Today we took a trip with Kaku to Silver Falls State Park just outside of Salem, Oregon. We’d been planning this trip for a while, but the weekend weather and other plans always seemed to get in the way. But we planned ahead this time to make sure the weather was good and that we were all free.
It was a great trip. The weather was perfect, and the hike was pretty easy. (I say “pretty easy” because I’m horribly out of shape, and one of the up-hill patches was a little tough for me. Resolution: get in shape.) First, we headed to the South Falls. Before we got there, however, we took a brief detour to Frenchie Falls. As you can tell, Andrew and Kaku were far from impressed by what they called “The Surrender-Monkey Falls”:
The South Falls were a little more in size with what we wanted to see. It had a nice path that lead behind the falls, and on that path, you could see all the erosion “chimneys” where water had worn away at the rock.
We followed that path and joined up with the Canyon Trail, which we took to the Lower South Falls. The Lower South Falls are a little shorter, but much wider than South Falls. The walk behind this falls was pretty flooded, so we had to do a little jumping to get by.
Then we hiked up Maple Ridge Trail back to the parking lot and from there drove over to North Falls. If we’d had more time, we might have hiked it, but since we didn’t get to the park until about 2:30, and still wanted to get home for pizza-making, we decided to utilize our modern amenities. Didn’t bring my camera for North Falls, which is too bad, because it was nice and tall. It reminded me of Richenbach Falls in Switzerland.
And now we’re back, making pizza! Later, we’re going to head to The Wooden Chicken for some cocktails. ^_^
Maggie Slater 
That was a great trip. We should try Multnomah falls again some time soon. Luckily the drive is quite a bit shorter and I’ll try to remember to pay more attention and not drive an extra 40 miles than necessary :P
LOL Well at least it was a fun extra 40 miles! ^_^ Haha Another Multnomah Falls trip sounds great! We should also look for other hikes with waterfalls that are a little more removed from the crowds. Might require more hiking, but the peace and quiet of nature might be worth it! ^_^
I wonder if there is any other better waterfall than the North Silver Fall. The one you behind it, in the cave.
It really is a lovely falls. I’ve seen some other ones in Switzerland that come pretty close, but there’s something really charming about North Silver Falls. ^_^