springs we kept going another mile or so to the end of the valley, where the trailhead starts for Sol Duc Falls. We ate our lunch on the grass in the parking area. It was sunny and warm, with clear skies. After lunch we headed up the short trail to the falls, through more of the mossy glens with towering trees. There's a rock cascade on the trail just before the falls that captures the tranquil beauty of trickling streams, the thousand little creeks that feed the rivers that follow the rivers to the sea.

Small cascade, Sol Duc Falls trail.

The falls themselves are beautiful, a steep cataract through a water-carved gorge flowing fast beneath the foot bridge. Not the biggest, or grandest falls we've ever seen, but delightfully rich. Standing near the top at the overlook, the water sprays out in a fine mist. It must be a different feeling to stand in that place on a cold, gray autumn day, but on a warm sunny Saturday in summer, it was perfect.

Sol Duc Falls, at the top of the falls before the bridge.

We drove back down out of the valley and to Lake Crescent, but instead of going back to the campsite we went to visit the Lake Crescent Lodge nearby. It's one of the old Park Service lodges, on the south-eastern shore of the lake. There are little wood-sided cabins, a boat house with a dock, and a rustic-style lobby and lounge.

We rented a canoe and paddled around, over to a small cove to swim and see the drop-off underwater. Adrian and I wore our goggles and looked out into the turquoise depths. The girl at the boat dock said the lake is known to be at least 625' deep, but many believe it is much deeper.

When we were warm and dry after our swim, and after returning the canoe, we had a rest and a drink at the lodge. We sat on the begonia-strewn veranda looking out at the lake. I can only imagine what it must have been like 80 years ago -- wealthy Seattle lumber barons dressing for dinner, hiking to the falls in woolen coats and tall leather boots, rowing on the lake in the early mornings.

On the veranda at Lake Crescent Lodge.

We got back to camp around dinner time, and roasted hot dogs on sticks over the open fire. We cooked s'mores and went to bed happy and tired.


read about Sun, Aug 7th>