I will be telling you, down a ways, about something you will never do. Not necessarily because you will never travel to this neck of the woods, but because you are smarter than me.
Yesterday I decided to head up to Golden and Silver Falls state park, to check out the third trail up there. Both times I was there before I was with people for whom it was too much, too steep. So in spite of the fact that the road into the park has been closed since last August, I decided to go see for myself. The web site says it’s closed about a mile from the park, and a mile is doable on foot. And NO RAIN was predicted! So off we went (CJ and I).
At the first barrier and “Road Closed” sign, there was no obvious reason for the closure, and the middle of the barrier was open, with recent car tracks in evidence–so on we drove, to the second barrier, which was actually across the road this time. (This is not the stupid part.) I was not the only one who ignored the first barrier–there was another car at the second when I arrived, and three more when I left.
Even then, the reason for the closure was not apparent. But a ways up there is a tree down across the road.
But really? Since August? They can’t get a chain saw out there and clear that away in four months? A bit past that, though, there’s this.
That bit over on the right that’s crumpled away has to be the reason for the closure. It does make the road a bit narrow. Though I have to say, if it weren’t physically blocked off, I’d have tried it.
Anyway, it’s about a 20 minute hike up to the picnic area. Nice walk, really–here are a few sights along the way.
Had lunch at the picnic area while CJ nosed around, and headed up the trail. A bit steep, but not too bad. And soon you begin to hear the falls (Silver Falls), and see this
So you keep going, right? Because you’re almost to the first falls, and it’s getting good.
(We’re almost to the stupid part.)
Around the bend, I stopped to take this
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/114486369″>Silver Falls, 12/13/14</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user33545867″>Jean Mitchell</a> on <ahref=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>The trail seemed to be petering out at this point–right at the end of the video, you can see that it’s getting narrow and rocky. (Here’s the stupid part). I decided to keep going. Keep in mind that all I knew about the trail is that it was supposed to be about half a mile long and go to the top of Golden Falls, and it was clear I was nowhere near that. I kept thinking maybe after climbing a few more rocks, it would turn back into a reasonable path–so I pushed (climbed, clambered) on, huffing and panting. Carefully. You may be able to get some idea of what I was doing from the following pics. I took them on the way back down, at which point I was getting tired, so they’re kinda blurry. In each, CJ is on the “trail” about 12-15 feet below me, maybe a bit more.
In that one, the leaves show where the stepping places are. I did 3-point climbing on the way up, and 4-point in a few places on the way down. I had my stick with me, which was a Good Thing.
I finally got sensible and decided to go back, disappointed in this ending to the hike. Though I figured that, since I would never do this again, I should take a picture and video as long as I was up there. Here they are.
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/114486371″>IMG 3027</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user33545867″>Jean Mitchell</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>Having gotten back down safely, I’m glad I did it (am even a bit proud of myself that I can still do this sort of thing at this age), and it was cool to be behind the falls, but I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE TRY THIS. Especially when alone. Dumb.
Grumbling to myself, I want on back down the path. To here.
See that small culvert? That’s where I missed the turn. In my defense–it’s not marked, it’s about a 170º turn to one’s right coming up the path, from where I took the picture, there’s a clear path straight ahead of one at that point, and I was focussed on that. But if you make the turn, you get this.
The rest of the path is pretty good, and gets better the higher you go. I took some pictures on the way up, but they all came out blurry, probably because I was still panting and a bit shaky from my little rock climb. So the following are all near or at the top.
First glimpse of Golden Falls, through the trees. You begin hearing the falls at this point.
Here we’re a bit closer, with CJ posing nicely.
Closer still. I decided not to go nearer the edge, though I sorta wanted to.
You can see in this video both why I wanted to go closer, and why I didn’t.
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/114486370″>12:13:14 golden falls</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user33545867″>Jean Mitchell</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>Frankly, the drop looked even further down in person than it does in the video.
Proof shot that I made it to the top, above the falls.
Another brief video attempt to give you perspective on the drop. Frankly, it looked farther from the top than I remember it seeming from the bottom.
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/114486368″>12:13:14 golden falls 2</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user33545867″>Jean Mitchell</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>Here’s the view when you lift your eyes to look up and out.
Here are a couple from the walk back down. You can see the trail is really quite reasonable at this point. I want to go back and do it again someday–without the little detour. Maybe then I’ll have the stamina to keep going–the trail continued on around the next bend of the creek, so I don’t know how far it goes. Another reason to go back.
Gorgeous walk. I bet it was worth every step. Even the mistakes.
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Tried leaving a comment before, but I guess it got eaten. (This is revenge for the way my blog treats you, isn’t it.)
Can’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like, “Gorgeous hike. I bet every inch of it was worth it. Even the mistakes.”
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Tried leaving a comment before, but I guess it got eaten. (This is revenge for the way my blog treats you, isn’t it.)
Can’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like, “Gorgeous hike. I bet every inch of it was worth it. Even the mistakes.”
(The above comment was also eaten, so I’ve switched to commenting via my Twitter ID, and this is the third attempt.)
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Weird. I also find it weird how WordPress stats sometimes recognize where you are and sometimes, I deduce, don’t. That is, there have been times when you leave a comment but the stats don’t count any visits from Korea. This time, 7 from Korea. Which I’d bet are all you.
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