Trail of 10 Falls

Location: Silver Falls State Park

For us, we woke up late (8 ish) and had a slow easy morning after a late night. We took care of housekeeping and logistics, then hit the trail at 1 pm. What makes this state park the most frequented of all in Oregon is the 10 waterfalls and the trail system that ties them together. After all the climbing, biking, and hiking over the last week, we were looking forward to a more level meandering hike of 5 - 8 miles. True to our nature, we had to explore the side trails (and some had quite the vertical climb). So after 4 hours we had hiked 12 miles with a total ascent of 1500 feet. The big pay off was the stunning waterfalls, two of which we walked behind. For those of you that think this week sounds like boot camp, let it be said that we are having a total blast and every effort expended had more than its share of rewards. We had planned on an evening bike ride, but decided instead to celebrate our last evening together, with wine, popcorn, and a movie in Winnie.

As we are driving south on I-5 toward home we' re reminiscing about our great trip. Some of our faves were....
* Best campsites: Olallie & Mt. Rainer
* Best scenic drive: WA cascades from Carson to Randle
* Best dinner: First night at Lassen (salad)...but they were all great
* Best hike: Mt. Rainer, Skyline Trail
* Best bike ride: First part of Columbia River Historic Highway
* Best laugh: Pulling into the wrong campsite (when we thought we got robbed)
* Biggest surprise: Riding into the Square Dance Festival
* Best Hubbies: Ned and Chuck for giving us the time to do this
Total miles hiked: 42
Total miles biked: 70

We had such a great time together we're already scheming about our next trip! Any suggestions? Should we pack our passports and head for the Canadian border?

The Hills Are Alive....(Are We in Austria?)

Location: Silver Falls State Park, OR

We woke up in a gorgeous fern grove with huge mossy trees on the eastern side of Mount Rainier. It took us about an hour to drive to Paradise, (aptly named) stopping to see Reflection Lake and other places for photo ops. Every turn of the road gave us stunning views of Mt. Rainier. The roads were engineered to provide the best views. We were lucky to have clear blue skies and actually see the top of the mountain - which doesn't occur very often in this rain forest.

We took a turn thru the Visitor's Center watching a very moving film about Mount Rainier. It really did bring tears to our eyes just how majestic, massive, dominate and extreme this powerful mountain is. It is the most topically prominent mountain in the lower 48 states with an elevation of 14411, an creates its own weather systems. Feeling very inspired we geared up for a strenuous hike that heads towards the summit then veers along a ridge and skirts a glacier. This hike was aptly named the Skyline Trail. It climbs 1700 feet, is a 5.5 mile loop and crosses many snowfields that are really steep. Because of these difficult conditions is took us 4 hours, not bad considering the average time allotted is 4.5 to 5 hours!

Wow!! Best hike of the trip. The entire walk uphill was lined with wildflowers upon wildflowers abundantly displayed among picturesque brooks. You really did feel like Julie Andrews signing at the top of her lungs, "The Hills Are Alive" in the Sound of Music. It could have been the Alps! The walk uphill was so steep that at times it was hard for me to catch my breath, but it was a joy to pause and just take in all the beauty. Once we reached the ridge and began our descent down the other side the contrast was amazing. It was much more barren and covered in ice and snow fields. After working so hard climbing up we were hoping for a bigger payoff on the downhill side. Mmmm...trekking down the steep slippery snow fields was almost as hard as the hike up. Denise finally decided to slide down on her butt part of the way. Hearing her laugh and whoop it up on the way down encouraged me to give it a try. Unfortunately, I wasn't as smart as my buddy and wore shorts so the slide down the hill made for a very cold, ahem...toosh. There is no way these pictures capture the beauty of the wildflowers with the background of the Cascade mountain range. We could see not only the top of Mt. Rainier, but Mount St. Helens and several other peaks in the distance. Notice the big grin on our faces at the top of the ridge!

We knew we had a long drive ahead of us to get to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon, but after working so hard we decided that a nice dinner out was in order. Yum, cedar plank salmon with a nice glass of wine did the trick. Unfortunately, we pulled into the campground at a little after midnight. The camping gods were once again watching out for us. The campground was full but we took an empty reserved space and crashed for the night.

Biking the Hills of the Columbia River Gorge

Location: Mt. Rainier National Park, WA

We are so incredibly exhausted that we might not make much sense tonight...give us a little leeway. We didn't get to bed until after midnight last night and were up again by 6 this morning. We were eager to bike the next stretch of the Historic Columbia River Highway Trail before it became too hot. Rubber hit the road and trailhead by 8:30. The first stretch of the trail was like stepping back in time, imagine taking the old Model A out for a drive. We cruised past rock walls and spectacular wildflowers on a moss covered road. When we entered the forest part of the trail it was thick with ferns, lush waterfalls, completely canopied and beautiful views overlooking the Columbia River and the abrupt rock hills on the Washington side. It was one of the best biking trails either one of us had ever been on. At one point we were barreling down the hill and came to a screeching halt at a stop sign that appeared from nowhere. Good thing we stopped because we were confronted by 50 steep steps. Really? How did the cars do this? So, we carried our bikes down the steps and were suddenly riding next to the freeway for a short while. We eventually made it to a fish hatchery and then to downtown Cascade Locks. The trail wasn't marked at all at this point and we spent a bit of time riding thru the town, backtracking, and taking a side trip to visit the locks. After picking up a better detailed map at the Visitor's Center we realized that the trail was the bike lane thru town and continued on several city streets. Our goal was to reach Wyeth Campground which should have been 10 miles from the trailhead. Ah, ignorance is bliss. What we didn't know was that to get there we had to climb 2000 feet for a good two miles. Denise was amazing! She kept my spirits high and lead the way up, up, up the hill that went on and on. This was the hardest bike ride I've ever done because of the elevation gain without rest. We finally made it to the campground (14 miles) getting a nice long downhill to end the first half of the ride. Neither of us were looking forward to the climb back. At the start of our return we were battling the blazing sun and riding against the wind. Oy! And it was a bitch...

Let it be known we made it! We rode it the whole way and even managed to carry our bikes up the steps bone tired. (We do have a pact however that whatever happened on the trail stays on the trail). All in all we rode 25 miles, 2000 feet of elevation gain, in 4 hours with a bunch of photo ops and a lunch rest. Next in order was a 4 hour ride to Mt. Rainier - - which doesn't have showers. It was unanimous that we sneak into a campground close by and find a shower. Mission accomplished.

To continue with the theme of this trip to explore the backbone of the Cascades we took a two lane paved forest road from the Columbia River to Mt. Rainier, via Mt. Saint Helens. It was the prettiest drive of the trip. The wildflowers were like nothing we have ever seen. It was as if someone had planted them for the benefit of the traveler.
As we entered the Gifford Pinchot National Forest we were surprised by foxglove in purple and white, 5 and 6 feet high lining this stretch of the highway. As we climbed in elevation we were also greeted with miles and miles of lupin, yellow flowers, white daisies, red indian paintbrush and lush ferns. I don't think today's photos can adequately capture how stunning these wildflowers were against the verdant green forest and blue skies. We were in a mellow mood and pretty tired so it was nice to just quietly take it all in.

We arrived about 6:30 at Mt. Rainier National Park and lucked out with a great campsite. The campground is pretty packed, but somebody above is looking out for us because we have consistently landed the best spots almost every night and have had perfect weather. After a dinner of a yummy salad and finishing off an open bottle of wine (with an ibuprofen chaser) we are ready to call it a night. Tomorrow we are giving our bums a rest and not riding the saddle so a hike is in order. Stay tuned.