[EastKing]

Well it is Easter and yes it has been really raining heavily and steadily outside . Aaron and I were planning an Easter snowshoe for Hex Mountain. Well then came the forecast and after seeing how hard it was going to rain today we decided to take a week off and go for an 8 mile trip that included a loop hike up to Coal Creek Falls and down to Coal Creek Park. Well I could bore you about the details about the Coal Creek Falls loop , but I guess the I can say here is that it was about 3 miles and that the falls were running very well. We started and ended from the Redtown trailhead. It was my first time there and I did find the falls pretty on this rainy day.

Coal Creek Falls

Despite the rain, we were still energized and we decided to press on. We decided not to head over to clouded over views of De Leo Wall, because they did not appeal to us much. So we decided to go Coal Creek Park across the street. There was a sign in front stating that the trail was closed due to three washouts. Hmm, I guess it was curiosity that killed the cat but that sign for some reason made us really want to go. So we decided heading down to Coal Creek Park, where after crossing a couple of bridges (strange, none of these are washed out?????) we ran into another beautiful waterfall. North Fork Falls was excellent. Okay so we continued down into the park and yet still ran into no down bridges. We did come close to a deer but the deer ran off before I could take a picture of her. Then about a mile down into the park we ran into a trail that was closed. Was that it?? Hmmmmm.

North Fork Falls

Small falls near North Fork Falls

Why!!

Finally after dropping back into the ravine that holds Coal Creek we ran into another another closed trail (about 1.8 mile from the Redtown Trailhead). Well we were getting pretty bored of the other trail and we decided to take this trail to see if it looped back. We headed up the trail. It pretty much traversed the creek. There were two bridges that were old and rotting but these bridges were still able to hold us. We did run into a cool waterfall that was formed by what looks like a storm sewer pipe. Aaron decided to take lead and head up the muddy off-trail scramble to the top of the waterfall to check out the view. I followed afterward and took some shots.

Storm Pipe Falls from below

Storm Pipe Falls from top

We decided to continue on the "closed" trail back up to the main trailhead. It was steep heading back to the trialhead but not too difficult. To be honest I have no idea why it is closed. Maybe someone can tell me what happened on this trail to make the trail closed because I saw no reason for it to be closed except that one of the bridges is beginning to eroded away (no real dropoff though). After that trail we got back on the main trail and headed on back. It was nice to see all of the waterfalls up to full capacity. We got back to the car all drenched but thankful this Easter just to get out. It turned out to be another happy Easter despite the heavy rain.

[hysteresis]

Despite the fact that its completely devoid of animal life, I really like that cute little trail. Besides, its the easiest day hike I know within 1/2 a mile of a bus stop! Sometimes just getting out in the trees is enough.