Bloucher Falls

Bloucher Falls is located 1.5 miles along the Van Trump Park trail in Mount Rainier National Park. The trailhead is located 1/4 mile west of Christine Falls or 2 1/2 miles east of the Cougar Rock Campground.Bloucher Falls is sort of the little brother of Comet Falls, only "little" is the last word I'd use to describe it. The falls occur just above the mouth of the East Fork of Van Trump Creek, where the stream drops over a basalt formation in a roaring three-tiered stair step drop totaling about 120 feet. This used to be an exceptionally scenic waterfall, followed by a beautiful stretch of mossy bedrock. The falls escaped unscathed from the 2001 debris flow, however, they were not so lucky during the floods of October 2003 and November 2006. There must have been an absolutely incomprehensible amount of water flowing down the creek then, because the banks have been scoured clean for up to 25 feet above the streambed. The falls used to be partially obscured from the footbridge crossing below the falls, but are totally visible now, and should be for quite a while. The stream below the falls is rather ugly as a result of the floods, but in exchange, it is possible to approach the falls much closer now, and really feel the power being exerted by the falling water.Though the name seems to be fairly well documented, the only detail I can find on Bloucher Falls is that it was named by a party of early mountain climbers for one of its members, a man by the name of Bloucher. Though the name is recognized by the US Board of Geographic Names, and has plenty of historic use, it has fallen out of use over the last 75 years or so, for some reason or another.