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: 11:50End 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.
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Upper South Falls
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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.
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Upper South Falls from the side
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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.
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Andrea and Sherri hiking
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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.
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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.
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Upper South Falls
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| Upper South Falls |
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| Upper South Falls |
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| Upper South Falls |
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| Upper South Falls |
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Sherri, Andrea, Gary
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Lower South Falls
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South Fork of Silver Creek
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| Lower South Falls |
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| Lower South Falls |
Animals
Flowers and Plants
