Ecola State Park, Crescent Beach, Sea Lion Rocks

After hiking at Saddle Mountain, we drove just a bit further west over to Ecola State Park and Cresent Beach. As soon as we arrived, the sun was out for only about 20 seconds - enough to snap the first two pictures below.

We had brought a picnic for lunch and were sitting down to build our sandwiches when the fog started to come in and completely engulfed the view we were just enjoying. It was so cold so suddenly that we ran over to a covered pavilion to finish our lunch. After that, we had to head straight back to the car to layer up before we could explore the beach and trails. While I do recommend going to the coast, it has to be fully understood that there are no guarantees of sunlight or views - you have to be lucky to see the sun at the coast. But, the beach was still fun to explore once we had our fleece jackets and hats.

Saddle Mountain

Heather and I decided to get out of town and go camping and hiking at Saddle Mountain, on the way to the coast. We left Sunday afternoon and headed west. We camped Sunday night and awoke early to hike Saddle Mountain. The trail and views were beautiful - it was a continuous uphill trail to the top of Saddle Mountain, and crews were doing great work to protect the trail and mountainside from erosion. The view from the top was great, as were the wind gusts. It was so windy that your eyes became blurry after awhile. It was a great hike. Pictures below.

The Swifts at Chapman School

So tonight Heather and I joined our friends Julia and Jason and headed to the Chapman School in NW Portland. Basically speaking, each night for maybe a couple of weeks, thousands of migratory birds (Swifts) join up, circle the old chimney, and swoop down the chimney to get a good night's rest, protected from their prey. It's quite a site, and the city is very proud. Hundreds of people show up just before sunset and bring wine and a picnic and watch the magic. They are even making a documentary movie about the event - Check out this quick trailer from the movie to see the footage of the birds (I didn't get too many good pictures):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vojNdQf53bQ&feature=related

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeFBBzXs7C0&feature=related

Silver Falls

Heather and I went for a hike at Silver Falls State Park south of Portland, near Salem. The hike had a total of 9 waterfalls - but after you see a few, quite honestly they all start looking the same. But it was a nice hike and we enjoyed getting out of the city for a day. It was a cold first day of fall! Some pictures of the best waterfalls are below: