What Park Rangers See at Wallace Falls That Most Visitors Miss
Wallace Falls State Park is one of those places almost everyone in Washington has a story about. A first hike. A rainy weekend escape. A “let’s just go to the Middle Falls and see how we feel” kind of afternoon. It’s familiar, it’s reliable, and it’s always busy.
But the version of Wallace Falls most of us experience is only one slice of the park. Rangers see a fuller, more complex picture every day, one rooted in the rhythms of the place, the seasons, and the constant movement of people.
In this episode of the Exploring Washington State Podcast, Park Ranger Kevin Lease offers a grounded look at what actually happens behind the scenes at Wallace Falls. His insights don’t come from guides or brochures, they come from years of walking the trails, talking with visitors, and doing the work no one notices.
The Pace of a Really Popular Park
If you’ve ever tried to find parking at Wallace Falls on a sunny Saturday, you already know the park draws crowds. Kevin explains what that looks like from the ranger side: a steady flow of questions, trail guidance, parking help, lost items, dogs off-leash, and the classic “How much farther?” asked more times than anyone could count.
It’s not dramatic, but it’s constant. And that rhythm shapes how rangers plan their days, where they position themselves, and how they support thousands of visitors without things turning chaotic.
What you feel as a busy day is, for them, simply a day.
There’s More Than the Falls
Most hikers head straight toward the waterfalls. That’s the iconic route, the reason people visit, the photo everyone wants. But Kevin points out that the park is much larger than that main trail.
Quieter pockets exist:
- The lake area where the pace slows down
- Forest sections that see fewer boots
- Trails where wildlife has more space
- Areas that offer a different kind of Washington experience
Rangers move through all of it, and Kevin notes how often visitors walk right past opportunities for a calmer or more varied outing simply because the waterfalls get all the focus.
He’s not selling an alternative, it’s just the wider mental map rangers use every day.
The Work No One Sees (And That’s the Point)
Before most people arrive, rangers have already put in hours clearing debris, assessing conditions after storms, dealing with downed branches, checking muddy sections, and planning for whatever the season brings.
If visitors don’t notice any of that work, it usually means things are going well.
Kevin also works across multiple state parks, which gives him perspective on how Wallace Falls compares to other locations in the region. Each site has its own personality, but Wallace has a consistent intensity that shapes everything from staffing to long-term planning.
A Ranger’s View of Visitor Behavior
Kevin talks about patterns he sees again and again:
- Weather changes faster than newcomers expect
- People underestimate the elevation gain
- The trail feels different when hundreds of others share it
- Small choices: better shoes, more water, solve most issues
He doesn’t blame visitors; he simply understands the rhythms of the place after watching thousands of hikes unfold. His perspective is practical, not judgmental.
Why These Conversations Matter
Wallace Falls means something different to every visitor. A family memory. A weekend routine. A tradition with friends. A safe way to reconnect with the outdoors.
Hearing directly from a park ranger adds depth to all of that. It helps visitors understand not just what makes the park special, but what it takes to keep it accessible, welcoming, and enjoyable year-round.
This episode is part of a broader effort to highlight the voices of people who know Washington’s parks in a way guidebooks never fully capture. If Wallace Falls is part of your own story—or it will be someday—Kevin’s perspective helps you see the park with fresh eyes.
Transcript: Conversation with Ranger Kevin Lease
Scott [00:00:05]:
Welcome to the Exploring Washington State Podcast. My name is Scott Cowan and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington state. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re going to like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. Kevin Leese is my guest today. Kevin is a park ranger at Wallace Falls State Park.
Scott [00:00:32]:
Kevin, welcome to the show.
Kevin [00:00:34]:
Hey, good morning. Thank you.
Scott [00:00:36]:
So I’m gonna put you on the spot. We’re gonna ask a big question right up front. You ready for this? Just out of the blue, I’m gonna, like, punch you in the face.
Kevin [00:00:44]:
Yeah, let’s do it.
Scott [00:00:45]:
All right. What’s one thing you wish every visitor that visited Wallace Falls State Park knew before they arrived?
Kevin [00:00:55]:
Be ready for a wonderful experience. Be prepared for that wow factor. When you get up to the viewpoints, especially Middle Falls, it’s going to be memorable. Memorable.
Scott [00:01:11]:
All right. All right. That’s great answer, by the way. I like that. All right, so let’s talk about you. What, what’s your background? How did you end up in the Parks Department?
Kevin [00:01:23]:
Yeah. So, you know, it’s interesting. I get this question from visitors and I get people that say to me, come up and, oh, I always wanted to be a ranger. And sometimes I tell a few folks that I never did. It is a great job. So going back, I grew up here in the county. I went to school in Granite Falls. And I, in high school, figuring out what I wanted to do, I got involved in—
Kevin [00:01:58]:
We had Future Teachers of America Club. And was my senior year, the first year we had that. I was the president and we had, you know, probably half a dozen students. And anyways, I went to Everett Community College, got to Western. I was enrolled in Woodring, the Teachers College of Education. And I had one quarter where I—I was taking psychology as a supporting major. And the one quarter I had a statistics class that I failed and I was put on academic probation for a quarter. So I decided, okay, if I have a quarter of classes that I’m just, you know, okay, interest—
Kevin [00:02:43]:
I took a geology and a geography class, and I enjoyed those so much that I switched my majors to geography. And so I would never recommend that to anyone because then you have to go back and do all those, you know, your general requirement classes. So I was in school for longer than I intended, but I think it’s paid off.
So got a degree at Western and, you know, Geography resource management about 2003. I worked seasonally three years for the Forest Service, and then around 2005, I applied for state parks. And a co-worker of mine with the Forest Service had mentioned she had, I believe, applied for Deception Pass. And so that intrigued me, looking at the information about the ranger class for Washington State Parks.
Kevin [00:03:39]:
And, yeah, I was hired in 2006. And, yeah, it’s been 19 years plus with the agency, and it’s—it’s been mostly as a ranger. It’s been a really good experience for me. So, yeah, getting back to that, I was gonna—my goal was to be a teacher, but I—I guess in some ways I’m a teacher out here in the—
Kevin [00:04:00]:
In the parks.
Scott [00:04:01]:
But, yeah, since this is an audio show, no one’s really going to see that. I was chuckling while you were saying this, and I wanted to interrupt you and say, I’m not laughing at you. I genuinely am laughing with you because what I’ve gone on record saying many times is I went to Central. Okay. And I think even the bio on the website says my freshman year was the best six years of my life.
Scott [00:04:30]:
I get—I get the academic probation. I get the, hey, I’m just going to take these classes because they sound interesting versus, you know, here’s the—I was an accounting major to start with, and I’m grateful that I didn’t go down that path. Very, very grateful. I did not graduate. I—I did. I ended up getting a job that pulled me away from college.
Scott [00:04:52]:
Anyway. But anyway, my path to where I am is long and convoluted. Good for you. You’re going to be on 20 years here with the Park Service. That’s awesome. In today’s day and age, talking to somebody who’s got more than two years somewhere is almost, it seems, very impressive to me. All right. Where was your first assignment at, though? You didn’t start here at Wallace Falls.
