It’s better to burn out,

Than to fade away.

My my, hey hey.

In mid-May we journeyed to Silver Falls State Park, about 44 crow-flying miles southeast of Portland. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine. The Park is truly a gem, and a geological wonder too. In any other state in the continental U.S., the 14 square-miles would surely have been designated a National Park long ago. But, it has to compete with the world-class waterfalls residing in the Columbia River Gorge.

An eight-mile loop trail with 900 feet of elevation gain begins at an interesting lodge constructed originally by the CCC in the 1930’s. The Trail passes 10 waterfalls, five of them dropping over 100 feet.  After walking a short distance we reached the top of South Falls at 177 feet. The Trail then descended down the cliffs and passed behind the Falls. Over the ages Silver Creek and its tributaries have eroded through the basalt layers, forming natural pathways behind several of the waterfalls and creating spectacular canyons of classic rainforest. In the next five miles we followed the Creek and passed eight more waterfalls. The amount of wildflowers in bloom was astounding. Wild ginger, calypso orchids and many varieties of lilies were just the beginning of over 25 varieties that I could identify off the top of my head. And, the profusion of beautiful butterflies was amazing too. They were everywhere.

What a nice place to visit in the spring. A truly wonderful Park to visit, and close to home too.

Margined White Butterfly (?)

South Falls

Corydalis (bleeding heart family)

Your humble scribe and his favorite model

Fairy Lanterns (wild lily family)

Middle North Falls

My favorite model