Due to snow at higher elevations, I returned to Fall Creek on March 7th. This is my third time hiking this trail. The first time I only covered the first 3.5 miles of the trail. The second time I started at the same point and went 8.25 miles before I had to turn around. This time, I started about 1.25 miles further upstream from where I ended on the second time out. I hiked downstream that 1.25 miles, then turned back upstream and hiked 6.8 miles to NF road 1833. Finally, I hiked back downstream to the car. My total mileage on this outing was about 13.5 miles.
According to the Willamette National Forest website this trail covers 13.7 miles. With the added trail (more about that later) it’s now somewhere over 15 miles. Also according to the website I have hiked the entire trail, but on my trail map I see about 5 more miles of trail past road 1833. Maybe I’ll go back for a fourth helping.
The day was sunny and not too cold, hovering in the 50s most of the day:
At the trailhead there was a sign talking about a washout up the trail:
It was nothing short of gorgeous out there:
One of the bridges I crossed along the way spanned the creek itself. This is one of the more substantial hiker bridges I have seen out here. It has stone piers at either end and is built to last. More importantly, it is very tall. This will help to prevent it from being washed out by fallen logs tumbling down the creek (river) in the early spring. So many bridges are destroyed in this way:
There were, of course, lots of bridges of the type we normally see in these parts:
Oh, these pictures are so lovely, and the videos of the creek are just enchanting. I love getting these posts and pictures and comments about your hiking adventures. Thank you so much for sharing them with me. It reminds me of years ago when we used to go camping in the Sierra Nevada mountains when I lived in Sacramento. The country here in Kentucky is beautiful, but it’s just a completely different kind of country than the West Coast mountains, and they are lovely to see again.