Scott [00:05:20]:
Have you moved around?
Kevin [00:05:22]:
Yeah, I’ve moved around quite a bit. The first, I guess, seven, eight years. I started when I went through the interview process and all the testing and talking to psychologists because it is a law enforcement position. So the hiring requirements are pretty high. But I was given the offer between Grayland Beach and Yakima Sportsman.
Scott [00:05:53]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:05:54]:
And I chose Yakima. Sounded sunnier. Grayland sounds gray and cloudy and rainy.
Scott [00:06:04]:
Fair.
Kevin [00:06:05]:
And then also when I went through the interview process, the manager at the time at Yakima was very friendly. And we spoke, you know, about hiking here in the Northwest. He had lived in Lynnwood. So, yeah, I—Which is also interesting, starting Yakima, because probably a year earlier I had interviewed for a GIS position through Yakima County. And I remember leaving Yakima thinking, well, I really don’t want to live here.
Scott [00:06:37]:
But it’s the Palm Springs of Washington, man. Come on.
Kevin [00:06:41]:
Yeah, but yeah, I actually, I was—I worked at that park for about a year and a half and I grew to really like Yakima. I like the culture, I like the opportunities for outdoor recreation. You’re—you’re right there, you know, going up to Chinook Pass and all the hikes up there, Highway 12. Yeah, it’s—I think it’s a good location. I like the four seasons there.
Scott [00:07:06]:
Right. And that’s why, you know, we moved to Wenatchee to get away from—Well, for me it was traffic. I just got tired of the commute. I was commuting from Tacoma to Olympia every day. And that’s just soul searching. Or not soul searching, soul sucking. You know, I lost it.
Scott [00:07:21]:
I was—Anyway. How long have you been at Wallace Falls?
Kevin [00:07:26]:
Yeah, 11—11 years. I came here October 1, 2014, so about a year and a month. But—Yeah, but in between Yakima and here, I—I moved back over to the west side in 2007. I had a girlfriend at the time in Lake Stevens and I worked at Wenberg, which is now a county park. So I was there, I think, a year and a half.
Kevin [00:07:53]:
And then I, at the time, the agency was, you know—as far as getting the funding, funding was getting tight. Budgets were getting tight. So the agency, we basically got rid of three or four parks. Wenberg was one of them. Snohomish County Parks stepped up and, and we handed the keys over. So at that time I had to, you know, I was offered a position. I went to Cama Beach on Camano Island.
Kevin [00:08:27]:
Okay. So I was there a couple years. Went to Whidbey Island after that for a couple years. And then 2014 when the position became available at Wallace, I applied and got here and haven’t left.
Scott [00:08:44]:
Haven’t left. Let’s—let’s—I’d like you to give us a glimpse into your day to day that a park visitor doesn’t see. Like when I met you, I was at the park and you were checking—Were you collecting money from the lockboxes basically? Were you ticketing cars? I mean, you looked like a parking lot cop. Honestly. I mean, I was kind of chuckling to myself.
Scott [00:09:10]:
It’s like, okay. And we started talking. So what’s a normal day for you at Wallace Falls?
Kevin [00:09:18]:
That’s really hard to describe. It can vary. For example, this week we had a crew, a Washington Conservation Crew, here at the park doing trail work.
Scott [00:09:30]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:09:30]:
And so I spent a lot of time working with them. We were up trail right around Lower Falls, repairing a couple posts, taking out—There was a tree that came down from our recent windstorm. But, you know, we have some routines. You can imagine what goes into a park daily routines including bathrooms, cleaning. We do have other staff, support staff, but I—I try to be involved as much as I can. You know, the garbage, recycle, mowing, weed-eating, trimming, you know, making sure all the vehicles, the equipment is—is working. We have cabins here, so we—And they’re very popular here, especially the weekends and holidays, so they’re turning over.
Kevin [00:10:19]:
So it’s kind of all hands on deck keeping them clean.
Scott [00:10:23]:
So like housekeeping, I mean, you’re like a, you know, hotel housekeeper in the—in for the cabins.
Kevin [00:10:29]:
Yeah. It’s a good revenue source for the agency and it’s a good experience for people who come here. And yes, I do some of that, you know, parking lot enforcement, checking on Discover Passes. You know, we want people to buy into that. We’re really reliant on our user fees like camping fees and the Discover Pass. So—
Scott [00:10:57]:
Sure.
Kevin [00:10:57]:
So yeah, part of that. But yeah.
Scott [00:11:44]:
Well, what’s funny is that, you know, I haven’t talked to that many rangers per se, half a dozen of you. So—but I can say all—all of you that I’ve talked to kind of say the—kind of have the—Just want to have like a casual conversation in the parking lot with you. Right. I get the feeling that one of the characteristics of a successful Washington State park ranger is the ability and willingness to do whatever the job takes.
Whether you’re, you know, mucking out a bathroom because you have to or you’re up fixing a trailer or you’re, you know, interacting with the public who doesn’t have a Discover Pass and you’re trying to be polite to them and not escalate it. And you know, you’re PR for the park and for the department. It seems like a—
Scott [00:11:44]:
Yeah, it doesn’t seem like—Yes, you have a routine, but I bet every day is—Every Tuesday is probably not like every other Tuesday, you know? I mean, you know, you know. And when we, we brief—Like, for example, you mentioned, or I was mentioning to you by email, that if we were having tech troubles today, maybe we could try to do it next week in person. And you said, I’m in training all week.
So you’ve got training to go to, things like that. So I’m going to ask you that question. What—what sort of training are you going to? You know, what do they got you working on for training these days?
Kevin [00:12:17]:
Yeah. So for the ranger class, we have Ranger 1, 1, 2, 3, 4. Our Ranger 2s and 3s are commissioned, so we do have, you know, police powers.
Scott [00:12:29]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:12:30]:
So we have to keep up with, you know, all the new policies, procedures. We go to quarterly trainings for firearms and defensive tactics. So really good training team. So we—we go over scenarios. But so next week I—I have a supervisors training. Typically we do an annual in-service. We didn’t do that this year, but—So, yeah, keeping up on those skills for the law enforcement side of the job. Yeah.
Scott [00:13:07]:
So you’re a Park Ranger 2. Is Park Ranger 3 an upgrade or a step below you? How—How’s the 1, 2, 3, 4? Is 4 the highest or is 4 the lowest?
Kevin [00:13:20]:
4 is our admin area managers.
Scott [00:13:24]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:13:24]:
So they would probably be considered your area supervisor’s position. The Ranger 3s are considered our operation managers. So that would be a step above the 2.
Scott [00:13:38]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:13:38]:
And then I think of our 2s as kind of the journeyman type ranger. And then the Ranger 1 class is—they can do the Discover Pass enforcement. They also do a lot of the, you know, daily routines, supervising park aids. A lot of those jobs—
Kevin [00:14:00]:
The task duties kind of overlap a little bit.
Scott [00:14:04]:
Right.
