Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Oregon in April, Part 6: Trail of Ten Falls

On our last day in Oregon, Friday, April 12, we did the Trail of Ten Falls in Silverton. It's a relatively easy seven-mile hike (the way we did it) that goes by about a dozen waterfalls, about four of which you get to walk behind. This is definitely a must-do hike. It was spectacular. It was wet, and we did get some rain. For the most part, thought, this was the one day that gave us a weather reprieve.


































My phone's camera is the worst.






I think some of the little waterfalls were bonus falls because of the amount of water at that time of year; they're not counted in the ten waterfalls referenced in the name of the hike.












In the background in the pic below, I believe I was having problems with Bear and putting her in a time-out.


Tiny decided just to crouch down on the path and touch the water or rocks or something for a while. It reminded me of Jesus writing on the ground.




Jim had promised taffy at every waterfall, so Ever was on the lookout for every little trickle. They gathered round him like baby birds clamoring to be fed.








Ragamuffin troopers:



We barely made it to the lodge at the other end of the trail in time to buy some goodies before they closed. We snacked and used the bathrooms and then looped back to our car on the other side, through the forest instead of by all the waterfalls again.




Tiny began running ahead and hiding in plain sight. See the blurry bundle on the right side of the trail:


I enjoyed the crossing-over trees, but of course my camera couldn't get a decent pic. 


Hiding Tiny:


When we found her, she did this super loud, fake laugh.






We completed the loop back to our parking lot and took a vote on whether we should do the extra .6-mile jaunt to see the last waterfall. Ever desperately wanted to be done. Both littles, however, voted to go on (making me so very proud), so we finished it out.  

Ever was lagging, and she got a little goofy at the end. Is this not reminiscent of Bill Cosby somehow?







It was late in the day by the time we finished, and it was lovely.


Jim and I have bragged to everyone about how our girls did a seven-mile hike. They all walked the entire time. Jim carried an empty backpack on his back, and I wore an empty LILLEbaby. How many two-year-olds and just-turned-four-year-olds would do that? We were so incredibly proud of them.

On the drive back to Oregon City, Jim saw a bald eagle alight on a telephone pole by the road. It was really magical. We pulled over and watched it for a while until it spread its giant wings and flew up into a nearby tree, out of sight.



Back in Oregon City, we had a hard time finding someplace to eat. I looked at reviews as we drove, and we finally decided to try a place that ended up being 18+ only. Eventually we found a nice, hip-looking restaurant, where people must have thought we were homeless, given our extremely bedraggled appearance.

Tiny and Wrenzy entertained each other while we waited for our food. They were a little wrestle-y, but we weren't really paying attention. Then we realized they were baptizing each other. "Heavenly Father, I baptize," or something like that.



The main street was all lit up and fun, and I took a really bad picture to remember it by.


We didn't get the girls to bed until super late, and it was a huge day for them. But what a finale to our trip!

In the airport on our way home Saturday morning, Ever got grumpy about having to carry our baby-carrying backpack.



Oregon did not let us down. It is truly magnificent. Since the trip, the girls have said lots of funny things about not wanting to go back because all we do there is hike every day. But while we were there, they did such a great job. Hooray for hiking family vacations!

1 comment:

Anna said...

We did this hike with our kids when they were about your kids ages. Clara was in a backpack. So beautiful. we were lucky to have a sunny day. Must go back.