Return to Donut Falls

 

I haven’t gotten out as much as I would have liked this season, so when we had an available weekend I jumped on it. I really wanted to explore something new, but since we haven’t been out much decided we should probably do something on the easier side.

The Donut Falls trailhead parking lot was quite packed. Luckily we found a spot that was not prohibited. When we returned we saw a ranger ticketing cars outside of this area so we got lucky. :)

The flowers are in full bloom.

I love this trail.

From the bridge over the creek.

Wild Blue Bells?

And back to the creek. When you reach this point, you are almost to the falls.

 

As you can see, this is a REALLY popular trail.

 

Up to this point, the trail is pretty easy. However you don’t really get to see much of the waterfall. If you look closely towards the top, you can just see the water disappear into the rock. Now the trail goes from easy to difficult boulder scrambling to get to the waterfall. I have done this before, but for some reason it was making me extra nervous today and it took a long time to build enough courage to just go for it.

 

The sooner that you resign yourself to the fact that your feet are going to get soaked, the better off you will be. Just accept it, and keep climbing.

I really liked the water streaming down the log and moss.

I made it! Phew! The opening to the cave seems smaller than it was last time, but I am probably just imagining that.

A couple shots from inside the cave. At first I thought the water level was higher, but I think I got back into the cave further this time than last time. So, either the water level was actually lower, or you know since it has been a few years, maybe it has changed some.

A good shot of the water disappearing into the mountain side.

The view back down. The fact that is is a little intimidating, and difficult to scramble up to the waterfall is actually a blessing, not a lot of people actually make it up, so even though it is crowded below, it is quite a bit less crowded at the cave.

… Or, I had good timing today.

Again, from down here it doesn’t look like much.

I normally do not like using a flash when I take wildflower pictures, but I just love the way this one turned out. I ended up with a nicely focused flower in the foreground, and really bright, out of focus splashes of color in the background. Alright, lesson learned even if I have decided I don’t like something, it is always worth trying again.

It’s so green up here!

Some more wildflowers from the trip down.

Now that these 2 images are side by side I realize they are the same type of flower. Now I wonder is the 2nd one more mature, or defective?

Wow, this ended up being a little longer than I thought it would be so I guess I will post the next location we visited, Silver Lake in a separate post.

Last time I visited Donut Falls it was quite a bit less crowded, and I gave it a 9 squirrel rating. Even though it was a lot more crowded today, this is still one of the most unique waterfalls I have ever seen, and is really just an amazing hike to do. I think it shall retain the 9 squirrels.