This past Friday I managed to cross one of the more extreme items off my OBL. I hiked the Canyon Trail at Silver Falls State Park...at least I think so. Before I dive into the rest of the hiking story, there are some things you need to know about my previous hiking experience as well as why this was an item on my list.
Back story #1: I am not an avid hiker. I have hiked before, I will probably hike again, but it is by no means a hobby. I spent my childhood summers camping with my family and absolutely loving the outdoors, but that did not include a love of hiking. From time to time my fam would convince me to go on a hike, but I would spend so much time dragging my feet, complaining, or pouting silently several feet behind the crowd that eventually they developed a rotation for which two would go out hiking and which one would stay back with me at the campsite. (Sorry family).
Back story #2: I’ve been to Silver falls on several occasions, and at least three times I’ve hiked the Maple Leaf Trail. That trail is about two miles long and gives you a view of two waterfalls. Two of those three times I intended to hike the Trail of Ten Falls/Canyon Trail, but fell short and took the Maple Leaf Trail cut off, hence my desire to not only return to Silver Falls but to complete the larger loop while I’m there.
So Friday was the day. I didn’t have to work and the weather was ideal, so I trucked it the 45 minutes out to Silver Falls, paid my $5 to enter the park, and geared up for an adventure. I had read online beforehand that it was an 8.7 mile hike of moderate/difficult ranking and would take about four hours. With that in mind, I packed a backpack full of goodies: a whole sandwich, trail mix (chocolate lover’s edition), dried apricots, and my largest bottle of water. I loaded my ipod up with podcasts, new music, and made sure it was fully charged. I lathered myself with sunscreen and got ready to hike. Then I got lost on my way to the bathrooms. Good start, Kate. After finding those, I located the start to the trail and was reassured by the following sign that I was in the right place.
Once I got going, I felt great. Having seen it three times prior, I zoomed past the first fall (pausing to take a picture of the backside of water, of course), marched behind the second one, and then came to the fork in the dirt path where you can bail at the Maple Leaf Trail or continue onward to the Trail of Ten Falls. I felt so good I had no doubt I wanted to keep going. I did, however, doubt which path led to which trail. This seemed to be a recurring problem for me. Turns out I’m awful with nature maps and trail signs. Arrows are not clear to me. I really don’t think this was a Silver Falls problem, in fact I’m fairly certain it was just a Kate-trying-to-be-a-hiker problem.
After I sorted that out, I powered through, passing groups left and right. I went in with the idea that this was going to take me all day, so I was trying to keep a steady pace. I’ve been told I’m a fast walker, but I wasn’t sure if that would translate to a fast hiker. Turns out it did. I reached the North Falls (which were breathtaking, by the way. I actually gasped when I saw them and declared that view to be worth the whole hike) an hour and a half in. I pulled out my map and figured myself to be at the halfway point, but as I mentioned I’m not so skilled in reading nature maps. Fifteen minutes later I was in the home stretch of the hike. It took me two maps, about seven takes, and one wrong turn/double back to figure that out. At this point I had only allowed myself to eat a handful of trail mix and drink about a gulp of water. I was rationing like it was Everest. I didn’t even get through a full podcast on my ipod. I shrugged my shoulders and practically ran to the finish. I mostly just wanted to know if I was on the right track. And sure enough I ended up right back at the bathrooms I couldn’t find at the start of my day. I’m still not entirely sure which trail I hiked, and after looking back through my photos I think I only found 6 of the 10 falls. Regardless, I hiked more than the Maple Leaf Trail and I actually enjoyed a hike, which counts as a success in my book.
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