On Sunday our friend Pattee suggested we check out Holland Lake and the accompanying Holland Falls. Since the weather was nice today, after some yard work we hopped into the car and headed south. I’m glad we did; it was amazing.
Near the start of the trail, Kyra and I posed overlooking the water. The photographer, who shall not be named, didn’t do a great job centering on us.
A different photographer captured me and Pepper pretty well.
Cil and Jim joined us. Even though they’re both in their 70’s (and Jim has two artificial knees) they didn’t have too much trouble with the trail.
Holland Lake and the surrounding scenery is gorgeous.
There were several kayakers making their way across the calm water. The weather was just perfect, and we wished we’d brought our yaks. Next time.
The trail was really quite easy, and we were surrounded by majestic pines.
Near the falls, there’s a magnificent overlook of the lake. Wow.
You can hear Holland Falls for quite a distance along the trail, but (like many waterfalls) they kind of sneak up on you: you turn a corner on the trail and bam there they are.
The picture doesn’t really do it justice– the first waterfall is easily 50 feet high, and it continues a few hundred feet downstream across steep rocks. Kyra and I hiked up some slippery rocks to get closer.
The spray was intense. There’s a lot of snowmelt runoff, which means a lot of water is gushing over these rocks. Within a minute, the two of us were drenched. It was cool and refreshing in the warm sun.
I attempted to use some dark neutral-density filters to capture more of a “flowing” water shot of the falls, but there was simply too much water– it just looked like a tower of white. More to the point, the spray covered my camera and I couldn’t keep the lens dry. Oh well. I did manage to take a ND shot of a smaller stream along the trail:
And just for fun, a tiny branch budding off a larch.
After the hike we enjoyed some dinner at Burger Town, a local haunt that everyone says is amazing. Our consensus: it’s very much “meh”. And then we spent some time soaking in the hot tub, enjoying sunset over Flathead Lake.
A great ending to a great day.