Little Luckiamute
River
I-5
South to OR-22W to OR-223 to Falls City Road. Follow it for
four miles until it turns into North Main Street and then
Black Rock Road. Follow it 0.4 miles to a fork, then left
onto the gravel road. Good luck. You'll need it.
Munson Creek
Falls County Park
Take
Highway 26W to OR-6 to Highway 101. Go six miles south of
Tillamook on Highway 101. Turn east on Munson Creek Road,
go on two miles. For more information, call (800) 551-6949.
Silver Falls
State Park
I-5
South to Highway 22E to OR-214, 26 miles east of Salem.
Open 8 am-5 pm every day. Call (503) 873-8681, ext. 31,
for more information.
Don't be fooled by the false sense of security that all
this "nice weather" has instilled in Oregon's lulled populace.
It is coming. Hurtling down the storm tracks of
the tropical Pacific's winter jet streams, it is
the Pineapple Express, a dynamo of wind-driven rain and
flood-swollen rivers.
But neither should you be afraid. With an umbrella and
a Thermos of hot soup, you can turn even the dreariest rainy-day
hike into a cozy nature romp. And then there's the delicious
secret hidden from hydrophobic flatlanders: Some of summer's
most mediocre hikes teem with a fresh sense of danger in
the winter.
Those seeking post-Hallows Eve thrills should attempt to
find the little-known Little Luckiamute River Trail.
Take a trip to the spooky, Salem's Lot-esque town
of Falls City and ask a grizzled local to point you to Black
Rock Road. Then claw your way down a three-mile gravel road
to the trailhead, park your car, and cross a footbridge
into your own drizzly BW2 adventure (mossy creepout
factor included). After a good rain, Little Luckiamute‚
so sun-speckled in summer‚ will be a raging torrent
from hell. The 8-mile roundtrip hike is tough, but it will
take you past gorgeous Slide Falls and into a forested gorge
of ladyferns, silk tassel, more waterfalls and, finally,
a primitive campsite.
That is, if you're brave of heart enough to pass through
Haunted Clearcut, whose stately trees have long since been
turned into shopping bags. Some say that when the rain lets
up, you can almost hear the whispers of the stumps: "Plastic...for
the love of God, choose plastic...."
If that's too scary, perhaps Munson Creek Falls County
Park, eight miles south of Tillamook Cheese Factory,
is more your style. There's nothing like meandering down
a forest trail, slab of cheddar in hand, gnawing away contentedly
while the rain rustles around you like so many hungry mice.
The spectacular cataract at the end of this newly refurbished
trail is the biggest in the Coast Range and the second-biggest
in the state, after that roadside tourist trap that is Mult-snoring
Falls. Let's just say this thing is taller than the Fox
Tower‚ a thundering, triple-horsetailed strand.
But, of course, one rain-glutted waterfall isn't enough
for you. You need more. So I give you not one, not two,
but 10 waterfalls for your greedy pleasure. Yes,
I speak of Silver Falls State Park. There's a good
chance you've already been to this 7-mile loop trail during
the summer. Surely you were dazzled by the beautiful variety
of trickling waters here; five waterfalls are over 100 feet,
and three feature paths that snake behind them. But the
winter rains turn the falls into roaring monsters, and cold
winds throw dazzling ice-lace tapestries all along their
fringes.
Remember, my fellow children of nature, you don't have
to curse the coming gloom and rain squalls. Instead, like
the rivers, streams and waterfalls that surround you, get
ready to rumble.
|
