Hidden Falls lies just on the edge of Yacolt Burn State Forest, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get to. The hike to is just over 10 miles in distance and 1,400 feet in elevation. Some ride Jeeps down a service road as a shortcut, but my group foolishly saw that as “cheating.” So there we where, on that foggy, overcast-ridden, wet, spring Pacific Northwest morning, equipped with barely enough snacks and water for the hike we where about to embark on – we didn’t prepare on going all the way – and I with my trusty Nikon D3200.
The hike to Hidden Falls didn’t have much to say to me and my camera, and, once the Pacific Northwest mid-day drizzle started, there wasn’t much ability to pull my camera out anyway. None the less, we carried on, at one point, while in a covered section of path, two members of the group wished to turn back and be done with the day, but the last other member and I convinced them to keep on going – this waterfall was supposedly beautiful after all.
Then we got there. The drizzle made a break and with Hidden Falls masked behind a framing of young trees and mossy rock I snapped this photo, making the whole thing worth it. Then it was time to do it all over again….