hike report silver falls

Day 1:
Long car ride down to Silver Falls. Fortunately hit Portland before rush hour and it didn’t slow us up too much. After an early dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, we followed Google maps’ directions (bad idea!) to the park. The ranger let us know that the North Falls Group Camp was not yet open, so we had to do some quick rearranging. We paid for the campsite for the night, strapped on the packs and headed off to explore our surroundings.

We headed to the south trails just to get our feet wet – literally. There was mud everywhere, and puddles that grew into ponds. It was interesting trying to cross logs and balance with a pack on. Very different than doing it with just a daypack. Campground Trail was a flat and easy walk, albeit very wet. We missed the cut-off to 214 and ended up backtracking to almost the beginning. Duane spotted it on the way back, and we were once again on track. It hooked into the Howard Creek Loop after about a third of a mile. Some elevation gain/loss on this trail; much more interesting and beautiful with all the vegetation, creeks, ponds, and bridges.

Since we weren’t in a hurry, we had planned on three hours for five miles. Our pace was un*char*ac*ter*is*ti*cal*ly [8 points for Alex!] closer to a leisurely mile an hour, stopping to look at things and talk, and so we ended up hiking back after dark. Alex had a pretty powerful lantern with him that let the rest of us save our batteries.

Sandwiches for late dinner. We needed to bring more food, and to double-check that everyone packed what they were supposed to. Monopoly and hearts, then off to our tents for the night. It rained pretty heavily all night long, but we had chosen our tent sites well and were mostly very dry.

Mileage: 4.5 miles

Day 2:

Duane and Mrs. G up early to … snow? Only for half an hour or so, but snow in April? It was followed in quick succession by hail and then rain. Oatmeal for breakfast to keep us warm for what looked to be a miserable day. Since our tents were wet, we cleaned them up and dried them off in the bathroom. That was sort of strange, but it worked. Trekked our gear to Horse Camp, our second site. Set up tents with frozen hands and rechecked the rain gear. It wasn’t too hard to set up tents, even with cold hands, and I was surprised how quickly they came up and down.

We started out toward the Trail of Ten Falls with an ugly, grey sky above. Oregonians have a saying, “Don’t like Oregon weather? Wait a minute.” Thankfully, it’s true. “Good weather would be nice, God.” From Duane’s lips to God’s ears – beautiful blue skies! Our spirits buoyed, we quickly covered the area to the trailhead.

Wow! Breathtakingly beautiful South Falls loomed before us. Through the heavy hail, we could see specks of people at the bottom. With careful steps we made our way down the switchbacks. Majestic is the best way to describe it. South Falls was worth the whole trip. We talked a lot on the trails and I enjoyed getting to know everyone better. This was a good mix of people, and everybody was interesting to talk to. I liked that it was only a few boys, and we all get along well and have a lot in common. Age is a lot less important than liking the same things.

We reached several more falls on a trail that had very little elevation gain — don’t let that fool you; little NET gain, but it was a lot of up and down. Although South Falls was easily the most spectacular, Double Falls allowed us to get close. Lower South Falls was deafening, and the sheer amount of water was incredible. We would definitely like to come back, though doing it as a day hike without the packs would be better!

Exhausted (well, SOME of us were; Caleb’s energy knows no bounds), we reached the top – where Duane promptly left his lunch on the side of a tree. We need to remember to pack pain relievers and anti-nausea medicine for the next trip. Alex had twisted his ankle – two miles back. It wasn’t sprained (just painful), but David took his pack for the walk back to the campground. The walk back seemed a lot longer! Inside the park, Mrs G and Alex hitched a ride from a ranger to the Horse Camp. She told us that we were camped near a mountain lion trail and to move our tents closer together. How comforting! She said for us to consider moving to a more populated site since we were the ONLY people in the horse camp. Safety first – tents taken down yet again (we are getting to be pros!) and moved to the main, populated campground.

Dinner was Cup of Noodles. Good stuff and easy to carry! Probably should have brought more, though. I think for the next trip we should bring some actual dinner, though. We had a stove and could have made better use of it. Played cards until bed. We should probably bring some other games next time, too, like Mille Bornes or Uno.

Distance: Mrs. G, Alex – 11.7; David, Duane, Caleb – 12.9

Day 3:
A leisurely breakfast of leftover food and protein bars. Pack up camp, and head out. Because of the upper campground closure, we backpacked so much the day before that we were well over our minimum, and we had done most all of the trails. A LONG drive home to our own beds – hooray!

Conclusion:
I would definitely love to return since it was truly amazing.
The experience was definitely worth it.
A very beautiful place that I would like to return to.

~Alex, Caleb, David, and Duane

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