Late to Bed, Early to Rise

Oregon 2023 Travelog #2
Portland, OR. Sat, 1 Jul 2023, 7:10am

Last night was a late night. Our flight to Portland landed at 10:35. It was pretty much on time despite Southwest's valiant effort to be late. With the usual airport shuffle to pick up our checked bag and rental car, then drive a few miles to our hotel, we didn't get ensconced in our room until 11:30. Then we didn't get to sleep until after 12. Aaaand my body decided that getting up before 7am with barely 6.5 hours of sleep was plenty for me. 😖

Today our plan is to go hiking at Silver Falls State Park about 90 minutes south of Portland. We'll meet our friend Dan in town around 9am and head down there for a day of hiking. But first I'm going to see if I can put this gotten-up-to-early time to use by having a big breakfast somewhere.

Seven or Eight on the Trail of Ten Falls

Oregon 2023 Travelog #3
Silverton, OR. Sat, 1 Jul 2023, 2:30pm

Saturday we hiked the Trail of Ten Falls at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. It's about 90 minutes south of Portland. From our hotel near the airport we swung by our friend, Dan, who lives in the Rose Garden neighborhood. After a tour around his gardens and all the work he's put into them we headed south together to the park.

The signature trail at Silver Falls State Park is the Trail of Ten Falls. We didn't hike the whole trail... we only visited eight of the ten falls. Here's a video I put together with clips from seven of them:

Watch on YouTube

Some of the falls are quite tall. South Falls, for example, plunges 177 feet over a rocky lip. And the trail goes behind several of the falls. It's a rare experience.

The weather today was beautiful. The last time we were here it was gloomy and rained part part of the time. Legging it on the trail in the drizzle was not fun. But today was warm and sunny the whole time. What an amazing hike. What a tiring hike.

In beauty I walk.