2 INCH SILVER HOOP EARRINGS

I almost hit the delete button on this attempted "reflections" photograph taken along the South Fork of Silver Creek, but I found it interesting how the basalt creek bottom showed through in places and the canyon forest reflected in other places, forming a mosaic "paint by number" affect - - so I kept it.

On the second day of our four day road trip we took highway 213 & highway 214 from Salem to Silver Falls State Park. Along highway 213 we saw fields of beautiful flowers being grown for packaged flower seed sales, so I had my wife note where the best flower fields were located so we could stop and photograph them, in better light, after our return from Silver Falls.

We were shocked to see how many people there were at Silver Falls State Park on a week day. But when the sun comes out in the Pacific Northwest, so do the rain weary hikers, bicycle riders, swimmers, kite flyers, picnic enthusiasts, boaters, fishermen, photographers and tourists. Couldn't blame them a bit.

We drove to Parking lot "F" to start our hike to some of the 10 waterfalls located within the park boundary. It was a less crowded trail head so it worked out well.

This was our first visit here so we studied the pages from the copies of the Sullivan hiking guide book, I had brought along, and decided to take a clockwise 5 mile loop hiking to the following waterfalls in the following order: South Falls*; Lower South Falls*; Lower North Falls; Double Falls; Drake Falls; Middle North Falls*; and finally Winter Falls (which was a mere trickle this time of the year). The three I waterfalls I have place an "*" next to were, by far the three most appealing. The farther from the trailheads the fewer people we met. It was really a nice hike though had we known that the last mile would be so close to highway 214, we probably would have done the hike differently. Still, it was good weather, lovely scenery, and we enjoyed the exercise.

We did not hike to Twin Falls or North Falls on this trip, though North Falls would have been a short walk down from the highway 214 trailhead (I was in a hurry to go get my flower field photographs!).
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We took a four day, 950 mile counter clockwise looping “road trip” through Oregon (August 3-6th, 2011). The weather was outstanding.

The trip included a little “quality” penny slot machine time for my wife at three Oregon Native American casinos: Spirit Mountain at Grand Ronde; Chinook Winds at Lincoln City; and Kah-Nee-ta at Warm Springs. For me I got some barefoot beach hiking along the Oregon Coast.

Together we took the five mile version of the waterfalls loop hike at Silver Falls state park (our first visit there). Driving highway 213 to and from Silver Falls State Park from Salem, we came across many large farms raising colorful flowers for the packaged flower seed business. We met some really nice people, when we stopped to ask permission at these flower farms, to enter their private property to take photographs. Lots of fun!

We drove the McKenzie Pass highway for the first time. We really enjoyed that scenic drive and for me it was a reconnaissance for future hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Three Sisters Wilderness, with McKenzie Pass serving as the north trailhead.

We had one of the best Mexican dinners we have had in long time at Mazatlan’s in Redmond, Oregon and I managed to convince my wife that we needed a short shopping trip stop at the nice REI store in Bend, Oregon.

We drove some scenic back roads, we had never before traveled, when we visited the Warm Springs reservation for a casino stop for my wife (I read Backpacker magazine under the shade of a tree, sipping on an ice cold lime diet Pepsi).

Our new Honda Fit got a respectable 40 mpg on this trip, with the A/C running much of the time…so we were happy with that. I’m now spoiled by the USB port in the glove box that let’s us play all of our “oldies” favorites from music folders loaded onto a small flash drive. Nothing like lots of good traveling tunes to make a road trip just that much more fun.

Once again, with just the two of us…..a great time was had by each and all. I hope you enjoy some of the photographs we took along our way.

OMT August 2011. 0000

This was one of the three most appealing waterfalls to me. There is a trail that is cut in behind it, which is closed for safety reason right now, but if you walk right up to the trail barricade you can see all you need to see and get any photos you might want.
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On the second day of our four day road trip we took highway 213 & highway 214 from Salem to Silver Falls State Park. Along highway 213 we saw fields of beautiful flowers being grown for packaged flower seed sales, so I had my wife note where the best flower fields were located so we could stop and photograph them, in better light, after our return from Silver Falls.

We were shocked to see how many people there were at Silver Falls State Park on a week day. But when the sun comes out in the Pacific Northwest, so do the rain weary hikers, bicycle riders, swimmers, kite flyers, picnic enthusiasts, boaters, fishermen, photographers and tourists. Couldn't blame them a bit.

We drove to Parking lot "F" to start our hike to some of the 10 waterfalls located within the park boundary. It was a less crowded trail head so it worked out well.

This was our first visit here so we studied the pages from the copies of the Sullivan hiking guide book, I had brought along, and decided to take a clockwise 5 mile loop hiking to the following waterfalls in the following order: South Falls*; Lower South Falls*; Lower North Falls; Double Falls; Drake Falls; Middle North Falls*; and finally Winter Falls (which was a mere trickle this time of the year). The three I waterfalls I have place an "*" next to were, by far the three most appealing. The farther from the trailheads the fewer people we met. It was really a nice hike though had we known that the last mile would be so close to highway 214, we probably would have done the hike differently. Still, it was good weather, lovely scenery, and we enjoyed the exercise.

We did not hike to Twin Falls or North Falls on this trip, though North Falls would have been a short walk down from the highway 214 trailhead (I was in a hurry to go get my flower field photographs!).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We took a four day, 950 mile counter clockwise looping “road trip” through Oregon (August 3-6th, 2011). The weather was outstanding.

The trip included a little “quality” penny slot machine time for my wife at three Oregon Native American casinos: Spirit Mountain at Grand Ronde; Chinook Winds at Lincoln City; and Kah-Nee-ta at Warm Springs. For me I got some barefoot beach hiking along the Oregon Coast.

Together we took the five mile version of the waterfalls loop hike at Silver Falls state park (our first visit there). Driving highway 213 to and from Silver Falls State Park from Salem, we came across many large farms raising colorful flowers for the packaged flower seed business. We met some really nice people, when we stopped to ask permission at these flower farms, to enter their private property to take photographs. Lots of fun!

We drove the McKenzie Pass highway for the first time. We really enjoyed that scenic drive and for me it was a reconnaissance for future hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Three Sisters Wilderness, with McKenzie Pass serving as the north trailhead.

We had one of the best Mexican dinners we have had in long time at Mazatlan’s in Redmond, Oregon and I managed to convince my wife that we needed a short shopping trip stop at the nice REI store in Bend, Oregon.

We drove some scenic back roads, we had never before traveled, when we visited the Warm Springs reservation for a casino stop for my wife (I read Backpacker magazine under the shade of a tree, sipping on an ice cold lime diet Pepsi).

Our new Honda Fit got a respectable 40 mpg on this trip, with the A/C running much of the time…so we were happy with that. I’m now spoiled by the USB port in the glove box that let’s us play all of our “oldies” favorites from music folders loaded onto a small flash drive. Nothing like lots of good traveling tunes to make a road trip just that much more fun.

Once again, with just the two of us…..a great time was had by each and all. I hope you enjoy some of the photographs we took along our way.

OMT August 2011. 0000