A Beautiful Day's Journey

Lucky me -- I ran into a dear friend at the Farmer's Market yesterday morning and he suggested that we travel up into the Cascades so I could say goodbye to them. I, naturally, was thrilled and quickly agreed, with the request that if possible he show me the Metolius River he'd told me about so often. Thankfully, he agreed. Off we went.

Our first stop was this magnificent waterfall on the upper MacKenzie River -- Sahalie Falls. I've seen it numerous times, and yet memory is never adequate to tell me just how incredibly beautiful it is. I have to be there, see it live and in person, in order to remember. Yes, that is a patch of snow on the right and the path down to the falls was icy and slippery but this sight was well worth the effort. As always, sound would add a great deal to this. I actually used my camera's video option and took a short video of this and maybe I'll try and figure out how to post it here.

There are several other equally beautiful falls and pools nearby, but the path was snowed over and we really didn't have time, so off we went towards the little town of Sisters, where we had a yummy lunch, browsed an equally yummy bookstore, then backtracked a couple of miles to the turnoff to the Metolius. This river is somewhat fabled in Oregon -- it springs full-blown at the base of a rocky mountain called Black Butte, then it travels about 15 miles, enters Lake Billy Chinook, which eventually flows into the Deschutes River and on into the Columbia.

As you can see, the weather wasn't overly cooperative for photography. Our first stop was the headwaters of the Metolius and yes, just to my left was the base of Black Butte and the source of the river. This is how it springs forth from that mysterious source -- full and flowing and equally quiet and serene and peaceful. In the distance a big, pointy snow-capped mountain poked its head out of the clouds for a few moments, but you really can't distinguish the mountain from the clouds here.





We drove on downriver and found this quiet, peaceful and totally beautiful section where we simply sat and absorbed all that peace and serenity for awhile before moving on. That may be Black Butte in the background, but I wouldn't swear to that. The only sounds here were the gentle gurgling of the water, birdsong and sometimes, wind whistling through the trees.

All in all, I could not have asked for a better day and the good news is that even though this was goodbye, it wasn't a permanent goodbye. It'll no longer be a 1-day excursion for me, but it'll still be there and once more I am SO grateful that I decided against Georgia and will remain in Oregon. So -- thank you, my friend, for this splendid, splendid gift.

Here's the video of Sahalie Falls. When I was recording it I forgot that the camera also recorded sound, so you'll hear my voice, briefly. It was also my first effort with videography so in that I leave much to be desired. I promise to do better in the future. Enjoy.