Christie Falls is a very short, beautiful hike just outside of Kelowna. I did this one with Cameron in May on a cold rainy day. I knew that this wasn’t supposed to be a very lengthy or challenging hike, but with the rain starting to get worse I knew we were in for a muddy and slippery trek down to the falls.
After driving down a forest service road for about 35 minutes we reached the trailhead. The trees around us were dead and scorched from the 2009 Terrace Mountain wildfire that had ripped through the area. The charred trees mixed with the lush green regrowth on the forest floor made for some interesting scenery.
After walking shortly through the forest, we came to the area where the trail drops down and starts descending to the waterfall. On a day with no rain, this would be a simple hike down to the falls, but with the somewhat steep slope being soaking wet and muddy it created a small challenge for us. Thankfully there were ropes tied to the trees to use as an aid to get down, although I don’t know how much I would trust the integrity of these ropes.
We slipped and slid our way through the mud and then rounded the corner to see the stunning Christie Falls with a small cave behind it. The water was falling from above into the middle of the ground, leaving a space to walk behind the falls along the wall to reach the cave. This area is popular with climbers in the summer and winter months.
The ground was so lush and green, and the low hanging clouds were blowing right into us. Cloudy, sunny, rainy, foggy, I think we got to witness these falls in every sort of light imaginable. For such a short and easy hike the pay off was immense. I spent a fair amount of time just exploring the surroundings and taking it in. I liked how there were still patches of ice and snow in some places left over from the winter, yet everything was unbelievably green. There was even a rope swing for people to use hanging in front of the cave.
I loved this place and I feel like the rain and moody clouds just added to the experience and made it a bit more exciting. I even got to see my first Mountain Bluebird! I was pretty excited about that. Christie Falls is easily one of my favourite waterfalls to visit.
