I had a friend from Bhavana visiting in town for a couple of days. We spent the first day in Eugene, seeing the sights, walking in nature and downtown. She lives in Florida and was right in the path of Irma. No harm to her house, or her, though. Still, a harrowing experience. She's never been to Oregon before, so I wanted to give her a good tour of this beautiful place.
Yesterday, we drove into the mountains to walk the waterfalls trail on the McKenzie River. I did this once, probably 1997 or so, by myself when I stumbled across this place accidentally, and probably again with a local hiking group 10 years or so ago. I'm not really sure. But, I was younger and more nimble in those days.
The trail is only about 2.5 miles, but they are not easy-walking miles. From the parking lot one descends a very short distance to the beauty above -- Sahalie Falls. This is an OLD photo -- no snow yesterday. But it was drizzly and my camera was in my pack, so I didn't get one of this view. From here, the trail descends downhill via steep steps that are mostly wooden railroad ties, with no hand railings. I really could have used a hiking stick for extra stability, but no longer have one. The wood was wet, too. I was wearing my hiking boots, and while the Vibram sole is great for most surfaces, it's pretty slippery on wet wood. So -- it was slow going. Plus the view of the river and various rapids and cascades and falls was so great we stopped often just to take it in and take photos.
One of many light drops/cascades/rapids along the downhill walk.
The water was crystal clear, and I am always fascinated by deep pools with that astonishing color.
The day was damp and drizzly much of the time, but still beautiful. We've had days of rain, so were grateful to have this much of a break so we could walk in comfort.
This is Koosah falls, the second large one on the trail. Memory tells me this one is 90 feet, while Sahalie is a tiny bit bigger at 100 feet. Very beautiful, regardless of size.
Naturally, what trail goes down must go back up. At the bottom there is a bridge then we picked up the McKenzie River Trail up the other side. Not so many viewing spots over here, and the trail is as steep going up as it was going down, but no steps. I wasn't sorry to see them go.
This is the top of one of the falls, but I honestly don't remember which one. Since it's towards the end, I'm guessing it's Sahalie.
It was hard to get a really clear view of the falls, so I had to settle for the downhill view and lots of that fabulous blue-green water.
Gotta say, I was really happy to see this bridge! My old body handled the whole thing much better than I expected, especially the uphill portion. I trundled right on up it, though by this point I was getting a bit tired and ready for some food and water and a soft car seat!
Upstream view from the bridge. From here, we still had a good walk back to the car, but it was mostly level and a good trail.
All in all, it was about a 3-hour hike, which is a lot for such a short distance. But it was difficult on the downhill side in particular, and when you factor in stopping often for photos, time adds up. I'm so very glad we went, though. I doubt that I'll ever see this trail again in this lifetime, and while the body feels beat up, battered and bruised and really tired, that's all temporary and in the end the body will be stronger. Not bad for an old lady, really. Especially an old lady who hasn't walked a hill to speak of in about a year and a half.
OMG! beautiful!
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