Comet Falls In Mist

Day 279: Believe it or not, I was going to go fishing. I went out the door with my fly rod and vest, intending to make a quick side trip into Mt. Rainier National Park. But as wee Rabbie Burns reminds us, "The best laid plans o' mice and men gang aft agley," and I wound up at Comet Falls instead, wondering just how hard it was going to rain before I could get back to the car.

Comet Falls drops a precipitous 320' in a single cascade, then hops another eighty feet over boulders until settling down to join Van Trump Creek. To reach it, you climb 900' over 1.9 miles, and the falls is set so deeply in its cleft that it cannot be seen until you're nearly upon it. Today, approximately a third of that distance was covered in deep, icy snow, warning signs at the beginning of the trail strongly recommending that hikers carry ice axes for the approach. I took with me a cupful of caution and a pair of trekking poles. I've done this before.

When I reached the falls, it was invisible through the heavy mist. I waited, the rain insistently pattering on the evergreens above my head, dripping cold drops down the back of my neck. I waited patiently, hoping that any faint glimpse of Comet would make an appearance to justify the lack of trout on the dinner table. Faintly, I could see it. I snapped a few photos and waited a bit more. The falls became more apparent, but still only barely distinguishable in the fog. At the insistence of the rain, I gave up and started down.

At the last possible point where I could see the falls, I turned and looked back. There it was! Within minutes of the shutter's snap, the mists rolled back into the cleft in the hillside and Comet was again invisible.