The pictures don't do it justice.

Well, we went on my new favorite hike on Monday. I'm pretty sure my favorite hike will change frequently, especially this time of year. I guess it's a good problem to have... too many hikes that you love! :)

We explored Silver Falls State Park (aka Trail of Ten Falls) with a new friend named Jerrod. This will definitely be on our list of places to take visitors! The park is usually busy, but since we went on Monday, and a fairly chilly afternoon, we basically had it all to ourselves. Wonderful!

Hike highlights: good company, we saw a crane, waterfalls, and mushrooms! This land is plentiful of thousands of mushrooms, big and small.



I loved how the yellow leaves framed each waterfall. Let's just say the photo opps were very plentiful as well.



Friends, meet our new friend Jerrod. He also attends Pacific University with Heath and is studying Counseling Psychology. He kindly invited us to go on this hike with him and briefly showed us around his hometown, Salem. He even treated us to dinner at a roadhouse... I had bbq! Thanks Jerrod. I look forward to more hikes and good meals!



You could walk under/behind most of the waterfalls on this hike.



Christmas card spoiler below... if you want to be surprised, stop reading now! Another nice thing about hiking with a friend is getting wonderful pictures like this...



What a great hike. Let's go back tomorrow. Sound good, Heath?





For the next ten days, the high is only 60 degrees. Hello Portland weather. I think I'm handling this change of weather better than my summer loving husband. :)

Hope you enjoy the rest of week!