Midway through our time in Seattle, we drove down to the trailhead for Coal Creek Falls and North Fork Falls. At about 3 miles total, it was a nice leg stretcher and we were happy it wasn’t raining. Parking at the Red Town trailhead was easy and there were a lot of families on an early Sunday afternoon.

Outside of Yelm, we visited a small park, Deschutes Falls County Park, to photograph a falls and some small cascades in a picturesque gorge. The trails were flat and easy but some spots near the falls were muddy. Worth a visit if you are in the area.

On our way back to Portland, the idea was to take a detour to Mt St. Helens for some viewpoints but the weather thwarted us. Thankfully you don’t have to pay to enter the park so our plan was to go as far as we could and see if the clouds cleared. We had a mix of sunshine and rain for the entire drive on Spirit Lake parkway and although the views of Coldwater Lake were scenic, the mountain remained hidden. We did stop at a few other pullouts, including the Castle Lake viewpoint, and to get some shots of distant waterfalls but the drive overall was a disappointment.