Silver Falls State Park

Despite Monday's stormy weather, Brad and I loaded up the car and headed south to explore Silver Falls State Park. The country roads were littered with debris, including whole fallen trees. We repeatedly wondered aloud if we should really be voluntarily heading outside, but we'd committed to spending the holiday in the great outdoors.

We bundled up in lots of layers and Gore-Tex and left the warmth of the car, finding a downed tree just yards into the hike toward North Falls:We walked behind the falls into a deep, dry cave:

We found the trail washed out at our preplanned turn-around spot. It was a pretty good little mudslide:
Brad snapped this great shot just before a busload of ecology-studying college kids from overseas arrived on scene. We hadn't seen anyone else on the trail the whole day - then about 50 people all converged on our quiet spot. We had a good chuckle watching them stream down the trail toward us.
When we reached a trailhead near the end of our loop, a park ranger pulled in to let us know that they were closing the park because of the storm. We're so glad we made it in and out before they shut us down. It was a beautiful day on the trail, and we can't wait to go back!