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?
