Flood Falls Hike in Hope, B.C.

From our campground, we can see a pretty waterfall come tumbling down one of the many Cascades peaks bordering the Fraser River to the south:

Locals told us that this is Flood Falls, and that we could find a trail to it by walking a short distance from our campground.  Sure enough, this morning while we were on our daily coffee walk, we found the trailhead with no trouble:

You can find the trail easily.  The trailhead is located at a small gravel pullout at N 49.362319, W 121.519306 and the trail is searchable on Google Maps, on a parallel road running along the south side of Canada Highway 1, just east of the Floods Interchange.

The trail leads into a typical Northern Cascades forest, filled with moss-covered rocks and trees, and boasting vines of all types:

 Along its lower stretch, the trail follows a deep streambed.  It took some looking and pondering before we realized that the bed of the stream seemed too artificially cut.  We eventually came to a spot where it started to make sense.  The area was transformed by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, beginning in 1858.  Prospectors climbed all over these hills like so many ants, dredging out streams and searching for gold nuggets and powder.  It seemed to us that we were seeing a spot where dredges had dug up piles of river stones and spit them up onto the near bank:

By 1889, some 40 years later, Hope saw the beginning of logging and milling.  We found stumps of old growth trees that remained from a clear-cut logging of the area beneath the falls and steep cliffs: 

Turning a corner, we caught our first close-up view of the falls:

Our heartbeats and pace quickened, as we neared the base of the falls.  Every step brought the falls nearer.  Here, Kathy stands at the base, by the pool into which the falls flow, gazing up at the water as far as she could see:

No waterfall really comes alive without video, so here is a video of Flood Falls from the pool at the bottom.

It's rare that we get a hike before breakfast, but today was one of those days, so we still are looking forward to the hike we planned for this afternoon!