Kevin [00:14:06]:
Except for maybe the Ranger 4. They’re really involved with, you know, meetings with overhead staff, headquarters staff, friends groups, etc. But not to say that we’re not involved. I work with volunteer groups and—but yeah.
Scott [00:14:24]:
All right, well, let’s—Yeah, I just—It’s, it’s—Being an outsider looking in at an organization, it’s interesting to see how—Well, I don’t—Okay. This question would have not been something I would have scripted with you, and I don’t expect you to know the answer. So if you don’t know, it’s—It’s okay.
Scott [00:14:42]:
So I’m giving you, I’m letting you off the hook right away. Yeah. But how many people do you think work in the state park system at all levels?
Kevin [00:14:51]:
Yeah, it’s—it’s increased over the years and—which, you know, I—There’s a lot that goes on. Including the seasonals, I think it’s 6, 700.
Scott [00:15:03]:
Wow.
Kevin [00:15:04]:
Okay.
Scott [00:15:07]:
How about at Wallace Falls? How many—How many employees are working at that—only—only work at Wallace Falls?
Kevin [00:15:16]:
Correct. Yeah, there’s three of us full time.
Scott [00:15:19]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:15:19]:
And so myself, we have a Ranger 1 here.
Scott [00:15:24]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:15:24]:
And then we also have a full-time park aid. And we also cover three other parks. We have Big Eddy Scenic River Access, Forks of the Sky and Mount Pilchuck State Park.
Kevin [00:15:39]:
Okay. But we’re part of what we call our larger area of parks, the Cascade Foothills parks, which includes Lake Sammamish State Park, St. Edward, Bridle Trails, Olallie, and parts of the Palouse to Cascades Trail.
Kevin [00:15:52]:
Part of our Cascade Foothills area parks.
Scott [00:15:55]:
Okay. All right. Well, let’s talk about Wallace Falls. Like, your park.
Kevin [00:16:02]:
It’s—
Scott [00:16:03]:
To me, it seems pretty large at about, about 1,300 acres, if I remember reading.
Kevin [00:16:09]:
Yeah.
Scott [00:16:10]:
So that’s a—and that’s a lot of acreage to have as a park, to me. Okay. To me that seems big. In your opinion, is Wallace Falls a big park? Is it normal size?
Kevin [00:16:26]:
Yeah. Yeah. Compared to other state parks, we’re probably—we have more acreage than most, but we’re not as big as, say, you know, go out to Moran State Park. There’s probably 5,000, 6,000 acres there. Larrabee, Mount Spokane, you know, those are very—Those are our largest parks.
Kevin [00:16:47]:
But—
Scott [00:16:47]:
Right.
Kevin [00:16:47]:
Typically we’re probably close, you know, a typical state park—200 acres or so.
Scott [00:16:56]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:16:56]:
But it can vary. Yeah.
Scott [00:16:56]:
So. And then one of the other things that I—I’m cheating. Looking at my screen, I got some, I got some notes over here. I’m kind of cheating. What do you know about the history of the park, how it—how it started? What—All I know is that basically it was in about 1971 and it was from Weyerhaeuser.
Kevin [00:17:11]:
Yeah. So, yeah. Going—going back to history of this park. You know, sometime in the late 60s, there was money being allotted for the requirements of the properties. Then it—it started out as purchases. Yeah. 1971 from Weyerhaeuser and other parcels were later added in the 70s, private timber like Weyerhaeuser. Probably some DNR properties as well.
Kevin [00:17:43]:
The park officially opened in 1977. Leading up to that, probably in ’75, ’76, there was Youth Corps, you know, the younger kids were out building the trails. Some of the early structures, for example, up at Lower Falls, there’s a picnic shelter there, which is an odd thing to see on trail. But you get up there and you know, it’s probably like a 20 by 12 open covered building with a couple picnic tables and it’s been there since, you know, the park opened. So—
Kevin [00:18:43]:
Yeah, park opened in ’77 officially, and other properties adjacent were added later on. So we, you know, now have a trail that goes up to not only the falls, but to—we have Wallace Lake, Jay Lake, Shaw Lake.
Kevin [00:18:43]:
The Greg Ball Trail, which was completed around 2004, connects to Wallace Lake. We’re surrounded by a lot of DNR properties as well. So some people will not only do the hikes up to the falls, but you can go to the lakes or you can make a large loop hike, but you do leave the park. You do get into the DNR, Department of Natural Resources properties.
Scott [00:19:10]:
Right. Okay.
Kevin [00:19:13]:
So—
Scott [00:19:13]:
So that’s interesting that—So you’re saying it really didn’t open until ’75, which is interesting to me as I—as I’ve paid more attention to the state parks. I know Larrabee was the first—the first park. And then as I paid more attention to it, it’s interesting to kind of—This was a grant here, or this is in partnership with this agency over here. Or, you know, it’s just, it’s interesting to me that I think each of the 145 parks probably all have this really—Each story is a little different, you know? I mean, it’s like, so this one had Weyerhaeuser as the—maybe the key—
Scott [00:19:53]:
The key instigator of it, you know, as far as the land and then DNR land and all of that. I just—And then each park has its own identity. And what I hear from the, you know—My son is—If you—Okay, you met me, I’m not a small human being. I am small compared to my son, okay. And, you know, he’s hiked. He’s hiked that.
Scott [00:20:19]:
And my son doesn’t go outside, okay. My kid is in front of a computer screen all day, all night, okay, type person. But he and his friends all have gone up to Wallace Falls. I don’t know what the motivation was, but the fact that my son has been there is interesting. And then I know other people that say, hey, we’re going to go to Wallace Falls. I mean, I keep hearing Wallace Falls, Wallace Falls, Wallace Falls. I don’t hear Schoolchuck, which is by me here.
Scott [00:20:47]:
You know, I don’t hear— I don’t ever really hear anybody say, oh, we’re going up to the Squilchuck State Park. What I hear is we’re going up to Mission Ridge. So the falls kind of seem like they’re the big draw.
Kevin [00:21:00]:
Yes.
Scott [00:21:01]:
Okay. I mean, that’s kind of, you know—that they’re the—they’re the star of the show. But before we talk about that, what else is going on there? Like what—Since I didn’t leave the parking lot, I know I missed a lot, but what else—what do people miss at your park that, besides the falls, which we will cover, what else is going on there that you think people need to check out?
Kevin [00:21:27]:
Yeah, well, maybe I can explain a little bit too about the draw. Highway 2. You know, it’s the second busiest, you know, probably route to eastern Washington outside of Interstate 90. I don’t know the official numbers, but—
Scott [00:21:46]:
That’s a safe bet.
Kevin [00:21:48]:
Yeah, yeah. So you get that large population—Seattle, Bellevue side. You know, weekends, want to get outside. Let’s go up towards the mountains. One of the first stops—you know, we’re here in Gold Bar. We’re kind of on the periphery of—on the edge of, you know, I don’t say civilization here, but we’re kind of the last of the population.
Kevin [00:22:16]:
But so it’s easy to get to. We’re open year-round. So like further up the valley there’s trailheads that might not be accessible because of the snow or you can get there but, you know, half mile in you’re two feet [deep] and most people don’t want to do that.
