This Adventure Called Retirement

We originally planned to leave Salem early Tuesday morning to begin our trip back to North Carolina. However, we altered our plans when AJ and Soyer asked us to join them on a hike at Silver Falls State Park about 30 minutes east of Salem. Silver Falls is famous for the number of astonishing falls in the park. One trail is named 10 Falls trail which is a 7.5 mile loop trail that goes around 10 waterfalls on Silver Creek North and South Fork. We departed Salem and Met AJ and Soyer just after lunch to begin our hike. The change was definitely worth it! Silver Falls State Park is a hidden gem in Oregon and a must see for any waterfall lover. THis trail actually goes behind four of the falls, providing the unique opportunity to see the backside of water!

The trail is well maintained and easy to traverse though there are several areas with stone steps and steep inclines. The final 2 miles of trail weaved through what could have been a prehistoric forest with giant trees (including the giant Sequoia trees),moss covered tree limbs, fern covered ground, and beautiful flora and fauna. This walk took four hours but the time seemed to fly with the beauty around every corner.

After this hike we said goodbye to AJ and Soyer and continued East for our return trip to North Carolina. Since we were getting a much later start on our drive, we drove five hours to La Grande OR. Almost immediately we had a clear view of Mount Hood which is East of Portland. The weather was perfect to see this majestic giant rising above the Cascade Range.

Most of this trip was through the Columbia River Gorge which has amazing views on the drive. The Columbia River is spectacular! As much as we wanted to capture it in pictures it was just impossible to capture the beauty and grandeur in a single shot or even a collection of shots. The eye can capture in a quick scan more than a thousand pictures could convey.

After several hours in the Columbia Gorge we entered the flat, fertile terrain of central Oregon filled with fields, orchards and vineyards. In the distance, the snow-capped mountains could be seen. La Grande is situated in the mountains of Eastern Oregon but unfortunately darkness had descended before we reached the beautiful Deadman Pass which we had to traverse to get to La Grande. This pass has the highest slope rise in elevation of any pass in the US and the lights of Pendleton OR at the start of the pass quickly dropped below us as we made the switchback climb up the pass. We both agreed we need to return and make this drive in daytime to see the view.