Bowen Falls Hike

Hello Everyone,

On Monday, my friend/coworker, Barbara, and I hiked to the top of Bowen Falls. It is a trail that no one outside of people who frequent and/or live in Milford know about, so it isn't really defined. At times, it is easy to lose the trail and start walking in random directions in the forest only to come to realize that you have only been following what looked like a trail, but wasn't one. I think it is a good thing that tourists don't know about this hike as it can get dangerous at times.

The hike is really fun, though. You walk through the rainforest through a lot of moss-covered rocks, trees, and ferns. You also climb up the mountain, which can get a little steep and slippery at times. Luckily some generous people have fixed ropes to help you along some of the steepest portions of the trail.


Here I am posing in front of a small falls in a stream along the way.


Not all of the hike is pristine rainforest, unfortunately. A large portion of it includes walking along a pipeline. This pipeline gets water from the Bowen river, which runs over the mountain and down into Milford where it hydrates the residents who work at the pub/restaurant/bar, and cruise lines. Water from this pipeline is also used to generate electricity for the town. Special note: we at the Lodge get our water from a well, not from this pipeline.


Eventually, the pipeline gets so steep that it has planks of wood on top with a rebar hand rail for those worried about falling.


This plank path leads to this rickety ladder which allows you to clime down to the Bowen River (not pictured).


I don't think this waterfall has a name, but it is really beautiful. This is the waterfall over which the water falls before it goes over Bowen Falls.


Here I am posing in front of it. I think this picture may need to be my professional picture that I put on my portfolio website... or maybe just my Facebook profile picture. I just wish I wasn't wearing my raincoat around my waist.


This is a picture of the view from up on top of the 160 meter high waterfall. It is difficult to make out, but you can see how tall the waterfall is. There is a path that leads down the waterfall a ways so you can get a view of the falling water with the sound. We didn't go down there because it was really wet that day and everything was really slippery. We didn't want to risk our lives just for a beautiful picture.


Can you imagine the view could get better than this? Well it can! I ended up hiking back there on my last day off when it was perfectly sunny and clear and got some even better pictures. I will post those soon.

Toodles