Trail of Ten Falls
The main trail in Silver Falls State Park is the Trail of Ten Falls. It starts at South Falls and passes 10 waterfalls on the way to Upper North Falls. It's a 8.5-mile hike through the canyon of Silver Creek. We decided on a trail of five waterfalls instead. We entered the canyon at Winter Falls and then hiked down the canyon to Middle North Falls, Drake Falls, Lower North Falls, and finally to Double Falls.
Middle North Falls was our favorite. A side trail took us behind the waterfall and over to a ledge where we could shoot the 106-foot tall waterfall with the sun behind us. Today was another bright sunny day, so the light on the falls was harsh from any straight-on angle. We eventually found an angle that worked better, but this is a waterfall that I'd like to photograph again in the right conditions. It was impressive!
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| Winter Falls | Middle North Falls | Middle North Falls |
We passed Drake Falls and Lower North Falls before reaching Double Falls. This was another impressive falls at 178 feet tall. It actually is a two-tiered waterfall, but you can only see the top section from viewpoints farther away from the base of the falls. We scrambled across the stream to the edge of the plunge pool to get more of an edge-on view of Double Falls. But then, we were in the open sun, and it was nearly 90 degrees. Partway down the falls, the water hit a group of protruding rocks to create a gorgeous mini-waterfall within the waterfall. That was the area I wanted, but I never seemed to capture the beauty of the shot.
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| Double Falls | Double Falls |
We ate lunch at Double Falls and after 4 hours in the canyon, we started our trek back up to the Explorer. It was very hot on the first half of the trail, but after we crossed the bridge near Middle North Falls, the trail was mostly shaded by the towering firs and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. It was much more comfortable hiking, but it was still all uphill. By the time we reached the Explorer, we were beat and definitely ready for air conditioning.
When we got back to camp, we got cleaned up and I crashed. I wanted to hike back to the bottom of South Falls tonight to try get that area in more even light.
I left camp about 6:30 and started down the trail about 7:00. The sun was just setting behind the trees on the ridge and the lighting around South Falls was looking good. When I got to the bottom of the canyon, I stopped for a quick shot of the falls between some trees. That turned out to be one of the best shots of the night.
I continued around the loop as I crossed the bridge below the plunge pool and then started back up the trail that goes behind the falls. Since we had hiked this trail yesterday, I knew the shots I wanted. The sun was setting fast, so I had to hustle to get all the shots I wanted before it got too dark. I closed up my tripod several times thinking that I was done...but then I'd see one more shot and set everything up again.
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It was still very hot and humid in the canyon, but it was nearly perfect by the time I got back to the top
and walked back to South Falls Lodge. I was hoping to get the NBA Finals score from last night, but they must have turned
off their router overnight. Mean! Mean! Mean! The season may be over, and I won't even know it.
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