Waterfall Day

Today we decided to tackle two short waterfall view trails:  Fallsview Canyon and Murhut Falls.

Our first hike started from the Falls View Campground.  There is a small vista loop which we hit at the end, but we started with the canyon trail.   It is only a 1.5 mile hike round trip, but it descends about 300 feet rather quickly (and climbs back up at the end!) 
There are a couple places to make your way down to the water and we found a great spot where we stayed and explored for quite a wall.  The Big Quilcene River roars through this area and it was beautiful!

The Rhodies were in bloom throughout the forest and we only saw a couple of other people on the trail (mid-week).  The actual vista of the falls was pretty, but far away so they weren't all that impressive.  The rest of the trail was great though, so it was totally worthwhile.








Our next stop was Collins Campground to borrow a picnic table and have a bite to eat.  It's a great, primitive campground in the Duckabush Recreation area.  The most impressive thing?  The outhouse!  Seriously!  We've never seen such a well-built, non-smelly outhouse.   Vented, well-constructed, impressive - really.

From there we drove a bit further to the trail head for Murhut Falls.  Again, this was another short hike, only 1.6 miles roundtrip, but again, it also has a rapid 300 foot ascent/descent to the river.  The trail was in good shape and this time, the falls at the end were very impressive!  There is a great bench at the top of the trail where you can sit and marvel. Unfortunately, it was already taken when we got there (but they were a nice couple!)

We often talk about how to handle emergencies that might occur while out in the woods, especially encounters with wildlife. Well, today was our first animal attack.  While Chris was scrambling through some driftwood by the river, he was attacked by a vicious slug.  It quickly sprayed him with its disgusting slime, but Chris managed to fight him off.  Unfortunately, it left quite a mark.We debated whether it was some sort of mutant slug/leach creature, or perhaps a vampire slug of some kind since we've never known one to attack in such a manner.

All in all, even with the attack, it was a great day! With our extra exploring we probably got in about 5 miles and a lot of that was climbing up and down hills, so it was a great workout!