A Rainforest Walk to Cathedral Falls - No Talk, No Music, Just Nature. 4K Virtual Hike

The word "Cathedral" might bring a lot of images to mind - but no matter what you're picturing, one thing that seems to hold true is if a natural landmark bears that description, it's probably pretty darn beautiful. At least that's definitely the case with Cathedral Falls, tucked away in the lonely backcountry north of Mount St Helens. Tumbling almost 250ft down a stark backdrop of sheer volcanic rock and backed by a water-worn cavern, the setting is impressive - especially before the summer sun dries it to a less-than-heavenly trickle by July or August.

To top things off, the trails is swathed in a forest of green, including sections of lush old-growth woods, with miles of tumbling creeks to boot. Amazingly, Cathedral Falls is not well known except by locals, despite being "only" an hour or so drive from busy Interstate-5. As you'll see, it's well worth a visit: our path will cross a pleasantly level, tree-lined path to the Falls. After enjoying it from different vantage points, we'll press on further to a split in the trail and explore both paths, which follow alongside noisy Goat Creek uphill through lush habitat that is classic Pacific Northwest. Enjoy!

Attentive subscribers who've kept track of the space down here may recall in the past few videos (oh so long ago at this point) some off-hand hopes for future trails on the channel, but also my wrestling with the fairly excruciating editing process resulting from a less-than-ideal equipment setup. I don't want to over-promise but I think I have a solution... I'll need to put it together & test it out in the coming months. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, I have another video after this one - recorded last year, w/my "old" setup - that I plan to work on, assuming it turned out alright, and hopefully with a faster turnaround than this one (yikes). Much appreciation to you for sticking around, I really & truly appreciate the patience.

Highlights:
00:00 - Intro
01:30 - A Rare Vista, & the Hike Begins
05:24 - Bird Song Beneath the Pines
09:52 - The Cave
12:48 - Lush Understory
17:30 - 1st Side Creek; Ferns in the Wind
22:00 - Big Trees
25:02 - 2nd Side Creek
28:34 - 3rd Side Creek (AKA Soggy Log Springs)
34:35 - Approaching Cathedral Falls
40:04 - The Cavern Behind the Falls
45:40 - Viewpoints Past Cathedral Falls
48:21 - Hidden Trickle Behind the Trilliums
51:20 - 4th Side Creek (and More Falls!)
53:48 - Devil's Club & A Watery Garden
1:00:45 - Dripping Moss
1:06:10 - 5th Side Creek
1:09:40 - The Whitewater Below
1:16:18 - Mini Side Creek
1:19:14 - Goat Creek View
1:20:43 - Trail Junction
1:22:50 - Entering Old Growth
1:24:14 - Living Bridge
1:28:22 - The Falls with No Name
1:32:24 - More Old Growth
1:34:55 - Still More Old Growth
1:37:10 - So Much Old Growth
1:39:00 - Fallen Giants
1:41:50 - Last Bit of Old Growth
1:44:20 - Rain out
1:44:49 - Tumwater Trail to Goat Creek Crossing
1:48:55 - Outro

Trip Stats:
Distance: 5.2 mi / 8.4 km round-trip
Elevation Gain: 1400 ft / 427 m
Trailhead GPS: 46.4306, -122.1527
Restrictions: None, dog-friendly
Camping: Allowed, no permit required

Filmed June 2024. Please feel free to comment on the good, the bad, or the ugly; this project is an on-going learning experience.