Just keep hiking

mtaratoot

I did a 10.5 mile hike yesterday in an amazing state park with large waterfalls. South Falls is 177 feet tall. Double Falls is a foot higher. North Falls is a meager 136 feet high.

It was, all in all, a GREAT day. Best in a long time. I tried to not be too impacted by the litter. There will always be some. It wasn't THAT bad. I want to volunteer to go pick it up once a week....

As I approached the start of the trail, where it's closest to the parking so more busy, I heard some amplified sound. I wondered if maybe there was an interpretive presentation. Nope. As I got closer, I realized it was two adults with a small child and a speaker blasting sound out to people who may or may not have wanted to share. Totally inappropriate.

I channeled my inner nine-year-old and looked them right in the face and said, "REALLY?" They said "Really what?" I said, "You're in the *kitten* forest, turn off the *kitten* *kitten* radio and listen to the sounds of nature." They packed up and left, which was good for the people still up there. I walked off shaking my head.

But really - best February day for me in YEARS. It was sunny out. My little 2011 RAV4 is actually fun to drive, and there wasn't much traffic. I took a back route that is about three miles longer but eliminates several miles on an interstate and more miles on a state highway - instead I took scenic county roads through the country and across rivers and through some small towns. The radio was boring me, so I turned on the CD. When the John Lee Hooker CD was done, "Dead Letter Office" from REM came on. The sunroof was open. It was just great. In the moment I realized how good I felt, I was crossing a river and looked to my left to see a pair of bald eagles in a tree. Oh yeah. Then I really needed to find a restroom. I crossed another river and saw a boat launch with a vault toilet. It was clean and just in time. Even though the trails were more crowded than I expected, there was plenty of parking pretty close in. I bought an annual parking pass for state parks, and this is one of the few that charge a fee. I'll probably go back when it's not so nice weather and thus fewer people - no way will I go in summer on a weekend. But yesterday was just fantastic.

This large park includes the "Trail of Ten Falls." The trail is officially about 7.2 miles of "moderate" hiking. There are a few falls you have to hike a bit more to see - I decided to go see them all. The main trail is along two tributaries of a creek. These creeks have been cutting their way through the rocks for 26 million years. The resistant rock is from the Columbia River Basalt flows, and between those layers is a layer of about 20 feet of sand and silt laid down by a stream between flows. The thick layers of lava are resistant to weathering, so they are what makes the large falls when the layers below them gets weathered away. You can actually see charred remains of tree casts in the in-between layers if you look closely along your walk. Really a marvelous place. I was sad to see some litter. I was happy how well maintained the trails are. I was surprised how many people there were, but it was a beautiful warm sunny day. I bet some people took Friday off to make a long weekend. Heck - some people might have taken the week of if they already got last Monday off for President's Day.

There are dozens of miles of back-country trails to explore too. I am a little curious about those, but being among the large falls is pretty nice just as a way to spend a day.

Oh. Here's some pictures (I have fun videos, but not sure a good way to share them):

enlightenme3

@mtaratoot - I'm surprised you encountered that many people at this time of year. We did the "Trail of Ten Falls" this past September on a Sunday and it was jammed pack. Unfortunately, it was the only day we had available since we were also going to see friends who lived nearby in Silverton that day. Other than all the people, the park was beautiful, facilities were nice and the hiking was nice and moderate after having done some strenuous hikes the couple weeks before in Olympia, Rainier and Mt. Hood areas.

SbetaK

I grew up in Oregon, hiked the Silver Falls trails just about every year. @mtaratoot I recognized the falls in your pictures before I read your post, now I want to hike it again next time I go home. I love the trails were I am now, but always a good idea to have a friend or 2 along, and a dog, to keep our eyes out for our Kodiak grizzly bears. @sammcc7907, not sure whether I'd like to run into a bear here, or your snakes and dingos!

rlpomeroy

I have really enjoyed reading through this thread and it's getting me excited to do some more hiking myself. I am in Minnesota and have done several miles of the Superior Trail, but not all of it. Thank you for inspiring me to get back out there!!

sammcc7907

SbetaK wrote: »

I grew up in Oregon, hiked the Silver Falls trails just about every year. @mtaratoot I recognized the falls in your pictures before I read your post, now I want to hike it again next time I go home. I love the trails were I am now, but always a good idea to have a friend or 2 along, and a dog, to keep our eyes out for our Kodiak grizzly bears. @sammcc7907, not sure whether I'd like to run into a bear here, or your snakes and dingos!

Eek, snakes and dingos any day over bears

TamiVsTheTrail

@sammcc7907 Love the backpack! What a great view. No dingos here but definitely bears and cougars, I've only run into a couple of bears. The snakes are harmless, I think your snakes would point and laugh at ours.

