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The day was a slow starter, as we awoke at Mike & Laura’s house to prepare for our first day out in the wilderness. Our goal was to hike the 6.9 mile “Ten Falls Trail” at Silver Falls State Park - an aggressive attempt for us, given our lack of exercise so far this summer. After getting all of our stuff together and saying our goodbyes, we headed south, toward Salem. We were very fortunate to be able to bee-bop to Mike’s new album, Put On A Happy Face, by the Vantastix, starring Barry’s friend, Mike Mendyke, and, oh, by the way, Dick Van Dike (yes, really). You should all get yourselves a copy or two at http://www.vantastix.com.

After paying our $3.00 entrance fee and finally getting to the parking lot that the official trail head was located at, we began our trek toward South Falls, the most famous of all the waterfalls on the trail. The most unique feature about this series of falls is that for most of them, you could actually walk all the way around the cascade of water. Signs around South Falls stated that the paths behind the falls were eroded by water that cut into the rock and created massive caves. Barry and I were tempted to climb next to the falls, but the loose rock (and the prohibition in the park) kept us from going back to the car and grabbing our harnesses, shoes, and rope. Barry was not deterred completely, however, and scrambled around on some of the rocks.

Given my addiction to picture taking, the first three miles of the hike took us about 4 hours. Barry’s attachment to my camera didn’t help either. For example, at Lower South Falls (the second waterfall), Barry spent a good fifteen to twenty minutes framing a picture of us through the water. As we continued along the hike, we realized we were hiking in a temperate rain forest unlike anything we’d ever seen. Heather was fascinated by the moss-covered trees that she calls “tarantula trees.” The trail mostly stayed away from the base of the falls but at Double Falls, where we ate lunch, Heather decided to go wading.

Due to the time, and our level of fatigue, we chose not to do the two-mile loop to North Falls. Instead, we booked the last two miles along the Rim Trail, which was in the forest, and quite beautiful, but right next to the road. There were a few amazing HUGE trees, however, that after averaging the number of rings on one of the tree stumps, Barry and I estimated were a minimum of 250 years old!

When we arrived back at the Lodge, Barry and I shared a Ranger cookie. It was a mixture of oatmeal, coconut, and corn flakes. The cookie was an interesting combination of flavor and texture, which blended excellently with the environment. We walked back to the car, and lazed our way in the rented SUV to North Falls, where we snuck a quick glimpse of the waterfall from the side of the road.

After stretching to help our aching muscles, we jumped in the Suzuki and made our way back to Mike and Laura’s to have dinner and dessert before taking a sneak peek at the pictures from the hike and then heading to bed.