While looking for a place to hike I decided to look at hikes I’ve done long ago and that had something special. From that list, I remembered this loop that is not necessarily strenuous but has a couple of nice waterfalls. The start of the hike is probably what keeps people off this loop as it starts on private lands traversing some cow pastures. I don’t necessarily mind that and the cows don’t seem to mind either when hikers or bikers go thru. Soon after you pass the pastures though, you enter a pocket of the Santiam State Forest. The views change quickly and dramatically from open fields to a lush green forest. With all the rain, we’ve had this year, the scenery was especially green with trees covered in moss. I took the trail to the first stop at Shellburg falls where I took the time to take some pictures. I did notice an amazing spot for pictures that would have required wet shoes which I didn’t have. I made a mental note so maybe one of these days I’ll go again and get in the water to take that shot. Until then, I’ll keep the suspense on the view. Either way, the waterfalls was spectacular falling from a rocky cirque into a small pond. After a viewpoint, the trail circles behind the waterfall which gives you a different perspective as you see the fall and were the water goes to. Ok, I’ll tell you about the picture I want to take. See those big boulders on the creek? There’s a crack in the middle and from the right angle, I think you can see the waterfall. I’m thinking of getting in there and taking the picture of the waterfall framed between the rocks. Just imagine it
The trail continues meandering thru the forest nice displays of mushrooms, ferns and moss. It was a very peaceful place. Towards the end of the trail, when it gets back on the road, you can continue on a less used trail to Stassel Falls. This waterfall is a bit hard to see as the trail gets you to the top of the waterfall. If you hang on a tree like a monkey, you can see the most of the waterfall as it plummets sideways between two rocks before landing in the upper of two tiers. It’s quite the spectacle that you can’t picture unless you are there. I took a couple of pictures of the top of the falls where you can see how it turns and goes sideways between the rocks.
After that picture and when I was about to head back, I noticed a foot path towards a tree where a black rope was tied to. The rope was laid to go all the way down to the base of the water fall. After testing it and making certain it was properly tied, I swung myself down the ravine and got to the bottom of the fall. Unfortunately, the sun was right on top of my head so I wasn’t able to take a good picture of the two lower tiers. Still, I did sit on a rock and contemplated the fall for quite a while before climbing back up and heading back home.
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