The Washington State Chronicles

Situated in the south-east corner of Mt. Rainier National Park, Steven's Canyon boasts an incredible number of waterfalls -- five to be exact -- so if you're into searching for crashing water, you've come to the right place. Two of the falls are unnamed, the other three are Maple Falls, Sylvia Falls, and Martha Falls. Make sure to bring two cars for this one, like we did, otherwise face twice the hiking time. We left one car up at our destination, Reflection Lake, and drove all the way down to the Box Canyon Picnic area to start our hike.

From the very beginning we were accompained by the sound of rolling water as Steven's Creek flowed down the canyon toward us. Not even 0.6 mile into our hike we stumbled across the first falls, and crossed Steven's Creek utilizing the foot bridge. Realitively easy going for the next couple of miles, we weaved in and out of the heavily shaded forest catching glimpses of the creek as we explored the canyon floor. It was quiet, and after pushing ahead of the other hikers, we had the trail all to ourselves. Lots of beavers must live on that river, because we must have seen at least three or four beaver dams -- but never the actual fuzzy creatures themselves.We took a quick stop at Maple Creek Camp, which is one of the numerous back-country camping sites you can choose to stay at along the Wonderland Trail, and trekked on.

From there, the trail took a gradual ascent along the ridge, and before long we had reached Sylvia Falls. We stopped to pose in front of the waterfall, and scarfed down some power food. Once again, we hoisted our backpacks over our shoulders, and pushed on. Fighting our way through stinging nettles and devil's club we slowly climbed up the ridge, and in no time at all we were hiking parallel to Steven's Canyon Road on the other side of the valley.

The climb was steady, and steep -- full of stairs and rocky stream crossings. All of us were famished by the time we reached the fifth, and last waterfall on our journey. Martha Falls was impressive, and quite a bit larger than Sylvia Falls. We had to shout over the roaring water just to hear each other! Stopping at Martha Falls for lunch is a great idea. You can sit on the log bridge that crosses the stream, or on the stairs across the way. No matter where you sit, the cool mist of the falls will wash over you -- which feels amazing on a hot summer day, let me tell you. After lunch we packed up, and hiked on.

The sound of rushing cars alerted us that we had reached Steven's Canyon Road, and we crossed carefully. Continuing through the woods we finally came to a snow covered area near the road. Trying to stay on the trail, but not really being able to see exactly where it was, was a bit scary. Even scarrier still, was when Samm's foot broke through the snow, and her whole leg sank down into a hollowed out cavern under the ice! All was well, though, after we cautiously crossed the thin snow pack, and Samm's mini panic attack had passed. We so badly wanted to finish the hike the way it was supposed to be, by taking the side trip down to Louise Lake and back up, but there was still far too much snow in the area. Rather than risking it, we decided to stay safe on the road and hiked back up to frozen-over Reflection Lake to complete our quest.

After 6.6 strenuous miles of uphill trekking, we were exhausted. But, it was all worth it when we were able to look out and down across the canyon we had just ventured out of. Our sense of accomplishment was high, and we were already talking about tackling the trail once again, after the snow melted off.

Steven's Canyon...you kicked my ass! :P But, I'd do it all again in a heart beat. What a journey!

Check out the video below to view our epic quest. Thank you ladies for coming along and being champs!