Rainy Lake, North Cascades Highway

The short (2 mile round trip) hike to Rainy Lake is one not to miss. The parking lot is at Rainy Pass. Several trails leave from that lot so it is very busy on the weekends. The trail to the lake is wheelchair accessible, paved with very little elevation gain. The view is certainly worth the walk. There's even a small waterfall along the way.

Gorge Creek Falls

I always like to stop at the parking lot before the open grate bridge over Gorge Creek on the North Cascades Highway. The creek was low when we were there a few weeks ago and the view through the grate was rather unimpressive. The Gorge Creek falls are to the north in this view from the bridge.

Ladder Creek Falls and Gardens

We crossed over a footbridge behind the power house in Newhalem to wander through the gardens sponsored by Seattle City Light.

The path is a little precarious with rocks and stone steps. There are a few waterfalls and the foliage is generally native to the area.

Tumalo Falls

Our last hike in the Bend area was Tumalo Falls. We arrived early in the morning as the parking is quite limited. There is a great view of the falls just a short distance from the parking lot. We stopped at the viewpoint then continued up the North Fork Trail to the third waterfall.

Olympic Peninsula: Quinault River Valley

My sister and I decided to drive around Lake Quinault. The South Shore Road took us quite a ways east into the Quinault River Valley, passing waterfalls. The bridge to the North Shore Road gave us a good view of the Quinault River. August 2.

Snoqualmie Falls Upper Observation Area

The falls were roaring when we were there Sunday, March 19. The parking lots were over flowing with lines of cars waiting for a spot. Next time - mid-week, for sure.

Snoqualmie Falls Lower Observation Deck

This location for observing the falls was not as busy as the upper location, near the lodge. The new parking lot was far from full. There is a bit of a trek along a wet boardwalk and steps to get to the observation deck. I liked the view better than from the top. The turn off the highway is not marked so you'll have to do your planning ahead of time to find it easily.

Mt. Rainier National Park: Martha Falls

This segment of Martha Falls is visible from the road between Paradise and Box Canyon. There are additional segments of the falls above and below. The entire system cannot be seen from one location.

This is an unnamed cascade next to the road.

Mt. Rainier National Park: Paradise

Paradise was enveloped in low clouds. There was no possibility of seeing Mt. Rainier.

Mt. Rainier National Park: Narada Falls

The lower fall is seen entirely from a viewing area a short hike down from the parking lot. The drop of this fall is 168 feet. Note the highway bridge at the top of the photo. The upper drop (see photo below) is twenty feet for a total of 188 feet.

The upper fall and the highway bridge to the viewpoint parking lot.

Shannon Falls, British Columbia

The falls are next to the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler. They can be seen from the highway but a stop at the provincial park was worth while.

Boulder River Waterfall

I did a little hiking over the weekend. The Boulder River Trail is between Arlington and Darrington and the trailhead is just a few miles off SR 530. The waterfall is only a little over a mile up the trail. The trail itself starts out on an old railroad grade. It's a popular hike and I met many families with kids and dogs.

The river is visible periodically.

The trail is very well maintained.

After the waterfall are switchbacks and more views of the river.

There is a noted old growth tree at the first switchback.

There was supposed to be another waterfall about a half mile past the first one. I hiked another 0.6 miles and didn't see it. I did see many of the boulders that give the river its name.

There were lots of wildflowers too. 

Waterfall on North Cascades Highway

There are several waterfalls along the North Cascades Highway (SR 20). This one is just past Gorge Creek, right across from a handy parking lot. I made this hand held shot with a shutter speed of 1/40 of a second to get a little silkiness to the water flow.  

Whatcom Falls, near Bellingham, WA

Whatcom Falls is a great place to photograph on cloudy days.

I was dismayed to see that junk graced this beautiful place (see the tire at the center bottom of the last photograph).