Fall in the PNW is without a doubt stunning. And short. Every October, I observe the season’s effect on my neighbor’s deciduous tree. It spans from their back yard into mine. And it quickly turns from green to deep red and finally orange and yellow. This all happens within two weeks, then it loses all it’s leaves within a week. We recently had some high winds from a “bomb cyclone” that hit the west coast this weekend. The tree is completely barren now.
Before this most recent storm hit, I decided to go to the Olympia Peninsula when we found a small window of time that wasn’t a 90% rain forecast. The days and even hours are far and few between. I find myself updating my weather app several times a day to make plans. We are last minute fall hikers, but there are numerous beautiful spots to catch the fall colors and refreshed forests soaking up the rain.
The Olympic Peninsula is massive, spanning roughly 3,600 square miles with snow capped mountains, rainforests, nutrient dense river systems, beautiful lakes, and miles of both rocky and sandy beaches. It also happens to be one of the last areas of the contiguous United States to be mapped and “explored” by settlers and colonizers. The peninsula is the home of We the Makah, Quileute, Hoh, Quinault, Skokomish, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, and Lower Elwha Klallam – tribes that have lived on this land since time immemorial and continue to have a relationship and connection to the land and the water. And that relationship is what will save the Olympic Peninsula. In the late 1800s, hungry for the abundant resources in the northwest, Europeans and Americans came to these lands. Diseases killed entire villages. They fished salmon from the fivers, decimated elk populations, and levelled the old silent giants of the forest. If you have been with me long enough on this page, you already know the strong feelings I have about our need for an interdependent relationship with the natural world – that our existence and future are tied to our treatment of each other and of the billions of organisms with whom we share space. The impacts humans have made on this natural world are obvious (to me at least). We have changed the course of rivers, flooded forest floors, and destroyed animal populations with our technology and innovation. Now we are starting to see how negative those innovations have been. And the tribes are leading the way by restoring native vegetation, partnering with state and federal agencies to restore the wild salmon populations (eventually weaning from hatchery dependence), and pushing for the 2019 removal of the Glines Canyon Damn on the Elwha River. They fought for their right to survive and their right to fish as declared in treaties with the US government. In the decades-long Fishing Wars, tribes used civil disobedience campaigns, coalitions, and the media to force the federal courts to grant them their rights. I cannot fully depict this history or give it justice in one blog. If you would like to read more, click here. It’s worth the read. Then one day we can talk about the violence and ugliness of capitalism on communities of color. And how that continues to this day.
We made our way north on HWY 101 on the right side of the peninsula. Hwy 101 runs the entire length of the peninsula arm, hugging the coastline a majority of the way while surrounding the Olympia National Park. It’s a full day of driving to travel the entire route. Without stops. I had found few short hikes the night before in the Dosewallips and Quilcene area, about an hour and a half from my home.
Our first stop was at Falls View Canyon. We parked at the Falls View Campground, about 3.5 miles from Quilcene. The campgrounds were closed with no facilities or services but the trails were still open. We followed the left side of the campground loop to the trailhead for both the Falls View Loop Trail #848 and Falls View Canyon Trail #868. The loop trail is a quick 0.1 mile walk to a fenced drop off with views of the 100 foot falls descending into the Big Quilcene River. The falls were present but definitely not at full capacity. I imagine in the spring, these falls are full from the Olympic Mountains snow melt. We looped back to the trailhead to descend into the Falls View Canyon. This trail is about 2.5 miles with the first 0.1 miles consisting of downhill switchbacks and stairs. That also means the last 0.1 miles is a steep uphill. Stone and I have become pros at switchbacks with him walking the entirety both down and up and understanding to switch sides with me at each switchback so he is against the wall side and not the cliff side. I’m sure these drop offs aren’t the worst, but it’s not a rescue I ever want to do if he was to fall.
The trail wanders through the forest, crossing small bridges, with peeks and overlooks of the Big Quilcene River. We admired the changing leaves, golden and burnt red colors contrasting the lush green of the ferns and moss. The further we continued on, the louder the rapids became. We decided to finish the loop in the trail before stopping to really check out the river.
We climbed through a boulder pass off the side of the trail down to the river. Stone is learning more and more how to listen to his body as he hikes and climbs and slips and trips on the trail. While we navigated the path down to the water, Sara and I talked him through where to step and how to check if a spot feels slippery or like he may sink. He really is a natural as finding his way, as long as he remembers to slow down. That’s often when we make our mistakes – in a rush or in exhaustion. When we got down to water level, Stone threw rocks and searched for cool rocks to add to his growing collection. I climbed on boulders to get a few photos, study the fallen trees, and stare at the cool blue hue of the pool. In the summer, I am sure this is an amazing place to relax and swim.