Scott [00:22:33]:
Right.
Kevin [00:22:34]:
So it’s probably a—you know, most people probably describe it as a moderate hike. So there’s more difficult trails but there’s fewer easy. But so most people can do this hike and, yeah, the word gets out. Wallace Falls, you can see it. It’s just kind of a known thing. There’s, you know, go on the media, social media, you’ll see pictures of the falls. Makes the news for one thing or another. So it’s—
Kevin [00:23:08]:
Yeah, it’s an easy, popular draw. We’re on the state parks license plate with Lake Wenatchee and then—but the falls, like you mentioned—What else is there to see here? Yeah, most people are drawn to the waterfall viewpoints, especially Middle Falls. That’s got the steepest drop. But the park is kind of Y-shaped. So the one leg of the hikes goes up to those waterfall viewpoints, but the other leg—you can get up to the lakes. So there’s a 65-acre lake, Wallace Lake, and that’s about four miles from the parking lot. So a little further out. And then there’s Jay Lake and then the last lake is Shaw Lake.
Kevin [00:23:58]:
There is no direct trail to Shaw Lake, so it’s probably the least visited part of this park, but you can go alternative routes away from the park to get there. We don’t get to Shaw Lake as much as we probably want to, but at least a couple, two, three, four times a year, just making sure the route’s clear. Right. For Jay Lake and Wallace Lake we do have backcountry sites and those are really popular, especially, you know, spring and the summer. You can camp—twelve dollar fee. There’s some amenities there like table, fire ring, nearby outhouse.
Kevin [00:24:41]:
So. And then we’re also surrounded by—There’s a lot of Department of Natural Resources. I would say it probably makes up 80% of our boundaries. So sometimes there’s active timber sales around the park, sometimes not. But you can recreate, you can hike, you can bike into those areas. So—So yeah, that’s kind of where we’re at on the map of things.
Kevin [00:25:10]:
You know, it’s almost, almost getting into a wilderness-type feel. Like I can tell you the Wallace River originates in the Wild Sky Wilderness. So—
Scott [00:25:23]:
Okay, yeah. When you say, you know, people from Seattle, Bellevue, you know, Puget Sound—You know, this is a place for them. It’s close. You know, you said it’s borderline on the wilderness. I was going to tease you and say any community that has a home development as recent as what’s built out there is no longer the wilderness, that you are suburbia. If D.R. Horton is building homes there, they have done the math and they realize that people are living there and probably commuting to Bellevue. I mean, it really is probably true. Jokingly, what’s the most popular car brand you see in the parking lot?
Kevin [00:26:09]:
You know, it’s got to be Subaru.
Scott [00:26:13]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:26:14]:
Yeah. But I—I see more and more the Teslas, electric vehicles. You know, it’s well within range of, you know, where people are coming in from.
Scott [00:26:26]:
So continuing with the car thing, what’s the—Is there—Have you seen something there that you went like—like, for example, has there ever been a Rolls Royce parked in the—I mean, like, has there been a vehicle there that you’re like, what on earth is this doing in my parking lot?
Kevin [00:26:44]:
Yeah, there’s been a few very, I guess, European, high-end type—I don’t know, like it was Alfa Romeo. Is that Italian?
Scott [00:26:55]:
Yeah, Alfa’s Italian. Yeah.
Kevin [00:26:57]:
Okay. Yeah, Maseratis. You’ve seen a few.
Scott [00:27:00]:
You see—
Kevin [00:27:01]:
Okay. It reminds me of one time I had—There was a vehicle that had a cover on it. Like somebody, you know, I guess they maybe didn’t want to get tree sap.
Scott [00:27:13]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:27:14]:
Which—they could have parked somewhere else, but they have their vehicle covered.
Scott [00:27:21]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:27:21]:
So, you know, I kind of do Discover Pass enforcement with that. Like, huh, what do I do? Like, do I lift up and see if he’s got a pass on his windshield? I honestly, I just left that one alone. So I wouldn’t—Anyone listening? Please don’t cover your car to try to hide from getting a Discover Pass.
Scott [00:27:39]:
Discover Pass is 45 bucks. A car cover’s 500. I mean, you know, that’s not a smart way of skipping $45 for an annual fee. The thing is, is that when I drove out there, the speed tables out there—I don’t think anybody’s bringing like a Corvette out there, or if they are, they’re driving very, very carefully over those speed tables that are on the road.
All right. Yeah. I think the day that I was there, I think I noticed—I mean, my observation was I saw Subarus and Teslas. I mean there were plenty of other cars there, but I noticed, you know, multiple Teslas and multiple Subarus, which would be the two brands I would have answered had you asked me that question.
Scott [00:28:21]:
You mentioned you have cabins. How many cabins does your park have?
Kevin [00:28:26]:
There’s five here and they’re—Yeah, they’re a short walking distance from the parking lot.
Scott [00:28:32]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:28:32]:
So they’re not up trail next to the waterfalls, but, you know, they’re kind of tucked away. We get people that come here and don’t even realize—Right next to the parking lot, short walk, they’re right there.
Scott [00:28:47]:
And how many—How many people do the cabins sleep?
Kevin [00:28:52]:
They’ll sleep five persons.
Scott [00:28:55]:
There’s—What features? Like, walk me—Describe the cabin to me.
Kevin [00:29:02]:
Yeah, so they all have the same amenities, essentially. Cabins 3 and 5 have a back bedroom, so they have a little bit more room. With that room there’s an additional counter, but there’s a—It’s a full-size bed. It’s a bunk bed, so full-size on the bottom, twin bed on top. There’s a futon that folds out for a full-size bed, table, four chairs. You know, there’s wall heaters, plug-ins, a good-size covered porch.
Kevin [00:29:36]:
So most people that come here—we don’t have refrigerators or microwaves. Some of our state parks might have a little more amenities, but most people kind of cook outside either on a gas grill or, you know, we have an outside table, fire ring, barbecue brazier. So they’re semi-private, each one. There’s no water, no toilets there for each cabin, but there is a centralized comfort station restroom there, short walking distance for all the cabins, plus a couple of showers there as well. So—
Scott [00:30:12]:
All right.
Kevin [00:30:13]:
Yeah, pretty basic but, yeah.
Scott [00:30:16]:
Do you have—Are there—Now, you mentioned that there’s some unimproved camping spots up at—but are there any other camping spots near the parking area?
Kevin [00:30:28]:
Yes. Yeah, there’s two walk-in tent sites. Pretty basic—table, fire ring, that’s the only amenities—and those are first come, first served. So, you know, we get the folks that—It’s interesting that we’ve—Because of that we’ve had like some July 4th weekends where they sit empty.
Scott [00:30:50]:
Because they just assumed somebody else went there.
Kevin [00:30:54]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But so the big draw—we’re mostly a day-use park but busy cabins. You know, think of this as also a good jump-off point for, you know, not just our park and trails but all the other great hikes here up Highway 2.
Kevin [00:31:10]:
Right. Stevens Pass, especially ski season, will pick up a little bit. It’s 45 minutes up to Stevens Pass or even, you know, further—go Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee area. So, yeah.
