|
Below: The hiking trail followed a wide
gravel footpath from the parking lot to a wooden lookout platform. |
|
|
Below: At this information
sign, the main trail to the right goes to the day use area and falls
viewing platform. This is the way that the two RV Gypsies went.
The trail to the left is the Glacier Gulch Recreation Trail,
a challenging trail that takes 2-3 hours one-way to reach the first
of the glaciers high above. The two RV Gypsies would love to have seen
the glaciers above, but knew the trail was not for them. The gulch hiking
trail explores the mountain all the way to the top of the falls and
onto a glacier. This trail is no spur-of-the-moment type hike. The hike
is challenging, the weather changes and the temperatures drop on the
glacier quickly. This adventure hike requires preparation. |
|
|
Below: It was sprinkling when the two RV
Gypsies got out of their car, so they put on rain gear, but Karen Duquette
took off her rain gear within minutes. For some reason, Lee Duquette
left his rain gear on. |
 |
 |
Below: At a few points along the trail
there were hand rails to assist people and to protect people from the
edge of the ridge. They were also at the steepest points of the trail. |
|
|
Below: The trail was steep and Karen Duquette
stopped and turned around to take a photo of the trail, but somehow
the trail does not look as steep in the photo as it was in reality. |
|
Below: Two RV Gypsies took a moment to
breathe and took pictures. The sun was brightly shining now and the
backlighting washed out the water and the faces of the two RV Gypsies. |
 |
 |
Below: A view of the bigger falls, which
gave the two RV Gypsies time to pause on the steep trail. Karen Duquette
was glad for the hand railing. |
|
|
Below: Views of the smaller waterfall.
Obviously there must be times when they are of equal size and that is
why the area is called Twin Falls. |
 |
 |
Below: The bigger of the two falls. |
Below: Lee Duquette is always a clown. |
|
|
Below: The trail, although short, is uphill
and a bit steep and can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to reach
the viewing platform, which provided a glimpse of one of the falls.
Both falls can probably be in full view at times, but on this date the
second fall was barely running. |
|
|
Below:After leaving the viewing platform,
Lee Duquette worked his way around the side of the platform, while Karen
Duquette jumped off an opening at the back of the platform. Then they
continued up the rough hiking trail leading through the mountain shrubbery
to the base of the waterfalls. The steep trail was rocky, with exposed
roots and boulders and was not as well maintained as the trail to the
viewpoint. |
|
|
Below: Then the footpath followed a ridge
very near the tumbling creek created by the runoff water from the waterfalls.
The noise of the flowing water was amazing. The photos below were taken
from the footpath and peaking through the trees. It would not be smart
to get too near the creek. |
|
|
|
|
Below: About half way up the trail, the
two RV Gypsies came to the only level area on the hiking path with a
sitting bench before the final push to the viewpoint. |
|
|
|
|
Below; The two RV Gypsies reached the end of trail -
kind of: The trail does go on but you have to get around a huge rock
to reach it. No thanks! There was a young couple in front of the two
RV Gypsies earlier, and they may have gone around the big rock because
they were nowhere in sight, but it sure looked like a death-defying
act to the two RV Gypsies. And the plaque below proves that point! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Below: In the photo below,
the two RV Gypsies are at the big rock which has a plaque on it |
 The
plaque reads:
|
Eric Paul Buss
Born September 15, 1951
Died November 27, 1991, in an avalanche |
"And if you cannot understand that there is something in
man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out
to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward
and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get
from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the
end of life. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That
is what life means and what life is for." - George Leigh Mallory
|
 |
 |
For some reason, the plaque
did not make the two RV Gypsies want to go any further. |
 |
Below: So the two RV Gypsies headed back
down the trail. Back near the beginning of the trail they took a short
side trip to where there was a picnic table and got some very nice views
of the falls. |
|
|
Below: The two RV Gypsies got one last
peek at the raging creek. |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Visit sites in the order they happened and continue on to 