TamiVsTheTrail

@mtaratoot Looks like a great place to get out and explore! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

TamiVsTheTrail

This year I had planned on doing less hikes and work more on other cardio but here's the problem, I need my nature therapy. I love my indoor gym and weights but hiking resets me and keeps me focused. This week I moved work around and made time to get out for a snow hike. We may be at the end of winter but we finally got a cold snap here that gave us a winter wonderland. The Ravens and Whiskey Jacks hung around seeing what snacks there were and followed us along the trail. At the top the we got above the clouds, it was so peaceful!

mtaratoot

A friend came to my town for a hike a couple days ago. We went to "the other side" of a trail I often hike/run. We went to the far side because it's more open and thus sunnier - out of the canopy of the forest. I forgot how well-maintained the gravel trails are. Not one spot of mud on my pants or even boots! We hiked farther than I thought she would want to, so we got up to the viewpoint I often hike or walk to from the east side up a creek and across a ridge. It was a very nice day for both of us.

It was about 7.2 miles with about 1400 feet of elevation gain overall.







The day before that I went up a trail that I haven't been on for decades. I have no idea why I don't hike there more often. It's really close by. I will be going back! I focused on it because it's lower elevation so I wouldn't have to hike through the snow. This trail goes through some nice forest, and is on trails not roads. The main trail up is kind of "the highway" with a well-engineered trail that has side rails and has gravel on most of it. It goes up from a City park on the other side of town. My initial plan was just to go up and back on that same trail. It would have been a bit short of seven miles.

When I left the park and entered the research forest, I grabbed a trail map. Good thing. When I got to the top, I used both that map and the GPS on my Garmin fitness tracker to see some other trails and found my way back down using some very much less used trails. Some were pretty muddy. They went through a diverse forest, or I should say a diversity of forest stands. It was very nice. I saw almost nobody else.








They yesterday I "hiked" on a paved path over by the coast.

mtaratoot

Back to Silver Falls yesterday because it was a gorgeous day, and it was a Tuesday.

Oh my - it was even more crowded than a few weeks ago on a Friday! The Parks Department used to be a branch of the Highway Department. It felt like I was on a state highway a bit today, what with so many people out on a beautiful day. I am glad it's not a weekend. Next time I go, maybe I'll wait for a nasty, rainy day...

I kept catching up to people and passing them. Funny too - some people had stopped to rest or take a picture or whatever, and when they saw me coming, would start hiking again... slowly. Instead of just letting me go past. I apparently walk fast. Nobody passed me, but I kept passing other people.

I made the decision to hike up to the rim when I got to the Winter Falls trail and then hike the Rim Trail in the opposite direction that most people do, then hike back down into the canyon at North Falls and hike counter to most people. This meant I would see everyone who was out, but it would be a shorter interaction. It was fun to pass people I had already passed, and I wondered if they recognized me and wondered what happened.... By doing the hike this way, and then hiking back out on a different steep trail I hadn't taken before, I turned the 7.2 mile trail into a 10.1 mile hike with about 1400 feet of climbing.

TamiVsTheTrail

@mtaratoot What a great collection of pictures! You've really covered a lot of different terrain, love it!

TamiVsTheTrail

I love seeing other people post their photos and hiking adventures here. I've been part of other hiking posts, discussions and I always seem to run into the hikers that like to prove that they are the better, more skilled, more experienced hiker. I really want anyone to feel welcome here and post, whether it's your first outing of 50 meters from the car to the waterfall or you're doing overnight adventures. I will be your cheerleader and celebrate your success!

Me, I'm 60 years old (still not used to admitting to leaving my 50s), I'm a size 14 and yesterday I ran my longest ever trail run of 16KM (ok, I lie it was 15.83KM, sorry for exaggerating).
Yesterday when I announced to my husband I was going on the run he was a tad nervous for me but something my MIL used to always say came spilling out of my mouth, "Well I'm not going to do it any younger."

The first 4KM I was flying, the air was cool, I had this. Then hills. Oh so many hills. Then oh, it's spring so running streams to cross, then more hills and finally the beach. On the way back I got a groin cramp and had to slow for awhile to walk it off while questioning my life choices. As I started running it was obvious someone had added more hills while I was at the beach. Finally I hit the flat stretch, the last two KM would be nothing but flat open trail, and then bam, one more hill I had forgotten about. Back in the car, I sat for a few minutes and celebrated, I did it! My goal was to come in under 3 hours. My goal for my first half marathon later this year is 3 hours, it's pretty flat so I knew if I could do this run in that timeframe it would be realistic to reach my goal.
Obviously you can see, I nailed it.

mtaratoot

@TamiVsTheTrail

You've got some gorgeous stuff there too. I see sword fern. I think I see hemlcok. I know I see Doug-fir. I see tall mountains... I have two guesses. Sounds like a nice run, and wow oh wow what a place to do it!

My "hike" today was just up to the tavern for a pint with friend, but I also got out under my flowering cherry tree (Sakura) today to have a little Hanami (celebration of the blossoms) with some sake.