Hike to the Bottom of Bowen Falls

Of the two secret trails to Bowen Falls, the one to the bottom of the waterfall is less secret than the one to the top. The reason is because the trail to the bottom used to be open to the public before it was closed due to dangerous rock falls and tree avalanche risks. The interesting thing is that the trail isn’t that long since Bowen falls is located just around the corner from Milford Warf.

This is the beginning of the trail. You can tell how it used to be traveled often (open to the public) since it is paved with cement. It has since been closed by a locked gate, but it is pretty easy to climb over. The rock cliff to the immediate right is pretty steep which is where the danger comes from, but it is covered in dripping moss that is really beautiful and full of wet green life. I like to imagine it is inhabited with millions of sea monkeys wearing futuristic spandex outfits. We had a German lodge guest stay for two weeks studying moss for his post doctorate research. I wish I could have told him to go on this trail, but I was still unaware back then.

Here is another view of the rock cliff the trail runs along. On wet days, waterfalls like this one appear all around the fiord. It’s like a water fun park, but without the plastic slides, thousands of people, warm weather, or lifeguards.

Eventually, the trail ducks into the forest where damage is evident from the storm we had about a week before. The thunderous roar of the waterfall grows in volume as you hike onward until…

You are ejected out of the woods into the blowing mist of Bowen falls. Since it was raining, the falls was even bigger than normal so it was impossible to stay dry anywhere within the great vicinity of the falling water feature. In this picture, I am trying to stand as vertically straight as possible but, as you can see, I need to work on my arm positioning.

This is not the grave of Frankenberry or Count Chocula, Nope. It’s actually the grave of William Rath… something (the gravestone was old and hard to read). William Rath… something sure had a great taste for the placement of his own grave. Seriously!

I wasn’t able to take a lot of pictures around the falls because it was too wet and I worried I might ruin my nice camera again.

On the way back, we veered onto a side trail that lead us to the beach. From there, we could hike around and see the waterfall from a distance.

and with the position of the afternoon sun, it was the perfect recipe for rainbow creations off of the waterfall mist. This is only one of the ten thousand pictures I took of this exact scene. It was so beautiful that I think my brain malfunctioned and the only way I could cope was to just keep taking pictures.

Here is a random picture of Milford Warf. I had to balance on top of a metal pole to take this picture because I needed to elevate myself enough to see all the boats from a higher vantage point.

Word to your mother.