Gary-Summer: June 3, 2022 - Silver Falls State Park

Friday, June 3, 2022

June 3, 2022 - Silver Falls State Park

Title: June 3, 2022 - Silver Falls State Park

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: South Falls Day-use Area

Trail: Canyon Trail and Maple Ridge Trail

Destination: Lower South Falls

Distance: 2.1-2.3 miles ¹

Start Time: 11:50

End Time: 3:00

Travel Time: ( mph)

Moving Time: ( mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,118'

Descent: 1,119‘

Maximum Elevation: 1,481'

Car Mileage: 50 miles

GPS Tracks

¹I did not turn on the GPS. The information above includes coming from the park map as well as from tracing the route on Google Earth. I have my doubts about the actual elevation gain/loss data.

Description:

I think I was tired after yesterday’s drive. I slept in until 7:30. Both Sherri and Andrea are asleep-Lawrence has gone to work, so I putter around a bit. Mostly writing up stuff, such as our travels from the last couple of days until Sherri and Andrea get up.

Upper South Falls

My breakfast is granola, which I enjoy. Then we talked for a little while and got ready for a hike. Andrea has a place she wants to show us-Silver Falls State Park. I am a bit concerned about the weather, but Andrea thinks we should be OK. Our first stop is getting gas from Costco, then we are off to Silver Falls. This is about a 45 minute drive. We park in the South Falls parking area-I thought we might be going to the Winter or North Falls trailhead, but that is why I am not the tour guide. Andrea says that on weekends, the parking lot is packed.Today it is about three-quarters full.

We make use of the restrooms at the trailhead-nice ones,spacious-before starting out. The trail starts off high, looking down onto South Falls. They are beautiful. It is a good reminder that my part of the world does not have a monopoly on beauty. There is the appropriate oohs and ahhs on Sherri’s and mine part. To my surprise, this is not the best and that is yet to come.

Upper South Falls from the side

The trail descends to the falls. And then it goes behind it. Wow! This is like what you see in the travel photos, being able to see through the falls. I think the geology of the area must be the key to how that came about. If it is like other similar falls, there must be a hard top layer of rock with an underside of softer sediments. But then what do I know? This is my brother’s area of expertise. Whatever the reason, I am in awe of it.

After going behind South Falls, the trail comes down to the level of the Silver River. The path gently descends as it goes through a scene of green, so unlike what I am used to. I think I could walk this path forever. This must be something which Eden must have been like. I suspect that this area may contain only one aspect of Eden-I wonder what the whole Eden package would look like.

Upper South Falls from the side

A short way further, we stop for lunch-there is a nice bench to sit on. Not that we have gone far yet, it is just relaxing sitting here, soaking in the beauty around us. Occasionally someone will go by. After about 20 minutes, we continued on our way.

Andrea and Sherri hiking

The trail is fairly level until we come close to Lower South Falls. Then it descends about 150’. This is very similar to the Upper South Falls. Only thing is we go through a sea of ferns making the trip down much more like a tropical jungle scene, sans the snakes hanging from trees. There is an atmosphere of lushness before us. Like the Upper Falls, the trail leads us behind the falls. And then up the east side of the Silver Creek. Am I becoming inured by these falls? On one hand, they are so refreshing and make me just stand and gaze at them. But are they getting to be expected now that I have seen two of them? Hopefully I will always have that appreciation of awe of what the Father has put before us.

The bad part of this trail is that now we have seen the Lower South Falls, we need to contend with the trail. If you notice the word Lower in the name. That means we need to go back up to be on top of the Upper one where the parking lot is. The good part is that we are not very high up, altitudenly. But there is a thousand foot climb ahead of us. For an old man out of shape, this means something to me. Still Andrea leads us up at a reasonable pace for me-probably pretty slow for her. So glad she is patient with us.

Lower South Falls

We stop often. Occasionally we meet a few people, like some teenagers or young 20 year olds who are wondering how far to the falls. I really hate that kind of question. Shows ignorance. But today, it is a good time for all of us to put on our “superior” guide hats and talk about the options of the trails. They go on to the Lower Falls.

The trek up is gradual, and like I said we take our time, stopping for whatever interests us: flowers, bugs, and ferns seem to be the main attractions. We get done with the main uphill in pretty good shape. Then it is walking along the top. Which right now seems a bit long, but that is probably me being out of condition.

When we get to the brickwork part of the trail, I know we are close to the car-I am thankful. We take care of business and Andrea drives us back to her place. I would feel guilty about sleeping while she is driving-probably an old man father guilt thing. I do shut my eyes for a few seconds here and there.

When Lawrence comes in from work-poor guy-we go out to eat at a place called Epilogue. Just from the face of it, it is pretty liberal. The windows are splashed with slogans, along with the light pole outside. We prefer to eat outside, even in the cold. They are set up for it. The waitress is pleasant and efficient in taking our order. And the food lives up to its billing of good eats. We devour all. As a note: a couple of days after we left Salem, somebody must have taken offense to Epilogue’s liberal leanings as they defaced a lot of their stuff.

After this, we watch a couple movies-Jurassic Park and go to bed.