We left the campsite with a temperature of 44 degrees, and predictions of mid 50s with winds up to 30 mph. We knew we'd be hiking in the trees so we weren't too concerned. We headed over to the Twin Arches trailhead and did the upper loop and hiked 1.8 miles total round trip. On this trail, you go up and down, and up again. There are at least two very long steep staircases and several other small staircases. There are also steps built into the dirt paths. We noticed lots of sand on the top of the trail which comes from the numerous rock formations. We hiked over the North arch and then onto the South arch. There's a large rock over the South Arch which is not easy to ascend, but it was manageable for all 3 of us. Once we got to the top, we could look over the canopy of trees below us and the high winds were an added bonus to the climb. We headed down and explored under both arches. The south arch has a narrow canyon that you can climb through to get to the outside of the rock formation. There were a few other people here exploring the arches. On the loop back, there were two very steep staircases that BenjiBear would not climb. Fortunately, he has a human that will carry him - Scotty! We ate lunch at the trail head before our next hike.
The Sawmill Trailhead is not far away so we headed out to Slave Falls. It's a nice easy hike through the forest and then you get to a fork. We went to the right and saw Needle Arch, appropriately named as the arch is thin like a needle. Retracing our steps, we went back to the fork and took the other path which led to Slave Falls. This path winds under some rocky cliffs where slaves may have hid and therefore the name of these falls. It's a 90 foot fall that is really a small flow of water coming down. It's surrounded by steep rocky walls and fenced off so hikers can not get close. This hike was 3.3 miles. This is not the biggest fall or arch that we've seen, but I'd recommend both of these hikes.
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