Marymere Falls

Sorry for the delay.  I know, I am blogging the trip several days after we actually went and we will lose that fresh take feel we have all grown to know and love over the years.  Little things got in the way like sleep and work. 

Seriously, if you guys would just start paying me to blog about the trivialities of my life and adventures I could get these things up faster.  Probably only take a few thousand dollars each.  Small price to pay to get the blog post of the adventure up on the day of the adventure.  Or maybe the next day, I'm not that disciplined.  Never mind.

Let us take a short look back, say 4 days ago, to our most recent adventure.

Our contract here is coming to a close and we are prioritizing what we want to see and do before we leave.  I had heard of a beautiful lake on the northern peninsula with a waterfall.  Yup, that's pretty much all it takes to make the list.  Pretty + Waterfall = Must Do.

So we drove up to Lake Crescent to see Marymere Falls.  And, oddly, we encountered the worst traffic of the contract so far.  Got stuck behind an accident twice and line painting truck once.  Added about three hours to the trip driving total.  Awesome. 

Was it worth it? 

Isn't it always?

The trail head is the parking lot for the tantalizingly named Storm King Ranger Station which is at the confluence of several trails. 

Mt. Storm King looms over the lake.

The trail itself is pretty much flat until right at the end.  It is 1.8 miles round trip through old growth forest on a well maintained trail.  I wish I had brought Nana to this one.  The drive was a bit long though. 

Storm King slopes away to the right.

I love trails

Continuing our theme of walking into shady places.

Nice, flat, pretty trail.

Happy to be out of the car, the kids climbed everything.

Yep, climbed that too.

And that.

We all managed to stop and marvel at some huge trees

Trying to get perspective...something's missing though.

There it is.  That tree has to be at least 50 Max's tall.

Tempting, but no. 

Of course, there has to be a rushing stream.

And of course Michael has to check it for life.

I love the people who make these trails.  They create beautiful bridges that seem nearly organic.  Sometimes, they even cobble together sturdy and safe bridges from the actual materials at hand.  Same with the steps and rails.  So, thank you park rangers, trails associations and nature lovers who go build these marvelous trails.  They make life better and I am grateful.

Ooohhhh, pretty.

Yes kids, daddy is taking another long exposure shot.  "Groan"

Reduce, reuse and recycle.  Beats hauling lumber into a forest.

Hark, I hear a waterfall.

Just too tired to climb anything else.

Now, there's a pretty waterfall.

JUST KIDDING!  climb, climb, climb

Marymere Falls in all its glory.

Ok, what kid could resist?

Then it was time to head back.

We decided to detour through the Moments In Time trail on the way back to the car.  Another scenic forest trail with interpretive signage.  Neat stuff.

Look!  A bipedal tree!

Max sneaker.

We stumbled upon a gravel bar with rock stacks and Michael had to add one.

Gotta get it juuuuuust right.

Still living burnt out tree.

Blurry picture, but a theme is emerging...pesty rabbit ears.

Frolicking among the giants

Pesty rabbit ears.

They call it Pyramid Mountain for some dang reason.

Nice spot for a quiet sit.

Beautiful view, but it needs more....

Max!

Happy place.

Back into the woods.

Found this turtle tree stump.  Sarah got a better picture.

We were finished with the trail and just had to circle a little bit back around to the parking lot.  We were walking along and spotted this little guy.  Out comes the zoom lens.

Then, back around at the beginning, we saw the mommy.

Yeah, it was worth the traffic.