Slicker than Snot

Latourell Falls, 2 miles, 3/23/08

Step, slip, glurp. Euw! Step, slip, glurp. Euw! Step, slip, glurp. Euw! Sometimes, thinking about the weather and location, and what they might all do to a trail would be a good thing to do before heading out on a short hike to see a waterfall in your jeans and sandals. I had let Olympia trot ahead of me as we climbed up the hill - all I needed was a tug the wrong way and to slip again and for the second time that day be covered in mud. Then again, as I looked down at my feet, I might have to do that anyway. Olympia, happy to be hiking splattered mud onto her legs, tail, belly, neck, and is that mud on her forehead? This better be a damn pretty waterfall.

I had tried to be careful as I trudged up the hill - stepping in what looked like solid patches of ground. But it didn't take much time before mud was squishing between my toes. To make matters worse, I would have to walk back down that muddy hill! Then the mileage I thought I read turned out to be twice as much and I wondered if my journey would ever end.

That's when I heard it - the unmistakable roar of a cascading river, thick with spring melt. Turn a corner and there it was, a beautiful horsetail falls dropping over 100 feet to the pool below. Olympia played in the creek as it flowed from the pool while snapped a few shots, playing with views and exposures. And then it was back down the muddy mess of a trail carefully stepping around the biggest mudholes. Although I could have gone barefoot, it would have been less mud grinding into the soles of my feet.

A quick trip to the bottom of Latourell Falls finished off our hike. One last word - the towel I had brought for Olympia on the trip was truly mudfilled and it was only the second day of our trip.