Thundering Waters

Timber Valley in Sutherlin, where we are staying, is just twelve miles north of Roseburg, gateway to the Rogue-Umpqua National Scenic Byway, the North Umpqua Trail, and lots of waterfalls. We packed our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and headed south to Hwy 138, hoping to find some good waterfalls and some enjoyable hiking.

We found both. Twenty four "Thundering Waters" are listed in the brochure for the Umpqua National Forest and the BLM Roseburg District. We saw only five North Umpqua River waterfalls: Deadline Falls, Susan Creek Falls, Fall Creek Falls, Little Falls, and Steamboat Falls.  They were all different, from some low but powerful falls to plunges of 50 feet. Fall Creek Falls is actually two tiered, with plunges of 35 and 50 feet.

Photos can't really convey the power and thunder of the rushing waters and the ever changing spectacle. A photo freezes in time, but a waterfall has a history of eons during which the water carved itself a channel through solid rock. The falls do not stay in one place, but are dynamic, changing over geological time and changing second by second as the drops of water chaotically find their way from the heights to the base of the falls and then on to the sea, only to repeat the cycle endlessly.

Here's Lee on the trail to Deadline Falls, on the Umpqua River

Susan Creek Falls is on the creek, a tributary of the Umpqua River

Lunch by the Umpqua River at the Susan Creek trailhead. A pair of Stellar's Jays were waiting for us to leave some crumbs for them.

The trail to Fall Creek Falls passes through a narrow bedrock crevice.

The lower tier of Fall Creek Falls plunges 50 feet.

None of the hikes we took was very long. The longest round trip was only 2.2 miles. The trails wend through forests of huge evergreens and switchbacks with sheer dropoffs, and in one case through a narrow passage between massive rock formations. The most novel approach was to Steamboat Falls, which can only be seen by hiking through one or more campsites in the Steamboat Campground.

Today was a very good day. The power and beauty and majesty of nature were all around us: the calls of birds, the sound of the waters, and the scent of the forest and wildflowers filled our senses.

Some of the trails were improved to open views of the falls to people with disabilities. We saw more than one Boy Scout Eagle project. The ADA compliant picnic tables were unusual in that they had space cut out for a wheelchair in the middle of the table instead of the end, which is what we have seen before.

We saw an interesting sign with photos of various wild creatures living in the riparian forest: coyotes, raccoons, and  reticulated tail droppers. What the heck is a "reticulated tail dropper"? Ken said the picture looked like a slug, and he was right.