Kentucky Falls

May 31, 1997

The mission, Kentucky Falls; the people, hikers; the weather, wet. Twelve brave souls showed up at 9:00 a.m. Little did we know that this day would be totally wet (well, maybe some of us did!). After some formalities and an optimistic forecast on my part, we headed for the falls. The trip to the trailhead was pretty uneventful, except for a few rocks-and tree limbs in the road as we made our way to higher ground. At the trailhead parking area, we grabbed our gear and, after another optimistic forecast by me, were on our way down to the falls. As the dark clouds gathered overhead and cool droplets of rain pelted us, we wound down the mountain. We saw lots of slugs, salamanders, birds, flowers, a batch of bunched-up insects and the Upper Falls. The trail was in reasonably good shape, except for overgrown sections, fallen trees in the way and gouged out by nature. At the Lower Falls we were awed by the thundering, cascading Clark and Kentucky Falls. With the rain determined to dampen our spirits, we had lunch among nature’s beauty. Before heading back up, the non-members and I headed down the new continuation of the trail for about a mile or more to make this a qualifying trip. We found this trail blocked or eroded in spots but it had some pretty big redwoods and good scenery. As we made our way back up to the cars (and without my optimistic forecast!), we again enjoyed the same as on our descent. At the cars, we dried off, changed our clothes and headed off down the road. Overall the trip was a success and as we headed into Eugene, with the sun’s rays touching my face, I wondered “Who would hire this unemployed weather forecaster…!” At Kentucky Falls were Rita Johnson, Genie Currier, Denise Sevigny, Mary Millman, Will Ogren, Ed Tsui, Melissa, Owen & Stacy Foust, Jim & Melody Clarkson and trip leader Fred Foust.

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