Middle North Falls

[mikej]

This is the Middle North Falls at Silver Falls State Park, Oregon. Taken last fall. I'm hoping to get down there again this fall and get some shots when the leaves have turned more.



Mike

[Paul Shields]

A beautiful shot Mike. I particularly like the haze - it makes it look almost sub-tropical (which I guess is not the case in Oregon, but I'm not familiar with that area ).

[mikej]

Thanks Paul and Jared. The misty look is due to being early morning and although not cold, on the cool side. No, we don't have very many tropical places in Oregon.

Mike

[mikej]

Here is a shot of it a couple of months later when the water level was up from snow in Cascades.




It didn't have the misty look that morning.

Mike

[ohenry]

I wish I were nearer to Silver Falls...such a wonderful photo op site. Nice job.

[mikej]

Thanks, Henry. I'll trade you one of the falls for Crater Lake. Oh shoot, I'll give you two falls for that small, tiny, itsey bitsy unimportant lake down there by you.


You do have plenty of good scenery around you that is a good jaunt from me. You have the Brookings to Coos Bay area plus the Rouge River area. I'd love to be able to spend some time down in those areas, but it's not someplace I can go to in a half a day like I can Silver Falls.

But if you do make it up this way, holler.

Mike

[ellette]

Great shots, I think they are both beautiful and it is neat how they show what the thaw can do to a waterfall. My husband and I were just talking today about how we think maybe both the boys are old enough we could go camping with them. No REAL camping where we hike in till Tiernan is potty trained (I don't like the idea of packing out a bunch of stinky diapers) but some car camping now that it isn't too hot and there won't be as many people. I told him we have to wait till my camera is here and I know how to use it and I'm hoping we can camp near one of the falls.

Sara

[mikej]

I was probably about 4 or 5 when we went on our first camping trip, somewhere around the Sandy River I think. We didn't have a tent so we were going to sleep out under the stars. I don't remember a lot about the first attempt, but I do remember that when it got dark we started getting eaten up by miskitos and had to pack up and go home. Not long after that we hit GI Joes (back when it was a one store place and sold a lot of governement surplus) and got sleeping bags and a tent and other real camping stuff. We went camping almost every weekend after that when we lived in Washington. We graduated to a real 14' travel trailer that was completely self-contained when we moved to Alaska. But when we lived in Portland was the very first.

There are camp sites around Silver Falls and there are a few up the Gorge. Everything is geared towards RV's and trailers anymore though, although most of the camping spots do reserve places for tents.

Mike

[ohenry]

True Mike. There are some great places in Southern Oregon to keep me busy. The coast isn't easy to get to from Medford, but the Rogue, Crater Lake, Diamond Lake, and Klamath Falls all have great places.

[ellette]

Our oldest is 4 1/2 and Tiernan is going to be 2 in December so we figure we'd do ok with car camping (ie., throw up a tent next to your car). By the time Tiernan is 4 1/2 I think we'll be doing the backpacking kind of camping again, I miss that. We had a tent trailer when I was little that had a big patch in the roof. We got it used. The previous owners had decided after the bear ripped the hole in the roof to get inside, that they weren't quite up to camping anymore. We went camping all over the US in that thing. One time we were camping, there was a tornado watch. The park ranger said for us to get in a ditch and lie down flat if we heard the sirens go off. Thankfully we didn't hear it but that was some of the most amazing wind and thunder and lightning I've ever been through and there were times our trailer was rocking so hard we were afraid it was going to fall over. My mom dies in 3 minutes if stung by a bee so often we'd end up eating our meals out in the middle of a lake or in the VW Bus so that she wouldn't get stung. Aaah, fond memories. We are hoping that if we start camping pretty soon here that there won't be too many people since the weather is changing and lots of people don't consider the cold and rain to be good camping weather (don't know what is wrong with them!) plus school is in so there aren't as many people camping. I remember GI Joes back when its name meant something more than just being a name. There is a military surplus store in Portland still...or there was several years back, but they are not as good as GI Joes used to be. We were actually looking at tents today. Figure since it only has to last us a few years we'll probably just go with a big cumbersome 2 room tent from Joes and then when the boys are old enough that we can do the real camping we'll look into getting a nice one that we can actually carry (not one that weighs 30 pounds just on its own). I'll have to look int Silver Falls, that would be a nice place to camp.

Sara

Originally Posted by Mike Jordan

* I was probably about 4 or 5 when we went on our first camping trip, somewhere around the Sandy River I think. We didn't have a tent so we were going to sleep out under the stars.* I don't remember a lot about the first attempt, but I do remember that when it got dark we started getting eaten up by miskitos and had to pack up and go home.* * Not long after that we hit GI Joes (back when it was a one store place and sold a lot of governement surplus) and got sleeping bags and a tent and other real camping stuff.* *We went camping almost every weekend after that when we lived in Washington. We graduated to a real 14' travel trailer that was completely self-contained when we moved to Alaska.* But when we lived in Portland was the very first.*

There are camp sites around Silver Falls and there are a few up the Gorge.* Everything is geared towards RV's and trailers anymore though, although most of the camping spots do reserve places for tents.

Mike

[mikej]

Jared, yes, that was intentonal. This spot in the trail that overlooks this falls is naturally framed. I've got some others where I have a tree trunk for the left frame, but I had to use it after the leaves had all fallen because of the limbs you see. Every time I go back to these places, I don't know how it's going to look because of growth and changes in vegitation.

Thanks for the comment, Jared.

Mike

[JoeRutsky]

Beautiful shot. I love the composition and especially like the second photo.

Joe

[mikej]

Thanks Joe. It's easy when there are so many great looking waterfalls around here. Plus I just look for the deepest tripod holes in the trail.

Mike

[mikej]

At some of these places, it's actually true.

Mike