Scott [00:31:28]:
This is your personal preference. I’m telling you that whatever your answer is, you are not acting as a representative of the state of Washington for the following question. When’s the best season to go to Wallace Falls, the park?
Kevin [00:31:43]:
Right now. I think October, November—fall time, fall colors. We do slow down, you know, with the visitors; kids are back in school.
Scott [00:31:54]:
Right.
Kevin [00:31:55]:
I think it’s a great time. I—I see our older, retired generation out here more frequently this time of year.
Scott [00:32:04]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:32:04]:
A good time to travel. Temperatures are cooler. I will say that the falls might not be as spectacular, but if you come in, like, after a good rainstorm, it could be really roaring pretty good. So, yeah, just personally—
Scott [00:32:19]:
Yeah, personally for you, you’re fall. Okay. Now the other three seasons that you just disrespected by saying—Winter, spring, and summer—they all have their strengths too, though. And, yes, I would say spring would be—Because the falls would probably be heavier flow, so the falls would be pretty spectacular. What’s a draw for winter time?
Kevin [00:32:44]:
No, there’s always potential for the snow. Although, you know, we’re only here at the trailhead 300 feet. So people think we’re way up in the mountains. We’re really not. But, yeah, the higher ends of the park, like around Shaw Lake, is closer to 2,000 feet.
Scott [00:33:06]:
Yeah.
Kevin [00:33:08]:
The viewpoints like at Middle Falls, 1,100 feet. But wintertime, you know, there’s less people. So that’s—that’s a draw. You know, you read our reviews and one of the complaints is too many people. When you come during the weekday—weekday in the winter—there’s a lot—
Scott [00:33:27]:
Less people. That same person is probably writing a review saying there’s not enough people. Sorry. It’s like there’s no pleasing people. That is—I mean, the system, I think the park system is a—is a victim of its own popularity and its own success. I mean, but you can’t—
Kevin [00:33:46]:
Yeah.
Scott [00:33:46]:
I’m sorry. Yeah. It’s frustrating. You pull in and there’s no parking spots. I mean, yes, any—any of us are frustrated selfishly that I went out there, there was no spots, I had to do something else.
Scott [00:33:57]:
All right. But I don’t know. Anyway. All right, so we got winter. You got spring and fall. Summertime, besides it just being nice Western Washington summer—and both days of it are, you know, beautiful—but what’s going on in summer that, like, people might be overlooking?
Kevin [00:34:16]:
Anything, you know? Well, the summer is the busier time. You know, kids out of school, especially families want to get out, enjoy the nice weather. It makes for, you know, it makes for a good hike. Our hours of operation are longest there, though.
Scott [00:34:36]:
Right.
Kevin [00:34:36]:
You know, June, July, you know, you can come off trail and if you’re feeling warm and need to—Always people, hey, where’s a good place to go swimming? And we have our Big Eddy river access point. And, you know, there gets a point probably mid-July later on where it’s a little safer to get in. You always gotta be careful. Here we have the Skykomish River, where Big Eddy is—careful. So maybe that hopefully answers your question. Yeah.
Scott [00:35:11]:
One thing I think—and it’s easy to be an armchair quarterback and tell the team how to perform without being—having any responsibilities. Right. I would like to see more of our parks open year-round because even though—Especially if the ranger—Like, you’re present 12 months of the year. You’re not closing the park up for winter and going somewhere else. You’re—You’re there. So, quote unquote, you’re being paid year-round whether there’s one person in the park or a thousand people in the park.
Kevin [00:35:43]:
Correct.
Scott [00:35:44]:
Yeah. Wouldn’t it be nice to—for some of the parks, not yours, because you’re open year-round—but to be open year-round? Yeah. I know that not many people might show up, but they might if they started to realize that this park was open year-round. Maybe you don’t have camping facilities, maybe you have to winterize them and all of that. I’m, you know—but I just think these are great resources that we all get to enjoy, whether it’s an August afternoon or a December evening.
Scott [00:36:19]:
It’s still being outdoors, it’s still being in nature, it’s still getting to experience some part of Washington state, wherever the park may be. Yours is open year-round. I get it. I do like the fact you close at dusk because I think, you know, I don’t think you want people out on the trails at night.
Kevin [00:36:38]:
Yeah, yeah. Safety concern, for sure.
Scott [00:36:40]:
Well, let me—Let me address that. How do you—Walk me through shutting down the park in the evening hours. How does—How do you—you know, because it closes at dusk, so I’ll call that shutting it down. How do—What do you do? I mean, if there’s three cars left in the parking lot, what—what do you do?
Kevin [00:37:03]:
Yeah, you know, that’s one thing we monitor, especially getting towards, you know—we’re coming up on, what, the end of daylight savings or the beginning—
Scott [00:37:14]:
I think it’s next week.
Kevin [00:37:15]:
So—
Scott [00:37:16]:
Yeah, I mean, yeah, at the time we’re recording this. Yeah, it’s coming soon. Yeah.
Kevin [00:37:19]:
Yeah. So, you know, it’s something we have to pay attention to. It’s something that we—we as rangers can cite people for being in the park after our official closing time.
Scott [00:37:34]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:37:36]:
Most—the experience I’ve had here, you might get a few people that are kind of straggling in there. It might be 5, 10, 15 minutes. You know, just a quick conversation with them and, and, you know, you can explain reasons A, B, C, D, you know, why we want folks out by that time.
There is the occasional time, especially in my time here, where I’ve been called out because, you know, it was sunset and it’s usually at 7:30 at night. I’m at home with my family having dinner and I get a call from SAR or dispatch like, yeah, we got a hiker still up at Wallace Lake. And can you help them out? And, you know, I’ll—I’ll always help out people.
Kevin [00:38:28]:
Sure. As much as I’m available and possible. And, you know, I talk to people often. They just—they just don’t—Some people just aren’t very good with the time and the time it takes to hike down four miles. So you just have a quick conversation. You know, hey, maybe next time start earlier. Make sure you have your headlamps, you know, in your backpack, part of, you know, your 10 essentials. Occasionally you get someone that does want to come in and start the hike at sunset and you have to explain to them, hey, this is—we don’t want you out at this time for this reason. And, you know, it’s also an operation.
Kevin [00:39:06]:
You know, we have so many staff persons and we’re done. We did our day’s work and we don’t have someone out late at night on the trails, typically—unless for an emergency. But—
Scott [00:39:19]:
Yeah, you’re not a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week service. I mean, yeah, we have to be. Okay, well, you mentioned the 10 essentials, which leads me to this question, which is in your experience, what should people bring that they almost—Is there something people should be bringing with them to your park that they don’t bring?
Kevin [00:39:48]:
You know, a lot of people are prepared, and they have at least probably five of the ten items, or some people might have twelve of the ten—they might have over-prepared. But yeah, Washingtonians, we—we are always prepared, I think, mostly for the rain.
Scott [00:40:10]:
It’s August. I’m still bringing a rain jacket just because.
