Highway 138, which runs along the North Umpqua River, is known for easy access to many beautiful waterfalls. Most of these waterfalls are along creeks that drain into the river. This Memorial Day we made a day trip along Highway 138, stopping at all the waterfalls. Some are visible from the road and some are a short hike away. We did this same drive 15 years ago, but Helen was too young to remember and Gibson wasn't born yet. Our first stop was Clearwater Falls along Clearwater Creek. The creek bubbles up from springs about a mile upstream from the waterfalls.
Next up was Horsetail Falls.
Here's a better view of the falls.
Then Watson Creek Falls. This is the 3rd tallest waterfall in Oregon at 272 feet.
Here's a closer look from the end of the trail.
Next we hiked to Toketee Falls.
Toketee is a Chinook word which means "pretty" or "graceful" and definitely describes this waterfall.
Then we stopped at Steamboat Falls. This looks like a great watering hole. If we knew then what was ahead, we would have stopped here to play in the water. But we didn't know, so we hurried on.
This was what we found at the trailhead to Fall Creek Falls, which was closed.
The area was completely burned out by last summer's Archie Creek fire.
The trail to Susan Creek Falls was also closed. It will take about 2 years to clean up and rebuild these areas. We had an 8th waterfall on our list, Deadline Falls, which we couldn't find. We're unclear if Deadline Falls was burned out or if we just missed the turnout. We were disappointed to skip these waterfalls, but seeing 5 awesome waterfalls in one day was a treat.
We stopped for ice cream in Roseburg before driving home.
Meanwhile, Abe continued his adventures in Utah. This is a photo of Abe, Malakai, Jake, Camden, Spencer and Ashton playing an early morning round of golf.
Ashton's sister, Eliza, gave the boys a tour of BYU. All 6 plan on attending BYU when they return from their missions.
They saw a Lamborghini in PF Chang's parking lot.
The hiked to the Y above Provo and watched the sun set over Utah Lake.
They went shopping for missionary clothes. Modern Missionary gave them lots of merchandise just for showing their mission calls.
Camden, Malakai and Ashton tried on some of their new clothes for Ashton's grandparents.
Gary made the boys pancakes. The "21" is to celebrate graduation.
On Thursday morning, the boys headed south. From the left are Gary, Annette, Ashton, Abe, Malakai, Jake, Spencer and Camden.
Their next stop was St. George to stay with Jake's grandparents, Bob and Lynn. Bob took the boys rapelling in Yankee Doodle Canyon in Washington, Utah.
This is a photo of Jake helping Abe down.
They spent Friday in Zion's National Park.
Then they drove home Saturday morning. Ashton's parents let them borrow their van for the trip.
One of their coworkers gave them a Chick-fil-A cow to ride along with them. We're glad all the boys got to take this trip together and we're happy to have them home, safe and sound, just in time to begin the graduation celebrations!
After church we took the quilt we made as a graduation gift for Abigail over to her house. This has been a fun surprise to work on together. We all think Abigail is amazing!
Tonight we attended seminary graduation, marking another milestone.
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