We made it back to the Subaru and took a quick break for lunch. I am so glad the kid and I don’t have a peanut allergy cause those PB&Js are such an easy option for days when I know we are going to be out for a while. Stone has also been on an apple kick lately. He loves those applesauce pouches and is now eating a whole apple a day after school. We are partial to honeycrisp (or cosmic crisp if you can find them). I never thought I would pay that much attention to apples until I moved here and learned there was more than just granny smith and gala. As we ate, I took off my hiking boots and helped Stone take off his rain boots to prevent tracking mud into the Subaru seating area. The back hatch is a whole other story. That space is essentially my truck bed. I am hoping to eventually outfit my car to camp in the back hatch area. With the back seats folded down, there is plenty of space for an air mattress. And hopefully I can get new crossbars for the roof rack to add a cargo basket for our cooler and gear. It’s funny to think that I got this car with the intention of using the motor for my Westfalia conversion. But I fell in love with it. And now it’s hard to imagine a future without it carting us around. I’m slowly updating it and doing lots of maintenance…maybe for a few road trips.
From the Falls View Campground, we headed south back towards Brinnon, WA in search of Rocky Brook Falls. After a brief 15 minute drive, we parked across from the gated entrance and decided to continue past the “No Trespassing” signs. I now know that the “No Trespassing” signs are for the hydroelectric power plant facility on the left of the trail. There are also signs that note you are basically entering at your own risk. This isn’t state or federal land which means there aren’t rescue services on site if you hurt yourself. You would be relying on the county and someone with cell phone service. With that though, the hike is short. Very short. And the payoff is HUGE. The horsetail style falls cascade 229 feet down a rock wall with plenty of spots to sit and take in the view or places to climb up to get as close as you can to the falls. You probably can guess which route I took. I made Stone stay behind though.
When we were done laughing from joy at Rocky Brook Falls, we hopped back into the car and headed south again to Duckabush Rd/NF-2510. As we left behind HWY 101 and the town of Brinnon, we hit winding gravel roads with watery potholes. Some of my favorites. We didn’t see many cars while driving except for the odd truck or SUV. I probably had too much fun swerving back and forth to avoid the larger potholes. We also questioned why someone tied a florescent pink fabric to a random stick in the road. On the drive out, we realized that hot pink marker was to help drivers avoid a foot deep hole in the road.
We parked at the trailhead and noticed that my car appeared to be smoking. But there was no smoke smell. Then I smelled coolant. I had already noticed a faint coolant smell other times that I drove around town, like going to work or taking Stone to school. I instantly knew I had a coolant leak. I opened the hood and saw a hairline crack in the top rubber housing of my radiator. There were splatters of coolant around my engine and bubbles forming at the crack. After checking my coolant levels and realizing that my radiator was still intact and operational, I decided we should continue with our plan to hike to Murhut Falls after adding water to my coolant tank. That way, the system could cool off and the water could level out (just in case I needed to add more). We were about 30 miles from Hoodsport where I knew I could stop at a large gas station and Ace Hardware for supplies if we needed them. No sense stressing what had already happened.
When we got to the trailhead, Stone stated that his heels were hurting. I was worried this would happen with old rain boots. They are now definitely too small for him but for a while they were right on the cusp. Sara was a champ and carried him just over half a mile up the trail to the falls. I carried my pack and our extra jackets as well as an empty water bottle for gathering water at the falls in case we needed it for my car. Stone had Sara and I laughing as he pointed out the different mushrooms and kept saying “there’s a fungus among us!” Shout out to my Incubus fans that know that early album. We quickly reached the falls and sat on a bench carved from a tree that overlooked the falls. I climbed down about 25 feet to the base of the falls to get water, using tree roots to aid my descent. After filing up my bottle, I took a few quick photos, and make the climb back up to the top. Sara carried my pack, and I took my turn giving Stone a piggy back ride back to the car.
My car was totally fine on the drive to Hoodsport. We stopped at the gas station/Ace/grocery store for a break. Sara took Stone to get some ice cream and get herself some snacks from the grocery store. I went to the gas station to grab a bottle of actual coolant and some duct tape to hopefully patch the crack until I got to a shop. I also got a coffee for the drive back home. Stone and Sara had their snacks while I cleaned off the rubber hosing and created a rudimentary patch job to get us home. My temperature gauge never changed on the drive home, and I didn’t smell coolant during our entire drive home. Duct tape is now an essential item in my car.
As I drove down the 101, happy from the sights and warm from my coffee, I settled back into my weekday mindset. Stone would need to eat dinner and get a bath as soon as we got home so he could get to bed on time. I marveled at the sky as the clouds changed from grey to streaks of peach and violet and gold. Photos don’t really capture it.
Fall in Washington really is spectacular.
Beautifully written. Wonderful pictures! First time to visit your blog. It won’t be the last!!