Hiking to Elk Creek Falls

It's quite amazing that I've lived in Idaho for over 70 years and have never been to Elk River, a small community of 125 residents, just 70 miles from here.  The Lewiston hiking group planned a spring hike to this area, promising a four mile hike with opportunity to view three different waterfalls.  We met Scott and Carol Fletcher, our leaders, at the community center and since there were just five of us we all piled in their truck and headed for Elk River.   The rain pelted the windshield at times and I wondered if we would really hike in the rain...  But when we got to Elk River, the rain was a fine mist, but this scene made us consider turning around...

Scott drove a bit, but soon turned around and we decided we'd just hike through the snow to the trailhead.  I did not take their picture, but we came upon a young couple, totally stuck in the snow with their rental car.  The young woman said, "yes, you can tell your friends you met two strangers from Florida who thought they could drive all the way to the falls."  She'd already called 911 so we bade them farewell and wondered all afternoon if the tow truck was able to get their car unstuck.

This picture shows the spot where they were stuck and we were quite happy to see the car gone when we hiked back to Scott's truck on the snow-covered, slushy road.

Snow covered the trail for the first 1/2 mile, but we did not mind - we kept telling ourselves how adventurous we felt today.

The new signage informed us of the history of the formation of the falls and the geology of the area.

The middle section falls 90' and is considered the tallest falls in Idaho.  

Debbie's telling me to come look at the rainbow!  We were quite happy to see the sun.

 Carol broke out in big smiles when the sun came out.  The lookout near upper falls got us really close to the rushing water!

I love the sound of the water!

A small group of us became good friends today, despite the challenges of the snow and the rain!