9/25/13 Chatterbox
Betty Kaiser
Betty Kaiser
Ah, youth! I remember it well! The world was my oyster and travel was my dream. Although my
husband and I married young and lived frugally for many years, we always took
our three kids on yearly camping vacations. Thanks to cabins and tent trailers, we enjoyed state parks in
most of the Western United States.
Once our children grew up and flew the coop, we spread our
wings and did some traveling abroad. At some point in the 1980s I posted a “Top
Ten Places in the world to visit” list on my office bulletin board. The goal of
course, was to visit every place on the list and if possible, every continent.
We didn’t quite make them all but we’ve been almost every place overseas that
was important to us.
Now that we are in our 70s, we can look back and enjoy
exotic memories of places like Petra in Jordan and the famous Egyptian
Pyramids. But our more active youthful vacation adventures were all here in the
states. They included rafting magnificent glaciers in Alaska; and hiking trails
from Death Valley and King’s Canyon in California to snowmobiling the Grand
Mesa in Colorado.
Aging has put somewhat of a crimp in our travel ventures.
Flying over the pond no longer holds much allure for us. Bad backs and knees
mean less hiking and more overlooks. We now focus on places in the Pacific
Northwest and across the United States that we haven’t been. But truthfully, we
are always happy to come home to Oregon.
This year we didn’t even want to fly across the country. So
we downsized our travels again. We’ve always loved waterfalls so we got in the
RV to check out some of the falls in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest area:
The Upper, Middle and Lower Lewis River Falls. We were staying nearby on the
Columbia River and decided to make the short trek from Woodland into the Lower
Lewis River Falls area.
Sandra and Terry, our longtime friends and RV buddies joined
us. These fun-loving travel companions just happen to have a tow-car and were
the driver and co-pilot on a typical Kaiser Adventure journey into the
wilderness. I am the navigator on these trips and Chuck is the resident
comedian. The four of us make quite a team.
As navigator, I had prepared driving instructions via the
Northwest Waterfall Survey website. It seemed to be a short hour-long drive, so
we violated travel rule #1: always pack a lunch. A nearby Chamber of Commerce
assured us that lunch would be easily obtained in nearby Cougar. The access
description was simple:
“Easy Access: Take Interstate 5 to the town of Woodland, and
exit onto Highway 503 heading east. Follow 503 east to Cougar, and continue to
Forrest Service Road # 90, just past the Pine Creek Ranger Station. Follow FR
90 for 14 miles to the Lower Falls Recreation Area. Parking for the falls is to
the right of the entrance. There are numerous trails along the canyon leading
to several good views of the falls in less than 500 feet.”
After breakfast at Rosie’s Coffee Shop, we hit the road
about 10 a.m. or so. The drive to Cougar was beautiful—densely wooded areas growing
alongside deep blue reservoirs. About an hour into the drive, my husband, who
is not known for his patience, began to say, ”Are we there yet?” “No, Chuck,
we’re not there, yet,” we would all chorus in reply.
About that time we started driving over a series of bridges.
Our co-pilot isn’t fond of heights and was getting a bit woozy. Ever
solicitous, Chuck would say, “Close your eyes,” as we approached bridge after
bridge and he closed his eyes! There were no waterfall signs in sight.
As the miles clicked off, the roads narrowed, traffic was
sparse and tension mounted. We had passed Cougar, our last chance for lunch. We
had water and protein bars but that was it. That’s when Chuck looked at me and
busted us up by dramatically groaning, “We’re all going to die!” Well, we all
thought we were going to die laughing!
Still, there was nothing to indicate that waterfalls were
anywhere in the vicinity. I was responsible for our directions and my
reputation was on the line. Our driver pulled over and asked to see the map.
Yep. He confirmed that we seemed to be going in the right direction.
Right then, the pavement ended and we could see a gravel
rock ‘n roll road ahead. Then someone spotted a small sign indicating that
there was a campground at the end of the road. A group of motorcyclists came
roaring up the road towards us. That was good news. People had gone down and
come back up alive.
So down into
the canyon we went, bottoming out in the valleys and repeating the now famous
saying, “We’re all going to die!”
The road was rough, steep and washed out in places but the
reward was worth it. The Lower Falls was a short walk outside the campground. A
solid wall of water crashes into the large pool in a spectacular fashion with
other falls just a few feet away. The Middle and Upper falls are accessed from
this area but according to fellow sightseers not worth the trouble.
That was good enough for us. We admired the view, climbed
down on the rocks, took pictures, made more memories, ate our protein bars,
drank our water and headed back to Rosie’s for a very, very late 3 p.m. lunch.
We were alive and well.
There is a time and a season for everything. A time for big
trips and small. So whatever your age, get out and see our beautiful country before it's too late.
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