Through the Silver Creek Canyon to the Cascades!

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After a warm blueberry croissant at the French Bakery with Ross, I ventured forth back onto I-5 for a short jaunt before jumping on the Silver Falls Tour Route.

As I arrived at the Silver Creek State Park, I stopped at the scenic outlook to do some picture transfers and back ups to insure I could keep all my photographic memories. While I was there, some twenty minutes, only two cars went by - and I was still on the State Highway 214 at this point -- not much going on in the area I supposed.

Turns out I was right; the rangers station was empty, so lacking the small change to add up to the 3 dollar entry fee I threw in 2.50 and went on my way to the parking area. The larger parking area was gated closed, and the one that was accessible was covered in ice and snow, and completely empty. Oh well, I figured I would check it out and see what the trails were like.

As I trekked towards the buildings nearby my excitement built up as the sounds of a crashing water nearby became louder. Soon, the South Falls came into view as a ray of sunshine shot through the trees upon it. Simply Stunning. The route was still mixed patches of ice, snow, and varying clear path, but it wasn't too tricky so long as I was cautious around the icy spots and especially conscious of looking for ice. Down I wound to the falls.

Then, I started on the trail behind the South Fall, which was especially slick due to the freezing spray coating the ground. Luckily, there was a hand rail there and I had gloves, allowing me to feel relatively secure in my progress knowing I had the fence to clutch should my feet fail me. This worked great until I came out on the other side of the Fall and the fence disappeared, and the trail turned from relatively flat to a pretty steep descent! I gave it a quick try, but it was a 30 degree slope ice skating rink!

I was pretty discouraged at this point - and disappointed too. I had come to hopefully do a 7 mile trek, and here I was being turned back within a few tenths of a mile of my car. I could see that there was a second way to the Canyon Trail though, and I was bent on giving it another go. Although I considered going to the car to get another Jacket, pair of gloves, and put on my waterproof hiking boots I knew it was supposed to be a clear and sunny day, and would be warming up - so after a bit of consideration, I pushed on knowing I could always turn back.

Before I knew it I was enjoying a peaceful trek through the canyon, taking in the rain forest around me. Unlike forests in Indiana this time of the year - the mix of coniferous trees and ferns, as well as some sort of moss on many tree limbs, filled the canyon with green. Also, as I was walking along the creek, the trickling water added to the peaceful appeal. Finally, as I would step through rays of morning sunlight I would feel the distinct warmth falling upon me. I continued on in this way until I heard the growing roar of yet another water fall - this time the Lower South Falls.

Once again, I enchanted by the Falls. Then I was discouraged by another fall - a steep descent on the trail down stairs - stairs that looked pretty icy. However, the availability of a railing settled my fears, and I decided that I could mitigate the risk of the stairs and turn them into a minor event at most with a firm grip on the railing. Turns out, thats exactly what happened, after about 10 stairs I was hanging like a monkey from the railing, straddling the next vertical pole! RUR RO! A tad bit shaken but overall satisfied with my ability to recover from the slip, I assessed the damages I had taken- virtually none, and decided to continue on once again.

I finished the stairs a breathed a sigh of relief - but as I looked ahead, I grew a bit concerned. It was another route behind the waterfall- however, this one wasn't optional - it was the only way if I wanted to continue-which I did. Unfortunately, before I could get to the handrail there was a section that was a muddy slush. Although I didn't mind the mud, getting my feet wet wouldn't do - that would be a bit too uncomfortable to be fun. However, there were some mosses and shrubbery along the side that I could navigate. Which I did...Slowly. Making it to the railed area once more, I started my trek behind the Falls. But oh no, what's this, halted once more! Before me stood a pool of ice cold water at least ten feet long, and two to three inches deep, pretty much wall to wall across the whole path behind the falls. Strewn across the stretch were two to three rocks that could be used as stepping stones, and the passage was bordered by the thick stone man made fence to my left, and the jagged slipper face of lava rock to my right. A single mis-step here and my foot would be soaked through with ice cold water.

I stopped for a second and gave it some thought. I considered the worst that could happen...a cold foot for a bit. That was an acceptable risk...time to give it a go. Shimmying my way spider legged - right foot on the jagged wall, right hand braced there, and left hand on the stone fence, I made move to move precisely, stepping on the few stones available - then I felt the icy tinge of a bit of water in my left foot, but too late now, no going back, I was across! And my left foot was still 90%+ dry.

Ahead lay plenty of dry flat trail, and I strode forth happy with overcoming the obstacles thus far and happy to be enjoying this wondrous park I had all to myself. I continued on my way, lost in my thoughts, enjoying the scenery. A mile or so later, as the Lower North Falls came into view, the break it created in the trees allowed sunlight to pour unhindered onto the trail. I basked in the sun for a good twenty minutes, enjoying its warmth as the ferns behind me unleashed a drizzle of rain as the sun's rays found them and released them from their icy prisons. Tranquility!

Now the falls were coming at me quickly. Double Falls..Awesome... Drake falls...verrry nice...then the Middle North Falls... neat too! I began to consider though, how little justice pictures could once again do this forest. How could pictures convey the feeling of stepping into the warmth of the light, how could pictures convey the growing roar of each of these falls, and the subtle trickle of the creek in other places, the drip drop of the ferns.

Then an epiphany hit, why limit myself to pictures! The Planet Earth documentary series definitely conveyed a tremendous sense of wonderment with our world - using spectacular footage to tell stories of our earth today that would take a single man many lifetimes to collect! This realization struck after I had recently passed Twin Falls, but I was ready to test my video mode on the upcoming North Falls. I took 4 videos, and they are definitely much better at conveying the majesty of water in motion..however...in windows they present sideways...gah.

After catching the north falls, I carefully negotiated a final set of icy stairs. Oh, I saw other people finally too, a couple going the opposite way of me!

Now it was just a 2.6 Mile Jog/Trek along the Rim trail back to my car, with one final tenth water fall, the Winter Fall, to hit on the way.

Zoom Zoom - the ground up here was mostly snowy still for whatever reason - but as long as I stepped in the crunchy snow I had fair enough traction. I loved jogging along this mostly flat ground. When it came to downhill sections I loved to channel the kinetic energy I had earned into sprints. Occasionally, when a slope was a bit too steep to navigate safely at full speed I resented it for making my own kinetci energy work against me! Hah. The winter falls were decent, and then I was running once more. Before long I was back at my car and a parking lot which had thawed quite a bit with the arrival of the sun and about 8 more cars.

Time to head for Portland. I passed through two neat little Oregon towns on my way back to the I-5 first though - Silverton and Mt. Angel. Both charming little communities - with Chucks Parlor Shop in place of great clips, and locally owned pharmacies too. I'd wager these little towns had restrictions on big corporate enterprises operations. They also had great views of Mt. Hood off in the distance.

When I arrived in Portland, after my 7-8 mile hike, I felt a beer was in order, and ordered some microbrew from Alaska, which I thought was fitting reward for my exercise!

Also need to write about in this article:
Lava Rock formations; Outdoor Air conditioning of glacial water; Mt. Hood;mmm time to sleep!

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Photos

The ice water gap
Bad pic, but was getting blasted by cold mist -