Ribbon Falls June 11, 2017

Today's star attraction is Ribbon Falls.  It's six years to the day that I last hiked along Ribbon Creek to the Falls.  That sounds like a confession and maybe it should be.  Lots occurred within this area since I was last there, mainly being that flood in 2013 which caused massive devastation.  People worked tirelessly to restore this trail and thank you for that.  While it is still obvious something terrible happened here the beauty of the area more than makes up for that.   

With a sour forecast for Saturday, Sunday was the day to play this week.  

I was glad friends were keen to share today with me.

We hit the trail head early.

One of the many new bridges.

There was lots to see along this trail and if you have a sharp eye you find these things.  

My friends' eyes were sharper than mine.  

Some sections of the trail remained the same meandering along through small meadows with mountain teases here and there.  We questioned which mountain was which as they appeared above the trees. 

Sections of the new trail were carved high above Ribbon Creek.

Looking back we could see Mount Allan and Centennial Ridge.

Sections of the trail still followed closely along the Creek with safe opportunities to get close enough to feel the spray.  We took a snack and photo op break at this opening.

Then there were the parts along the trail where the devastation was jaw dropping.  Cairns marked the way through the rock field.  We chatted about what it must have been like to be here on that day when massive loads of rock washed down the mountain side onto the valley below.

After hiking about ten kilometers we arrived at Ribbon Falls. 

First things first, I captured my star attraction destination shot. 

It took a few trys before I secured our group shot.  While trying the spray soaked the backs of some of us.  The sound of the falls was loud enough we could not carry on conversations without hollering at the tops of our lungs so.......

......we opted to head to the Ribbon Falls Back Country Campground, which was just a few minutes back on the trail, to have lunch.  We were able to dine in the sunshine with a wonderful mountain view to admire.  Lunch was a little longer as it was still on the earlier side.

Of course we need to incorporate time to just be.  

Along the hike back I still admired the scenery, still tried to figure out which mountain was which, spied a few wildflowers, checked out trails leading off the main trail and stopped for more photo opportunities.  Once we gave enough attention to that, and played all the games, it was time......

.....to head to the last bridge and cross Ribbon Creek one last time.

I took one last look back.

As we were hiking out we passed many hikers on their way in.  It was nice to see this trail being a trail of choice for lots of people.  It's not a long drive from home base. While the hiking distance is on the longer side, the elevation gain is not with gradual ups and downs along the whole way.  The prettiness level ranks up there. Once again thank you to all of you who put in the hours to bring this trail back to the people.  We the people enjoyed everything about this hike today!