More waterfalls, rivers, Cascade Mountains…and Silver Falls State Park
It’s a Travel day from Crater Lake RV Park to Silver Falls State Park Campground, about 270 miles.
On long travel days like this one we try to plan stops to see places of interest along the way. We may make stops for gas and groceries as well. Our travel this day was further delayed by several areas of road work where crew were removing downed trees and a rock slide of boulders from the roadway. When we see these hazards we are so grateful for the Lord’s protection upon us as we are traveling, camping, hiking…
Our first side trip of the day was Watson Falls, just past the first traffic delay a flag man allowed us into the Forest Road leading to this trail. After a magical hike up a hillside we came to this spectacular falls, the third highest in Oregon, plunging 293 ft. over the edge of a basalt lava flow and cascading down moss covered boulders. A Bridge crossing over the river provides great views of the boulders and the falls high above.
Albany Historic Carousel and Museum
In researching things we might see or do along our route I came across the info for this place. The description read:
"Over 50 hand-carved animals on an antique mechanism, plus exhibits of historic carousel artifacts."
I have loved carousels ever since my childhood visits to the Carousel that is outside of the San Diego Zoo. Our visits to the Zoo were always followed by a Carousel Ride!
The carousel in Albany did not disappoint. Inside an incredible glass carousel house, below a stunning wood ceiling, sits a colorful and whimsical Carousel!
Each creature has been lovingly hand carved and painted by volunteers. The finished mounts are unique and fantastic steeds, elephants, giraffes, frogs and more! The museum has limited days and hours and because the long travel day had become longer with road delays, we arrived just 30 minutes before closing time.
If we had more time, there was a tour to see how the animals are carved and a studio where the animals are painted and finished. We had been told the final ride of the day was free, so we enjoyed browsing in the gift store and watching the carousel until our turn. Steve chose a horse on the outside row so that he could try to catch the brass ring!
I mounted a fanciful orange zebra in the middle row beside him to enjoy the up and down rhythm of the ride. The music and lights transported us back to our childhood memories of riding carousels! This is an all volunteer run organization and was well worth the short detour from the highway!
Silver Falls Campground (4 nights)
After arriving and getting set up, we took an evening stroll after dinner, which became an adventure on the Nature Trail Loop at dusk. After about a mile of walking, and not knowing how long the loop was we came around a bend to an obstacle! We could either turn around and retrace our mile of travel or we would have to wade about 20 yards through a puddle that looked to be deep enough to cover our ankles. The water extended way beyond the edges of the gravel trail and the foliage and trees would keep us from getting around the water. We weren’t sure how much further beyond the puddle-lake the campground was, but to retrace our path would be about a mile, and we did not have much daylight left.
Steve determined that we should remove our hiking shoes to keep them dry and wade through the water in our socks to hopefully cushion our feet from the gravel. At the end of the water we could remove our socks and put on our shoes. Treading through cold water over gravel in our stocking feet while trying to not fall over or drop our shoes made for a memorable adventure…it reminded me of a scene from the movie “Romancing the Stone”!
Trail of Ten Falls
“When you take some time to
explore this temperate rain forest, you'll discover amazing ferns, mosses, vibrant wild flowers and stands of fir, hemlock and cedar.” -viewpoint sign
This was not false advertising!
A morning hike along the South falls loop trail, 5.5 miles, brought us alongside, in front of and behind an incredible variety of falls!
We added more distance to our day’s trek after lunch and a siesta with a hike to Upper North Falls and a glimpse of North Falls from a trail above the falls, for a total of almost 7 miles in a day!
We had heard from other hikers we crossed paths with that this was spectacular and not to be missed. We set out in a light and steady rain over the wet, muddy, puddled trail, steadily dropping to the level of the river, crossing over a bridge and heading upriver to the falls, which drop down a 136 cliff in front of a very wide cave like area, where the trail took us behind the thundering cascade.
What a place to ponder the majesty of God’s creation. The second half of the loop took us back up the side of the canyon and up a final stretch of eighty stairs.
Arriving back to our truck the rain let loose and became a steady rain which intensified and lasted throughout the night. We were glad to have a safe dry trailer to enjoy, warm and dry!
Next week's blog will be our Adventures on the Road from our next Campground at Ainsworth State Park, just inside the corridor of the Historic Columbia River Gorge. Thanks for following along and for your prayers for safety and adventure!
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