Silver Falls

Hike: South Falls
Date: April 26, 2008
Distance: .7 miles
Elevation: 177 ft

This hike is part of the Trail of Ten Falls that we want to eventually complete. This leg of the Ten Falls trail is a very easy hike but still really spectacular. The short little trail has 3 separate waterfalls on it, amazing geological features and we even got to walk behind South Falls.

Troy and I spontaneously (that's the word we use when we want to give our lack of foresight and planning a positive spin) decided to head out there this weekend but weren't necessarily planning on hiking at all. We wanted to see what the park was all about and find out more about the Ten Falls trail. We stopped at one of the ranger posts to grab a brochure and just couldn't go back home without wandering around in the park. It was perfect weather and the park was too pristine to leave so soon.

Our first stop was the lodge (it was an hour drive and we all had to go potty). The stalls in the women's room had two toilets in it which made Savannah, Scout and I giggle (which is why I took a picture...see the slideshow below).

We hiked around the loop, took tons of pictures and then stopped to eat our granola bars at a picnic table at the top of the falls. The kids chased "butterflies" (moths, flies, bees, whatever) and played with the fallen sticks scattered around while Troy and I marveled at the beauty and plotted our return trip.

We all loved it although we also wished we had brought charcoal and some hotdogs for a picnic dinner. The stale granola bars and warm temperature water was a little dissatisfying compared to the aroma of cooking burgers and s'mores. To make up for it we stopped at a tiny family operated burger joint in one of the tiny towns we passed to get back home.