Hikin' the Silver Falls Trail

Silver Creek

The light feels stale this time of year. Summer's memory is fading fast. Always a sad time. For me, anyway.

Brother Eric and I went hiking with our friend Mike a couple weeks ago, down at Silver Falls.

Ants or termites?

There is a colony of ants on the south side of the creek just above the South Falls. They've been there for more than 20 years. They live in huge mounds of collected fir needles and earth. In the late summer you can see their highways running through the grass in the picnic area.

Lower of the two falls that comprise "Double Falls"

This park is the result of the work of FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps, which, during the Great Depression, developed the park facilities. I've been coming here all my life. My Grandpa and Grandma Metzger took us here often to picnic. The last time my grandfather came here was when Eric and Calee and I brought him up with us. But he didn't hike down to the bottom of the falls. That was just a few years before his death, and the feat was beyond him, physically.

Old growth

There are 10 falls at different points along different branches of the trail. The trail we followed runs about eight and a half miles.

Eric, Mike, and I had a great time. We covered the trail in about 3 hours, and we were moving pretty quickly. But I still took the time to get some good photos. I'll be hanging onto these memories through the winter.

Then, next summer, I'll go get some more.