Oregon
Having lived and grown up in Upstate New York, we see Oregon as a distant place.
Sure, we learned about the state in grade school. Lewis and Clark trekked from Missouri, across Kansas and Nebraska, and then followed the Missouri River to Montana. There they crossed Idaho and followed the Snake River to the Columbia River. From there they just rode the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.
Lewis and Clark
That trip was the start of the Oregon Trail. (Actually, only part of the Lewis and Clark Trail was used in the Oregon Trail, but that’s another story). What I found interesting was that the westward expansion to Oregon was driven, in part, by the declaration of the Monroe Doctrine and the concept of Manifest Destiny.
You’ve got to admit that, while you may not have heard those terms in many years, you can still remember learning (and possibly forgetting) about them in school. Well, don’t worry. This won’t be a rehashing of 5th Grade.
Exploring Oregon
We found ourselves in Oregon visiting Julie’s college friend Deb, and her husband Steve. While it is true that they live in far-off Oregon, they’re actually pretty normal, and nice folks. After our personal trek across Montana, we followed the Lewis and Clark trail along the Columbia River to their home, just outside Portland. There we relaxed for a few days before heading to the Oregon coast.
The first thing you need to get used to on the Oregon coast is the weather. While it was close to 90° in Portland, along the coast, it was a cool 65°. We spent three days in Lincoln City, and it was sunny, and cool every day. The mornings had bands of low-slung clouds blowing in off the ocean and keeping things cool.
Just inland, there are hills that rapidly rise from the coast. As those clouds get pushed up the slopes, they magically disappear among the fir and spruce. Yesterday morning, we followed the clouds up those hills to a lovely trail – Drift Creek Falls. The trailhead is located about 10 miles down Forest Service Road 17. That’s an apt description for winding through several backroads to get to an unmarked road that seems to lead to nowhere.
The trailhead has parking for about a dozen vehicles. A few miles before the trailhead, I pulled into a turnout and let an impatient driver pass. Steve commented, “He’ll probably get the last parking spot.’ And Steve was right!
We pulled in and there was the car that passed us. No open spots remained. Fortunately, within a minute someone left, heading back to civilization.
The trail itself was a nice experience. Obviously, there is a waterfall, but there’s also a suspension bridge and just the experience of hiking through the Coast Range forest. The elevation change is over 500′, with the first half going generally downhill towards the falls. Then you have to hike mostly uphill back up to the trailhead. The well-maintained trail makes the climb fairly easy.
Quiet Wonder
Hiking through the quiet forest of spruce and fir trees is wonderful. Moss hangs from many of the branches and the scent is calming. The sky was mostly clear, but the depth of the forest lets in little sunlight. The height the trees reach is incredible. I can’t even begin to guess, but they looked to be over 100′ tall.
The suspension bridge is right at the falls. Not like the Golden Gate, but not like Indiana Jones either. It only swayed when some knucklehead kids were screwing around as I was crossing… (Kids!) We walked over the bridge and headed out pretty quickly. There were several large groups without masks scrambling around at the viewing area for the falls. We headed back about ½ mile, stopped at a bench, and ate lunch from our day-packs.
On the off chance that you ever make it to distant Oregon and the Oregon Coast, try and fit some time into your schedule to hike to Drift Creek Falls. At 3.2 miles, this is a relatively easy trek that we think everyone would enjoy.
We left the trailhead in the early afternoon. The sky was partly cloudy and the temperature was about 75°. As we headed down the Forest Service road towards the coast we watched the temperature drop until it settled at 65°. All in all, it was a real nice experience.
It was the middle of September when we headed south out of Oregon for Redwood National Park. We diverted from Lake Tahoe because of the wildfires threatening that resort community. Looking for someplace else to explore, we quickly focused on the Redwood forests of Northerm California.
Redwood National and State Parks
