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With water (clean, that is) in the news, three views of Sol Duc Falls – cascades and all

 

I’ve only seen a handful of waterfalls in Washington state. But Sol Duc Falls in the Olympic National Park has to be one of the most impressive I’ve witnessed.

I’ve posted three video clips – the other two are after the jump – which total more than three minutes. Really, I could watch this waterfall for more than three hours.

We humans are a pretty brilliant bunch of people (in most cases). If you didn’t see, but IBM has created a supercomputer, Watson, which will compete against humans on Jeopardy!

But I doubt we’d ever have the wherewithal to duplicate the beauty, freshness and clarity that Mother Nature has created in this valley of the Olympic National Park.

If I had this much rushing water at my house, I’d be in panic mode. But in the outdoors, standing under soaring trees, the context of the fast-moving water which hit rocks was just right.

My family and I visited the area last week. Relaxing hot springs – part of the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort – with three pools of warm water are nearby. We stayed in the cabins for a night.

But on the morning of our departure, my dad and I decided to drive to the trailhead and walk to the falls. I’m glad we did. It was only the second time I’ve seen Sol Duc Falls.

My memory of the roaring sound and gushing water from my first trip pulled us back for this visit.

I think my dad really enjoyed it. He and I used our entry-level but reliable digital cameras to capture the moment. There was enough mist and rain to make my camera – including the inside screen – wet.

My dad borrowed my baseball cap to keep his head as dry as possible. He said that as his hair gets thinner he can feel water on his head much easier. That’s a pretty logical thought – and an honest one.

But I’m glad the video option worked and I was able to leave with three clips of the roaring water. I’ve posted a stop-motion clip of Snoqualmie Falls, which is east of Seattle. For the Sol Duc Falls, I thought I’d go with pure video and include sound.

The interesting thing that I noticed is that the sound of the gushing water is different depending on where you’re standing. That might have occurred to you – but it struck me as noteworthy.

The clip below is what people typically see and shoot of the falls.

There are only so many viewing areas of the falls – but I tried different angles since I knew I wouldn’t have time to return in the near future.

Now that I think about it, I wonder what type of video or still footage a robotic aircraft with a digital camera (an image is in the middle part of this post) could capture.

Here are three images that my dad and I saw on our walk to and from the falls. It’s an entry-level walk – about less than one mile each way, as I recall.

 

 

One fact that I’m proud to say about Sol Duc Falls and my former employer, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, is that one of the top three links on Google about this beautiful spot on the globe is a 2001 article from the newspaper.

Writer Karen Sykes gives all the details and history about the falls, if you’d like to visit.

Back in 2001, paper was a bit more of the king in the media landscape. As you see, only one photograph of Sol Duc Falls was included with the online text.

Certainly, the times have changed.

I do like looking at older photographs, though, to see how one place has changed or stayed the same.

And waterfalls remain a popular destination for hikers in the Pacific Northwest. I need to take my family to see more of them.

If you haven’t visited and plan to go, please have a great time.