Kevin [00:40:14]:
Okay. First aid kit’s always good. You know, if it’s not you that’s getting hurt, maybe you come across another hiker. Potentially, you know, even a basic setup of first aid supplies and always have enough water. We can’t stress that enough, you know, especially the summertime. Hydrate, hydrate and bring some snacks. Salty snacks. I’ve had several people who’ve been dehydrated out on the trail or I’ve seen some hikers almost, you know, pale white, just, you know, just—
Scott [00:40:55]:
Yeah, I shouldn’t—I’m kind of chuckling and I shouldn’t because it’s—it’s, it’s real. I mean, we gotta, we have to be prepared. You’ve mentioned twice now the 10 essentials. Why don’t you rattle through those 10? Because I’m curious what you think—
Scott [00:41:12]:
Versus what I’m thinking.
Kevin [00:41:14]:
Yeah.
Scott [00:41:14]:
What your—your listeners are probably—No, he forgot this one. Or, you know, you should have this one. But let’s—you know, you got—
Kevin [00:41:23]:
Excuse me. A compass, map, first aid kit, extra food, water, snacks, you know, probably extra clothing. Flashlight or fire starter, you know, matches, lighter.
Kevin [00:41:40]:
Most of us now carry cell phones, but beware—like this trail, there’s areas where you might not get service. Don’t call a cell phone a 10 essential, but you’ve got, you know, a way to communicate if needed. Right. If I mentioned flashlight or headlamp, that’s—that’s good. Some type of possibly emergency shelter. If you’re hurt or, if—if not this trail, some other trail, you might get into a situation where you have to be out at night, and especially here in the mountains, the weather can change quickly. You know, some way to keep dry, stay warm. I’m probably missing a few in there, but—
Scott [00:42:20]:
So, okay. We have become as a society very dependent on our cell phones. And we—I’m painting with a very large roller, not even a brush. I’ve got a big roller out and I’m, you know—We think our cell phones work everywhere, and they don’t in—you know, if you’re a city person, it works everywhere. But if you go out—Like, I know when I’m driving Highway 2 from—from Wallace Falls to Wenatchee, there’s spots where I don’t have cell coverage. Is there—
Scott [00:42:55]:
And you mentioned there’s—Is your park fairly covered though? I mean, do you—and is there a carrier that you think has better coverage out there?
Kevin [00:43:06]:
Yeah, well, to integrate—Like, my work cell, I have Verizon, and then my personal phone is T-Mobile.
Scott [00:43:13]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:43:14]:
And even with both, there’s—there’s areas where there’s a few dead zones and probably the geography, the landscape just—especially higher up. I, I don’t know. Sometimes I think T-Mobile has better coverage and then other times I think Verizon has better coverage. So I guess it depends on where you stand, but—
Scott [00:43:39]:
Well, if you believe the advertising—If you believe the advertising, T-Mobile’s got a better network and I have Verizon. So anyway, I just think—I guess what I would like to, you know, the message I would like to say here is to anyone listening to this, if you’re—if you’re not an experienced hiker, don’t count on your cell phone as being your SOS signal necessarily, because you may look at your phone and go, I don’t have any service.
Kevin [00:44:06]:
Yeah, there’s, you know—If I would say if you’re an avid hiker or becoming an avid hiker, there’s other ways to communicate, right?
Scott [00:44:15]:
Yeah, yeah.
Kevin [00:44:16]:
I don’t have those personally, but, yeah, but—but some satellite communication.
Scott [00:44:21]:
Well, and the—yeah, and the new—like the new iPhones, Apple’s got SOS mode now where you can make a quick, you know, emergency call, which would be good. And that’s not just about your park, that’s just in general. You know, it’s nice to have. I love talking about people. So in your years at the state park system, you got any—we’ll change the names to protect the innocent-type—but do you have any, like—any, like, have there been any stories that you’re like, I couldn’t have made that up if I tried?
Kevin [00:44:56]:
Oh, as far as like just individuals or incidents or—
Scott [00:45:02]:
Yeah, both.
Kevin [00:45:03]:
Both. Yeah. Yeah. There’s, you know, 19 years, and you could probably ask any of us rangers, you know, expect the unexpected. You know, as far as dealing with people or communications. You know, I—Just a funny example. Years ago, working at Cama Beach, you know, patrolling late at night, large group around a bonfire. Someone’s playing, you know, on the guitar. And, you know, it’s 11 o’clock, other people are going in.
Kevin [00:45:41]:
So it’s, you know, quiet hour. Contact: I stand next to the guy playing the guitar and he doesn’t hear me at first. And then he stops and asks me, do you have any requests? And I go, yeah, “Silent Night.” You know, sometimes a joke like that can actually go over well. You know, it’s interesting. You have a contact, you can win or lose contacts with how you present yourself, your demeanor. I, you know, like to say I win contacts with community, humor.
Probably lost some communications and contacts, you know, if you go in too hard. But, yeah, there are lots of—lots of other stories. You know, there was a time working at Camano Island, on the other park, helping out a guy in his boat. He forgot to put the little plug in the back and his engine died and he was out in the water. But by the time I got down to the beach, he, you know, his boat was there on the beach, rocking in the waves, full of water. Family got out, so they were okay.
Kevin [00:46:49]:
But, you know, we’re figuring out how do we get this beached boat to the dock. The guy, he’s, you know, he’s hypothermic. And so we go, go home, change your clothes, come back.
You know, I’m scooping out water in the back of the boat with the other ranger, and we were able to get a plug from our shop. And I had to time it just right to get the waves in this rocking boat. I get the plug in at the right moment and we’re able to scoop the water out, the boat’s able to lift off the rocky shore. And I’m in the water up to my waist with the tow rope. And I get to the dock and tie it up for the guy, and he comes back and he’s like, “Oh, you saved my boat.” And he basically throws me $100.
Kevin [00:47:39]:
And I told him, I—I cannot accept this, but the park can accept the donation. So anyway, that’s just one story of many. We’ve had—I’ve interacted with lots of great volunteers—haven’t really touched on that. Volunteer groups, camp hosts, that really help out the parks. And that’s one thing I can’t stress enough is those folks too. There’s lots of great volunteer groups that do a lot of good work.
Kevin [00:48:13]:
Lots of great individuals. Camp hosts, you know, the day-to-day communications with the park visitors. And I’ve really enjoyed working—It’s probably one of my favorite things with this job, is working with those folks and the groups.
Scott [00:48:29]:
What about wildlife? Any—Like at Wallace Falls, is there—I mean, what sort of a typical wildlife encounter? You know, what might somebody see on one of the trails?
Kevin [00:48:43]:
Yeah, most of the time we’re not going to see wildlife. We’re hoping for that, right? Not on the Woody Trail, the popular trail. Most wildlife are going to stay away from where people are at. But—
Scott [00:48:55]:
Right.
Kevin [00:48:57]:
You might see some deer. You know, we have some blacktail deer around. Occasionally there’s bear sightings. At this park we’ll get, you know, maybe half a dozen to a dozen times a year where someone reports seeing a black bear and usually it’s the same thing: the bear sees a person, runs the other way. Sometimes they might hang out a little bit. I’ve seen, this last week, some bobcats. I’ve never seen a mountain lion.
