Oregon Part 2: Silver Falls State Park
Read Part 1: Operation Byway & Portland first
Oregon Scenic Byways and Tours Route Map Catalogue
One of the great things about Oregon Tourism is that it has a lot of resources, one of which is a catalogue with 26 scenic drives. I’d seen this catalogue before and was looking forward to driving some but there were so many possibilities that I didn’t know where to begin.
As it was cold in Portland we figured that it inland might be warmer on the other side of the Cascade mountains. I thought it would be nice to see the Cascades in the winter as well so we headed South East from Portland with the intention of driving Scenic route # 5 and 6 to Bend. Unsurprisingly we found out at a ranger station in Estacade that those “Seasonal Passes” are actually closed in winter. Damn!
So instead we started reviewing other options and decided to head for #17, Silver Falls State Park and then go down South to Cottage Groves and The Umpqua Valley before returning via the coast. We’d driven the coast last year but we didn’t stop very much so this would be an ideal time to actually visit many of the beaches we missed last time.
This probably turned out for the best because in hindsight if Alberta’s cold then East of the cascades is probably cold too. As well, the coast was actually warmer than inland Portland and Eugene. I thought it would be colder on the coast because it was windy inland but when we arrived on the coast there was barely any wind.
Anyways, leaving Estacada we took the longer, less traveled route — an option we chose many times on this trip. Rather than the boring I-5 highway, we used the car’s satellite navigation to find us small country roads that didn’t have dead ends. Along the way to the Silver Falls Tour Route I saw this awesome field and it had to pull over for a photo.
Not long after, we got to the park and stopped in the parking lot for the North Falls. There are several falls in the park, the two predominant being the North and South. I was somewhat surprised to find 3 or 4 other cars in the lot but I suppose it’s not too far out of town for locals to come visit. It was, however, quite cold in the shade and none of had dressed properly.
Funny enough, this is the kind of adventure I had in mind for our trip: outdoor parks and cold climate photography. This isn’t what Yuki and Dad had in mind and all 3 of us didn’t have any of the proper clothing or footwear.
That didn’t stop us from going slowly as we passed under a thousand icicles on our way into the canyon.
The North falls was really cool to see not only because there was a snowy wintery scene at the bottom but because you can walk under the falls in a sort of cavern.
The cavern is the result of a layer of sandstone being eroded between layers of basalt.
There were a few other photographers with Pro cameras, tripods and backpacks filled with camera gear. I wondered what they thought of me with my small DSLR and mini tripod but we never got in each other’s way and we soon all got busy taking photos.
Once we were good and cold, we hurried back to the car to warm up and then drove to the South Falls. This falls was equally impressive in it’s own way, though I wish both had more snow on the ground and trees. That’s fine though, because I still feel accomplished with my long exposure photograph. People can also walk behind the South Falls but we were too cold and hungry so we just took photos from afar.
I particularly enjoyed this park for it’s winter time scenery. The frost created a great atmosphere and really made us feel like we were in the heart of winter. I’d like to return sometime when it’s truly snowed in. It does strike me though, as a successful trip that we made it out into a park in winter for winter pictures.
+1 for us :)
Read Part 3: Covered Bridges
