Waterfalls...

 

      For some reason, ever since moving to Oregon, I have had a tremendous fascination with waterfalls.  Well, maybe I have always loved them.  I remember the first waterfall of any significance that I visited back in the 60's was Niagara Falls!  That was a memorable experience.  Then in 1986, on a vacation from Taos, New Mexico with Billy only a little over 2 years old, Dean and I took a vacation to Oregon and his cousin, Lorraine, took us to see the Multnomah Falls, along the Columbia River Gorge.  I was so fascinated with this falls.  Here is one of the reasons:

     Way back in 1970, my husband, Gerry, and I bought a house in Rowland Heights, California.  My parents wanted to give us a nice house-warming gift (people actually did that in those days) and they gave us a huge painting of a gorgeous waterfall.  I had no idea where it was, and I guess I didn't bother to read the inscription on it that named the falls.  Well, as soon as I saw Multnomah Falls, I knew it was the falls in my painting.  It sort of made it more precious to me.  We have returned a couple of times and have hiked to the top.  Magnificent view from up there.

     Later, when we moved to Oregon, we visited a lot of falls all around the central and western part of the state.  I loved the falls outside of Silverton.  It was a park where you could hike a couple of miles in and see dozens of falls.  It was beautiful.  Even in the rain, we have been drawn to falls.  On a trip north to Tillamook, we were drawn to a sign that indicated there was a very nice waterfall off the road about a mile or so.  It was raining hard, but we decided to go anyway.  With umbrellas in hand, we hiked to see a beautiful waterfall  It was worth the drive and then the hike to get to it.

     When we moved to Lincoln City, we were told about a waterfall park just north and east of where we live.  We decided to explore the region one day with Billy and hiked about a mile or so down into a canyon, across a beautiful bridge, and then to an area where we could view the Drift Creek Falls.  Another view that is well worth the hike.  In fact, I have visited it on 3 other occasions--one with my daughter, Debi, when she came to visit last fall.

     Most recently, when Dean and I ended our road-trip vacation in November, we stopped in Roseburg, Oregon to stay overnight before driving home to Lincoln City.  We noticed signs for several waterfalls up Hwy 138.  It was out of the way, and it was drizzling, but the following morning, we decided to drive up the highway and see us a waterfall or two.

     Our first stop was at a little wayside park to view Colliding Rivers.  This is where the North Umpqua River meets the Little River.  There are a lot of big rocks in the area, and the meeting waters swirl around those rocks.  I imagine during the spring run-off, it is much more dramatic.  We did take some beautiful pictures, however.  Lots of fall leaves and moss on the trees.

Colliding Rivers

Little River on the left

North Umpqua on the right

Fall leaves on the path 

     Further up the road, we missed the turnoff to Susan Creek Falls, but thought we could catch it on the way back.  Continuing up the highway, we came to Fall Falls (yes, that is the name of it!) and turned into the parking area to begin our hike.  It was drizzling when we began our hike, but we were dressed warm enough so it wasn't too bad.  It was probably a half mile hike up a muddy trail, but the double falls were worth it.  As beautiful as it was, I imagined that it was twice as nice during spring run-off, when a lot more water would come crashing over the cliffs above and plunge some 200+ feet to the creek below.

A split in a huge boulder where the path leads us

Lori on the muddy, leaf covered path

Dean & Lori at the falls

Beautiful Fall Falls

     As we were getting ready to hike out of this area, the rains came in earnest!  We hurried as fast as we could down the slippery trail and were soaked by the time we got to our car, laughing all the way.  It was worth the wet!  We opted not to go to the Susan Creek Falls, as the rain was really coming down now.

     Continuing our journey north on I-5, we decided to stop at a little hole-in-the-wall cafe (recommended by Elwood and Doyne) and take a break and have some lunch while we watched the pouring rain outside.  While sitting at a table, watching and listening to the rain outside, I thought how wonderful this place is.  After all, this is Oregon, and rain is what gives us our green countryside, our huge and beautiful rivers, and our waterfalls!