Kevin [00:49:26]:
I’ve seen tracks. But we’ve had visitors see mountain lions in this park. I’ve seen beaver, seen owls. I’ve seen—You know, there’s been eagles flying over. We have the Wallace River here. Pileated woodpeckers. There’s just—they are there. The longer you’re here, the more likely you’re going to see something. So—
Scott [00:49:49]:
Okay. And we’re gonna—we’re gonna turn our attention to your—your partners in parks, other parks.
Kevin [00:50:00]:
Yeah.
Scott [00:50:01]:
Once again, Kevin is only going to be giving his opinion, not the opinion of the state of Washington. What’s your three favorite state parks for you personally?
Kevin [00:50:15]:
Yeah, this is a hard one. So I’m not gonna—I’m gonna exclude Wallace Falls.
Scott [00:50:22]:
Yes. Yeah, I would prefer that. Yes, yes.
Kevin [00:50:24]:
So, yeah, I really—and I won’t say these in any order like 1, 2 or 3, but I really—I really like Moran.
Scott [00:50:35]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:50:36]:
There’s just lots of trails. It’s a beautiful park. Just that experience getting out to the island and then, you know, you have the drive around Mount Constitution. The views, just a large park. Steamboat Rock—I’ve never camped there but I—I like the hikes. I like the hike up to the top of Steamboat Rock and then a lot of people might not know there’s a really great little trail just up the road there.
Kevin [00:51:11]:
Northrup Canyon.
Scott [00:51:13]:
Yes.
Kevin [00:51:13]:
It’s a beautiful little hike in. Yeah. God, there’s so many great parks to choose from. A third one—
Scott [00:51:22]:
Wow.
Kevin [00:51:23]:
Let’s just throw this out there: up in Republic, Curlew Lake. I—I always—Something about Republic area, Curlew Lake. I think it’s a beautiful park there. You know, it’s kind of that—not a lot of hiking trails or whatnot, but I—I just like the area. Just personally, I think it’s, you know, I like the Republic area.
Kevin [00:51:48]:
I know some people out there, some family friends and there was a long-time ranger there that did a great job with that park too.
Scott [00:51:56]:
So you know they’ve got a new ranger—a new ranger there now. And Joe—you, I don’t know, do you know Joe, who’s the new park ranger?
Kevin [00:52:08]:
I may have talked to him in a training. He mentioned—and I can’t—
Scott [00:52:14]:
Because I published his episode and it’s in the episode, and I apologize if I’m getting it wrong, but I want to say that park has had four park rangers since it was opened officially. Like he’s the fifth. Like they’ve all been long-term stewards of that area. So—
Kevin [00:52:35]:
Yeah.
Scott [00:52:35]:
Interesting. So I’m teasing you. Why no—Why no love for Lakewood? No, I’m kidding. Just—I mean, this is an impossible question to ask because you could keep going. You—
Scott [00:52:49]:
Now you picked Curlew, you picked Steamboat, and you picked Moran, and I think the common thread—Well, no, not—I guess not. For you, is there something—When you go—and maybe you don’t want to go to a state park because it’s your day job.
So maybe it’s like going—I can’t not— I guess if it were me I’d be like going, well, how come that parking—they got better parking than I—I’d be just this—or they didn’t do this the way I would. And so maybe you don’t want to go to a park. But what do you like to do at parks? What’s—for you specifically, when you’re not—Let me—Let me rephrase. I’m going to stop. When you’re not a park ranger, what do you like to do for recreation and entertainment?
Kevin [00:53:33]:
Yeah, just real quick, your last question—you asked me tomorrow, I might tell you three other parks.
Scott [00:53:40]:
I didn’t expect you to—
Kevin [00:53:42]:
Oh yeah, Rockport. Oh, I like Cape Disappointment. Riverside’s got great—your buddy over—
Scott [00:53:49]:
At park number—Some other park goes, “Why didn’t you say me? Come on!” Oh, yeah. But like, what do you—What do you, what do you do when you’re not being a park ranger?
Kevin [00:54:01]:
Yeah, you know, I’m very, I think, outdoor-oriented. I like to kayak, like to bike a little bit. Last few years, I’ve been getting into photography.
Scott [00:54:11]:
All right.
Kevin [00:54:12]:
I, you know, with the photography, there’s a really great website, Northwest Waterfall Survey. We’ll go out and look for waterfalls. It’s—Yeah, it’s a great website.
Kevin [00:54:26]:
Whoever put that together, you know, has Washington, Oregon, Idaho. It’s, you know, very cool. So—
Scott [00:54:33]:
All right.
Kevin [00:54:34]:
For those waterfall hunters, yes. Yeah, check that out. Yeah.
Scott [00:54:37]:
Okay. I’ll put a link in the show notes for that one. Okay.
Kevin [00:54:42]:
What—
Scott [00:54:43]:
All right, so we’re gonna—we’re gonna bring this one home now. You’re—you said out near the wilderness, but even so, there’s gotta be a great place to get coffee around you. Where can I go get coffee around your park?
Kevin [00:55:03]:
You know, I typically just do my home brew, but I will say up there near Index off Highway 2, you can’t miss it: Espresso Chalet.
Scott [00:55:13]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:55:14]:
Yeah, it’s just a cool little place to stop in. They have a—a huge, you know, carved Sasquatch. Bigfoot.
Scott [00:55:21]:
Yeah.
Kevin [00:55:21]:
Bigfoot. You know, Harry. Harry and the Hendersons. You can get your—
Scott [00:55:27]:
I have never—I have driven by there, I’ve never stopped there for one reason or another. Normally it’s because it’s too crowded and I’m impatient. But what’s the coffee drink of choice? If you’re going there, what are you ordering?
Kevin [00:55:40]:
You know, I’m pretty basic guy. I’ll just get a basic coffee and two creamers. That’s, you know, if I—solid. A little bit maybe a latte with raspberry.
Scott [00:55:50]:
But I, you know—but you’re more of a—and I am as well. I’m a—I’m a, I’m a—Yeah. I won’t even use the creamers. I just want black coffee.
Kevin [00:55:57]:
Yeah.
Scott [00:55:59]:
All right. What’s good for lunch out in that area?
Kevin [00:56:03]:
You know, I—Here in Gold Bar there’s some good options. There really is. But I’ll—I’ll shout out for the Pie Dive Bar. They have this, like, a brisket—you know, almost like a pot pie brisket. It’s just really good.
Kevin [00:56:22]:
They have some, you know, some home brews as well.
Scott [00:56:26]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:56:27]:
But if you want a burger, can’t miss with Zeke’s or, you know—
Scott [00:56:33]:
Yeah. So I’ve driven by Pie Dive, I’ve never—once again, I’ve never stopped there. Should I—Should I stop? You’re saying a brisket pot pie—you know, you’re talking my language here, but, yeah. What else do they do? Breakfast by chance?
Kevin [00:56:47]:
I don’t think so. You know, down the road, really good breakfast at the diner.
Scott [00:56:53]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:56:55]:
The Mountain View Diner. In between there’s a Thai place as well.
