Backpacking - Opal Creek

When we first moved to Oregon it seemed that I sighed a blissful "I love it here" at least ten times a day. It wasn't long before Amanda was saying "Yes, Mom. We know. You love it here." if I so much as started a sentence with "I".

I don't express my appreciation for Oregon as often as I first did, but there are some places here that bring me back to that initial state of bliss. Opal Creek is one of them. Opal Creek is an incredible 35,000 acre ancient forest maintained by a private foundation concerned with protecting the forest and watershed. Before I first saw it, I thought places like that only existed in fantasies and airbrushed travel brochures. It's that awe inspiring. Gene and I spent the weekend backpacking on the trails there. It was a fun trip, but too short. (What am I going on about? Fun trips are always too short!)

I can't fathom any words that will do the place justice so I'll let the pictures do the speaking and close this little introduction with... you guessed it:

I love it here.

Here is a section of trail crowded in by the native inhabitants. Gene doesn't consider this scenery because "all you can see is a bunch of trees."

It would seem that certain people who grew up in paradise need to spend more time elsewhere so that they no longer take paradise for granted.

I'm just sayin'.... ☺

There are lots of little streams feeding into Opal Creek. We could hear this one gurgle and chirp long before we saw it. The water looks inviting but it's snow melt fed and so icy it hurts to dip so much as a toe in, even on a hot summer day.

Opal Creek was once home to an old mining town. You can see rusty old rail cars, machinery, and even mine shafts at intervals along the trails. This...um...whatever it is...was made by the Ingersoll Rand Company in New York (as evidenced by the embossed words on the side.) Gene pointed out that it must have taken quite the effort to transport so much heavy equipment all the way across the country, even if the railways stretched from shore to shore at the time. It's interesting that so much of it was left to be overgrown and lost...it must have been cost prohibitive to transport it back out of the forest. Talk about litter and waste! I'm glad that wouldn't be tolerated in today's world (it wouldn't, would it?) but it's kind of neat that these things are here.

This was home for the night (alas, it was only a one night trip this time.) We were very surprised to come across a couple of lingering patches of snow sheltering in the shade of a dropoff only ten or so feet away from here. It must have been at least 85 degrees out there that day, but perhaps it dropped below freezing again at night.

There are some really fantastic waterfalls throughout the area. I wish we had a better picture of the tree that had fallen into the path of this one. The water has carved a gaping hollow into the trunk. I'd like to go back in a few months to see if the tree has given in to the force of the water. Maybe then we can get a better picture!

This old tree trunk was massive. Three people might be able to just barely touch fingers if they tried to group hug it. (Tree hugging is good for trees and people, too! Ask Sarah. She knows. ☺) Anyway, check out the little trees growing atop the trunk! Gene wondered aloud whether they'd be doomed when the tree trunk finally rotted away. It sure seems that way.

My sister and her husband and baby are moving to Oregon this December. I can't wait for them to get here! They take awesome photos...maybe theirs will do more justice to the beauty than mine do.

Till next time.... ☺