The other day, me and Raylee had to go location scouting up by Chelan. I knew that there were a few waterfalls up that way so I made my way onto the Washington Trail Association website and started doing some research! I found a short waterfall hike to Silver Falls that wasn’t too far out of the way, and we had to do it! This trail had been closed for a few years from fire damage in the past few years, but luckily, they had just opened it up within the last few weeks. We just HAD to do it.
The Silver Falls hike is just rights across the street from the Silver Falls Campground. Nestled into the mountains of the Wenatchee National Forest, you wind through the paved road past Entiat, and further up the mountain. The deciduous trees turn into evergreens as you drive along the Entiat River. It was RAGING the day that we drove up there which was a good indication that the falls would be doing the same thing. And were they ever. I had seen photos of Silver Falls so I knew kind of what to expect. After our experience last year with Comet Falls and how I had to go back a week later because we hadn’t actually seen the right falls, I’ve been doing better research with my waterfalls. The photos that I saw didn’t hold a candle to what we witnessed the day of our hike.
When we pulled into the Silver Falls campground parking lot, I was a little worried because it sounded like the falls were RIGHT THERE! There was so much water running down the Silver Creek that it was just pounding down the mountain. I knew from what I had read that we would be crossing a few bridges over the creek, and they didn’t have railings so I was sure to have a death grip on Raylee’s hand the whole time. The Washing Trail Association has done a nice job making this trail as beautiful as it is. You start out the hike with some man-made stone steps, and before you know it, you’re at the first crossing. When we got there, there weren’t any railings on the first or second bridge, but there was a crew out there working, and by the time we were headed back to the car, there was a railing on one side of the first bridge, and they were still hard at work. The trail is supposed to be a loop trail as apposed to an out and back, but with a third bridge still out at the top of the falls, we had to turn back around and head down the mountain. That wasn’t much of a hike, so I decided to go up and back on the other side of the falls as well. That was a shorter trip, but probably harder!!
The left side of the trail meanders back and forth over the mountain with longer switchbacks, while the right side of the trail you just climb. There’s those same man-made stone steps up the mountain, along with a few awesome viewing areas along the creek an the falls. We didn’t make it all the way up to the other side of the top of the falls, mostly because Raylee was sitting in her carrier instead of walking, and my backside was burning from climbing all those stair with a 40 lbs pack on. She makes hikes hard, but then I don’t feel so bad for having KFC for dinner. HA!
We had a fun hike, and after got to tour a little around Lake Chelan to scout for some locations for my engagement session that Saturday. But, enough about the hike, why don’t I just show you. 🙂
Silver Falls | Wenatchee National Forest
Someone else carved my initials into the railing….
There was SOOOO much water! It was like a monsoon.
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