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Monday, June 30, 2008

Silver Falls State Park


We spent this last weekend camping out at Silver Falls state park. Highly recommend it!

It was the first really hot weather that we have had here in Oregon since May, topping out around 100F. Being out in the forest with cold creeks to swim in and shady trails to hike and run was perfect. Not to mention access to a Cafe that sells cold Coke and ice cream!

We lucked out getting what I think is the best spot in the campground: #72. It is out at the end of the loop, backs onto the creek, no neighbor on one side and is right at the start of the bike trail which leads to the rest of the trail system. This will be the site we always try to reserve when we go to Silver Falls.

We arrived Friday night around 7:30 after a Rational Team Concert 1.0 release party at Summer Lake park. We setup the Quicksilver trailer, started a fire (making Cole very happy) and pretty much just hung out.

Saturday morning I hit the trails at around 8:15 to log some miles. It was hot and humid and I think I was not drinking enough. And I got lost. Lets just say the Perimeter trail is not well marked. Still beautiful running with varying terrain and wild flowers. The Canyon trail and its 10 waterfalls are inspiring and the trail was never busy in the morning.

In the heat of the day on Saturday we did the swimming at the South Falls area. Cole and Leah really liked building rock dams in the current of Silver creek and the water was nice and refreshing on the hot day. The swimming area is rather "primitive" with pavement up to the water and grass for the rest. Lots of rocks with cloudy water == stubbed toes (OUCH)!

In the early evening we did a family hike at the North falls. Several of the falls have trails that take you behind the waterfall. The kids really liked these ones (as do I :-) )

Sunday morning I went out again this time just doing the Canyon trail and the Rim trail. Again almost no one on the trails and a great way to spend the first hour of my morning.

We had a lazy breakfast and then prepared for another hike. We hiked from the South falls to the Lower South falls (about a 2 mile round trip). Cole and Leah easily handled the distance and with the rumbling thunder showers that kept passing through (with little rain) it was a nice temperature.

Great scenery, great campsite and lots of good laughs.

5 comments:

Patzke's said...

Looks like you guys had a great time there. Nice that you could cool off in the heat.

Nick Edgar said...

Wow, looks absolutely beautiful. I've been meaning to ask you how you like your camper, now that you've had it for a year or so. Eileen and I are considering getting one.

Darin Swanson said...

We have been very happy with our camper. The only weak spot is the fold down table which popped a rivet from normal usage. Fixed no charge by the dealer. The trailer is light (1500 lbs) and pulls easily behind the Honda CRV. We also really like the queen size beds and internal space for those rainy days. Slowly accumulating all the right toys such as the perfect heater etc.

Nick Edgar said...

Actually, on their specs page: http://www.livinlite.com/8.0-specs.php, they list 1500 lbs as the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, with the actual ('dry') weight being only 865 lbs. One of the issues for us is where to store the thing when not in use, so weight is a real concern (e.g. the path to our back yard slopes up). Might be able to winch it at that weight.

Darin Swanson said...

You are correct. We have the 10.0 which has the same GVW but a higher dry weight from the additional size. In my books this was really worth it.

And we have found that once we had the trailer it has never gone back to its dry weight...something is always stored in there :-)