We run around in the mountains a lot and one way we try to pay back our privilege is with a little volunteerism in the name of SCIENCE! Since we were going to be located on the Oregon coast for a week and there were a couple of Wild and Scenic Rivers not too far away, we decided to sneak away for a quick trip to collect data.
Mrs. Moosefish's sister is an actual scientist so she made the foolish decision to accompany us. Awesome. The more the merrier.
Neither of the rivers we were targeting were particularly difficult to get to. Although one required driving on a dirt road, both were very, very short walks from the car to the sampling sites. Check and check. We packed away our equipment and started the drive back to the beach.
BUT WAIT! A trailhead sign for Niagara Falls? Should we? DUH. Up and down and five miles and 30 minutes later we were at the trailhead for an easy one mile hike to see a couple of waterfalls. Except, uh oh. The trail starts downhill.
I've (very recently) lamented about trails that start going downhill from the trailhead. Not my favorite. Oh well. Too late to turn back now.
We dropped about 500 feet over a mile. It was warm, but not terrible. The waterfalls were gorgeous and the salmonberries were close to ripe. It looked like it would be possible to sneak behind the water for one of the falls so I looked around to see who would be foolish enough to do it for the cameras. The others were looking at me.
It was actually very refreshing. A perfect hobo shower for a mountain hobo. Soaking wet, the climb out of the valley was nice and easy. At the car, I changed into my comfy cozies (TM) for the drive home. If my sister-in-law hadn't already known I was nuts, she was assured of it now.
