Comet Falls
Date: September 19, 2009
Difficulty: 2 out of 10
Distance: 4 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 300 feet
Time: 1.5 to 2.5 hours
Location: Near Longmire, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: $10 per car access fee
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Patricia Chow & Garth Heuchert.

Since we were staying near Mount Rainier National Park and the weather forecast called for rain all day, we decided to hike Comet Falls.  The trail is under tree canopy for most of the route and has a spectacular view even on a rainy day.  Because the waterfall resembles a tail of a comet, it was named Comet Falls.  This is a fairly easy hike that you could do with the family, kids and beginning hikers.  The trailhead and small parking lot is located on Longmire Road; go early if possible, the parking lot fills up quickly.

There is really not much elevation gain on this hike, but…you do start the hike at 3,600 feet.  Within a 1/2 mile, you cross Van Trump Creek on a small wooden bridge.  You will cross three avalanche slopes after the creek, another good reason to do this in the fall….all the snow is gone.  At two miles you will see the magnificent Comet Falls.  The falls plunges 320 feet with a significant force of mist blasting from the bottom.  Since it was the fall, there wasn’t any snow and the creek level was low enough to walk on the creek bed to get close to the base.  Being this close, it felt as if you were caught in a hurricane with the horrendous sound and gale force winds generated from the 320 foot fall.  After getting soaked from the hurricane like mist and plenty of pictures taken, we headed back down.  For a longer hike, the trail continues another mile to the meadows of Van Trump Park.