Hiking and Pokémon

Little Mashel Falls- Bud Blanchard Trail

Eatonville, WA

How much do you know about Pokémon? I only remember the original 150, myself. Did you know that some Pokémon have different abilities and strengths, depending on the region they are from? This is especially true for those from the Alolan region, apparently. I learned all of this (and more!) on the hike to Little Mashel Falls with my eight-year-old son.

Almost five miles in and back, Little Mashel Falls via the Bud Blanchard trail is in Eatonville, WA. It was nice because the first mile and a half-ish was flat, which lent itself well to the aforementioned conversation. While I didn’t love that, in that first section, you could see houses in the middle distance, so it didn’t feel as “naturey” as I had originally hoped. As soon as you turn into the woods, you definitely get that “away” feeling that I, admittedly, crave. 

And that turn into the woods came right on time, because that is when the elevation starts to climb. Not a lot: this trail was not super steep, it only gains 600 ft in elevation, and there aren’t abrupt cliff edges like you might see on a mountain. But it is enough elevation to require that you catch your breath instead of talking about Pokémon.

Once we started moving upwards, we really felt that immersion in the woods. We could hear more birds and the creek below. At one point, as the wind was blowing through the trees, we heard a very unnerving “creeeeeeeeeeeek”. It was louder than the usual bend and sway of the forest in a breeze, and it took us a moment to realize that a tree had fallen previously, but was being held up by the branches of its companions. We both paused- I wanted to analyze the situation, my son was (understandably) freaked out. Was the tree going to fall in the series of gusts we were in? We could kind of see where it was, but without a better angle, we could not discern how well it was propped.

This was one of my favorite parts of the hike, because we both got a moment to troubleshoot together how (and whether) to move forward until this tree stopped creaking. That small moment taught me more about my son than an hour of Pokémon could. He was brave because, although he was admittedly scared of the tree falling, he was determined to get past it; thoughtful in how he problem-solved ideas on moving forward; and caring because he expressed concern for my safety as well as his own. My heart grew three sizes, and after deciding to wait for the current gust to end- and subsequently hurrying past this tree's potential falling path- we kept on for the falls.

Let me be clear here: we were not in immediate danger. If we were, I would have turned us around. I am BIG into safety. The risks I will take by myself are a significantly higher bar than any risks I will take with others, especially my kiddos.

That said, getting to the falls was totally worth it. There are three different falls, we hit the lower and the middle. The lower falls have a decent hill to climb down to get to (then back up to leave), so my son was ready to go after those. I am glad he was willing to go to the middle falls next with me, because they were easier to get to, from a physical stamina standpoint, and there was a way to get behind the waterfall there. It was incredibly beautiful. Both falls had small pools that you could put your feet into, and just sit and be with. The middle falls, especially, had a large splash zone; as such, I’d recommend going fully prepared to be damp (or bring extra socks). I wish we had brought a full picnic to the falls, because I could have easily spent hours there.

In the end, I had a really nice time on this trail and I was so glad my son came with me (Pokémon and all). We got to have both deep and silly conversations, and it was as calm as I had seen him in a while. I really liked that neither of us had the distractions that usually take our attention away from meaningful topics, and both of us felt accomplished once we got back to the car.

My impression of this hike is that it was height-phobia friendly, and although the elevation does increase, if there are concerns about physical stamina, it could* be manageable by taking it nice and slow. There were some really beautiful views- even on a cloudy day!- and I would love to go back in the summer with both my kiddos to play in the shallow pools. This is another beautiful trail from which to spend an intensive therapy day, if you do not mind seeing some houses for the first part.

Are you interested in joining me? Feel free to check out my services page or contact me! I am looking forward to going outside with you.

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And always remember: You’ve got this.

#PNWNatureTherapy #AdventureTherapy #MindfulnessInNature #TherapyOutside #NatureHeals #HikeYourOwnHike

*All activity levels are different, and I do not hold anyone- including myself- to others’ standards!

**Opinions shared are based on personal experience and not professional, legal, or medical advice. If you are going outside alone, you are responsible for doing so with sound judgment and with appropriate safety precautions in place.