Scott [00:57:01]:
Yeah, no, there’s—It’s interesting. So I know in a conversation like this, we always—I always feel like we overlook something. We can’t cover every aspect of what you—what you’re doing and all that. But is there anything else that I should have asked you about the park that we didn’t touch on?
Kevin [00:57:24]:
I think we covered it well. I will say, you know, those things that might drive people a little crazy with like the parking—we are working on that. We are aware of that. In fact, there is capital money set aside for parking expansion.
Scott [00:57:43]:
Okay.
Kevin [00:57:44]:
Here. Hopefully in the next few years that will occur. Of course, we’re never probably going to have enough parking. As the demand and population grows. Right. But there’s always lots of great options too. I always, you know, as people are looking for places to hike and explore—Yeah, you’ve got, you know, a popular place like here. Up the road there’s Lake Serene.
Kevin [00:58:10]:
But check out some other great hikes as well. They don’t have to always be those epic hikes, although those are great—alpine lakes, etc. But Spada Lake, there’s some DNR trails there. Up towards the east side, like Grider Lakes. PUD has some great hikes there. That’s where I go. They’re, you know, less than an hour drive from here, so I want to—
Scott [00:58:36]:
Get away from work. All right. Yeah, I know one question I didn’t ask you, and I don’t know that you’re going to know the answer, but I can ask. Approximately how many visitors does Wallace Falls receive a year?
Kevin [00:58:48]:
Yeah, I’ve seen that number vary somewhere—I would say between 200,000 to up to 230, 240,000. We do keep track of our attendance. We have, you know, we have a—It’s a car counter, but, you know, that’s also missing the people that are walking in that park on the street and walk in. So sometimes it might be a little hard to get an exact number.
Scott [00:59:18]:
200,000 people.
Kevin [00:59:22]:
Yeah.
Scott [00:59:23]:
That’s staggering to me.
Kevin [00:59:27]:
Yeah, that’s—that’s—
Scott [00:59:28]:
That’s crazy.
Kevin [00:59:30]:
Yeah. And, yeah, you know, we also, like I mentioned, we have Mount Pilchuck.
Scott [00:59:36]:
Mm.
Kevin [00:59:37]:
Popular hike.
Scott [00:59:38]:
Yep.
Kevin [00:59:38]:
To the lookout. We have our Big Eddy Scenic River Access—very popular in the summer.
Scott [00:59:43]:
Yep.
Kevin [00:59:44]:
And we have Forks of the Sky, the climbers’ wall. So you come here on a busy Saturday in July. You can see this—Add that all up for the staff here. And again, you know, other state parks, they’re just as busy.
Kevin [01:00:01]:
Forest Service trails, just as busy. But yeah, it’s—
Scott [01:00:08]:
That’s—that’s wild, though. That’s—and the thing is, is that it’s good. I want—Yeah, we want people—At least I feel we want people going out. We want people getting away from—
Scott [01:00:24]:
I mean, you are doing this remotely. We’re in front of screens. But getting away from the screen—
Kevin [01:00:28]:
Right.
Scott [01:00:29]:
And getting outside. All right. All right. I warned you I was going to grill you with one last question, and I’m going to assume you didn’t cheat, so you agreed to play along. So here’s the question. I’m going to remind you, you promised you’d answer: cake or pie, and why?
Kevin [01:00:50]:
Gosh, I’ll just—Cake. We’ll just go with cake.
Scott [01:00:53]:
Okay. Why?
Kevin [01:00:56]:
You know, just growing up as a kid, Mom always made homemade cake.
Scott [01:01:01]:
Okay.
Kevin [01:01:02]:
And I—I guess there’s maybe a loyalty to cake. I never was a pie kid till later on, was a very picky eater. That’s a very hard question.
Scott [01:01:09]:
All right.
Kevin [01:01:10]:
Yeah, I’ll go with a good old homemade cake.
Scott [01:01:14]:
You can—you can elaborate a little bit more. You can pick the cake you want now. So what are you picking? What type of cake is it going to be?
Kevin [01:01:22]:
You know, in high school, I wrestled.
Scott [01:01:26]:
Right. Okay.
Kevin [01:01:27]:
So that whole trying to maintain your weight, you know, especially my senior year—very, very hard. And there were times that I was, you know, times when not eating a lot, and I would just be thinking about chocolate cake. You know, just a basic chocolate cake with the chocolate icing and, you know, so, yeah. So those hikers coming off trail, you know, you start thinking about food. It’s funny, conversations—When you get towards the end of a day or a trail hike, you’re—you’re talking about where—where to eat. Yeah. Sorry about that noise.
Kevin [01:01:57]:
Our local fire department pager.
Scott [01:01:59]:
Okay, that’s—It’s good. I really—I stole that question, and I can’t remember where I stole it from. I wish—I wish I came up with it. I—Somebody asked it on a podcast and I thought, that’s brilliant.
Scott [01:02:11]:
Some people are like, you’re asking me to pick which child. I can’t—I can’t answer. Other people are like, it’s cake. Pie is wrong. How dare you mention the word. I mean, it’s so funny, people’s—people’s reaction to it. And I keep saying this and this is me on record yet again, that I need to tally cake and pie to see what the—what the guests are.
Scott [01:02:36]:
Unofficially, I think pie is in the lead.
Kevin [01:02:38]:
Lead.
Scott [01:02:40]:
But I actually think Camp Cake is a little more passionate than pie. I like—I think, I think, you know, you’re in Camp Cake and you’re a little bit more—not you specifically—but the members of Camp Cake are like, it’s cake. It’s cake, it’s cake. And then it’s interesting asking the follow up, which is what type of cake or pie and what people— I would say the number one answer is apple pie. I mean, that’s just, I think, the number one. And cake, surprisingly—
Now, see, you—you added a great qualifier. You said homemade cake. But, you know, what people tend to pick—and no, no disrespect to any of my past guests that have answered this question—they go Costco sheet cake. And I’m just like, that’s like saying my favorite hamburger is a Quarter Pounder with cheese. Like, serviceable, but there’s so much better, isn’t there? So anyway, yeah, you’re a cake—
Kevin [01:03:44]:
Family reunions and, you know, you know, bigger get-togethers—Don’t typically, like for your birthday maybe, but yeah, those are good too.
Scott [01:03:52]:
Yeah. Well, Kevin, thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me. It sounds like the fire department might need your assistance, so I’m going to let you go.
Kevin [01:04:02]:
It’s—It’s in the area so, you know, we pay attention when it’s got around 14,503, that’s when we know they’re coming. But thankfully, just, you know, usually a few times a year. Not too often.
Scott [01:04:19]:
Okay.
Kevin [01:04:19]:
But, yeah, but so we’re all good right now.
Scott [01:04:19]:
All right, well, again, thanks for chat—you know, being willing to chat with me in the parking lot to start this process and then sitting down today and recording and—
Kevin [01:04:28]:
Nice to meet you. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate it.
Scott [01:04:31]:
And I will let you get on with your day of being a park ranger.
Kevin [01:04:35]:
Yeah. Here we go.
