Cedar Butte

At the Trail Head

Cedar Butte - March 9th, 2014
Mileage: 3-4 miles
Elevation Gain: 900 feet
Olallie State Park: I-90 Corridor
Dog Friendly
Difficulty: Easy

A little over a month ago I decided I was going to try and get some of my other friends to go hiking with Katie, Chris and I. In an effort to facilitate that, and also to get some of them in shape for an upcoming trip to the Hoh Rain Forest, I created a hiking group called: Allison Pushes People Up Mountains. Now that we've completed our first hike I am almost concerned at how appropriate that name is.

Katie Admiring Rattlesnake

WATER!

I forget that not everybody likes being outside and in nature. The first hike we chose, to my mind, was easy-peasy, even with it being the first official hike. The undergrowth was beautiful and even though the views weren't as awe-inspiring as some of the other hikes I've done I thought it was a good start. I don't think everybody enjoyed it as much as I would have liked, but I definitely converted at least one friend. So I'm chalking that up as a win.

Cedar Butte is basically across the street (literally) from Rattlesnake Ledge. Which is kind of awesome because you drive past Rattlesnake's parking lot and see the 10 billion cars in the parking lot and then you go into the Cedar Falls trailhead and there is nobody. Maybe 4 cars. I'm sure this changes once summer is in full swing but at this point in the season it's pretty solitary. We saw 4 people on the trail total.

One thing I really appreciated about Cedar Butte is you get a warm up. So many times I get out of 1+ hour car ride and then have to go straight up a hill. That is totally mean. I always wish they would move the trailhead like a half mile further away on flat ground so my legs can get warm. For this hike you walk in along, what I'm guessing, is a service road. Even though it definitely doesn't quite feel like you're in nature yet, it's still pretty. There's some swampy marshland and a couple of small creeks.

I'm OUTSIDE!

After the easy walk in you start ascending the mountain. I really enjoyed how misty this hike was. That kind of weather really suits the mossy undergrowth that you see around North Bend at lower elevations. The grade isn't terribly steep but it is pretty consistently up. Occasionally it flattened out for a bit but not often. When you consider you're gaining about 900 feet in about 1.25 miles it's really very reasonable.

Mediocre views!! And so much more!

The views were not incredible once we got to the top. There's a clear view of the valley below but it's still just looking down on North Bend... As much as I love walking in the mist, I kept hoping it was going to clear by the time we got to the summit. If it had been clearer I know you can see Si, Teneriffe and some other surrounding mountains, but the weather was not cooperative.

All in all I think this is a very decent season opener and a very nice beginner hike.

Twin Falls

Twin Falls - January 12th(ish), 2014
Mileage: 3 miles
Elevation Gain: 500 feet
Olallie State Park: I-90 Corridor
Dog Friendly
Difficulty: Very Easy

So this post is going to visually look a little confusing, because in some of these pictures you'll notice it's gray and rainy and in some of them it's sunny and beautiful. That's because when we hiked in January it was raining enough that we didn't use our cameras very much at all. Most of the pictures are from when Chris and I hiked this back in October of... 2012 maybe? Eesh.

The pictures from our hike in January were taken by our friend Eric (pictured above far left). So thanks to Eric for covering our lazy butts. So! On to info about the hike...

So Twin falls is a super easy, very pretty day hike just outside of North Bend. It's one of the few hikes available outside of the Issaquah Alps in the cascades that's pretty much open year round. The amount of pay off for the amount of work is also pretty great. It's really pretty throughout the hike, and the trail itself is in very good condition.

The trail itself starts off at a very, very easy grade going along the river. Great opportunities for photography. The whole area is very damp. The North Bend area actually gets a lot more rain than Seattle, so it's often very damp out here. Despite that the trail had minimal water on it, even considering it was raining when we were there last.

I always tell people when they go hiking in the pacific northwest they should always carry at least one compass. Not only is that just very good advice in general, but especially in the North West you are pretty much up shit creek if you get lost and don't have a way to tell what direction you should be going. Depending on the time of year (read: most of the year) you might have no visibility from the sun in order to get your bearings. As for that who "moss grows on the south side" business, anybody who has been in the Central/North Cascades, and definitely on the Peninsula can tell you that moss just grows everywhere. You would hardly ever be able to use this trick effectively.

Anyway, after a while you leave the river, but it's always close, and you start climbing some small hills. There are a couple of really nice vistas from the tops of some of these. After a while though you'll come to a point where the trail splits. Go to the right first. This will lead you down some steps (try not to think about having to walk back up them) and on to a very pretty viewing platform which let's you look at the bottom of the bottom most falls (very top photo). The view from the plat form is very nice. Now go back up those steps!

Very shortly after you rejoin the main trail you'll come to a very nice bridge that spans the canyon and offers you some very nice views of the river canyon and the falls themselves. You have the option to continue up the trail from the bridge. The first time we hiked it Chris and I went on for about 1/2 an hour after the bridge, but didn't really see anything worth continuing on for. Nice, short hike, good for beginners, with very decent payoff.

View from bridge looking up the canyon toward the falls

View from bridge looking down the canyon

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