siddhartha saha dot net

The night in the motel was really comfortable. I was tired as hell and I slept really well. I made a glass of coffee for myself for the road and started at around 10:30am. After 10 miles or so I reached highway 101 and continued south. I crossed the awesome 4 mile long bridge in Astoria (I have posted a cell phone photo of that bridge earlier). The bridge is exactly 4 miles - my trip odometer reading went from XX08.6 to XX11.6. Anyway, after that I continued south - the drive was slow and tedious with numerous narrow stretchs and winding turns and ridiculously slow speed zones. But at times the view was rewarding. I stopped for a short walk in the Cannon Beach. I also stopped at several viewpoints and took quite a few photographs. It was pretty. I cannot write much about it, you have to see to understand the pleasure of driving when on the left side you have high cliffs and in the right side you have the ocean. But off course, it was not like this all the way and the drivin!
g can quickly get boring sometimes (Also I am driving alone - that might be one major source of boredom). I crossed the city of Tilamook on the way. It was a cute little city with large meadows and a lot of cows :). They also have a cheese factory - and I was planning to chekc that out as they have factory tours but time didn’t permit. Instetad I drove throgh the Three Capes Scenic route which was totally worth it. I also stopped at a small state park called Meader Cape. Continuing south I finally reached the Oregon Dunes at sunset. Took a couple of nice sunset photos on the dunes. As it was getting dark there was no point in driving on slow 101. I took 38 and then 138 to come to I-5 and then continues south. Had dinnet at one Applebees. Then took 199 south towards Redwoods National Park. After driving for what it seemed like forever (I crossed Steven’s Pass at night, hence missing the view)I reached Crescent City at about 1:00am. I was thining of camping in the Redwood Park, but after driving on that winding and narrow roads for that long my head was hurting and so I checked into a hotel and went to sleep while watching a movie called ‘Don’t Die Alone’

This is a snap of the four mile long bridge in Astoria where the Columbia river merges into Pacific Ocean.

This is a photo of the Cannon Beach and the 232 feet tall single rock formation.

Well, I finally made it. I am sitting at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls. It is absolutely gorgeous. The first time I saw the picture of this falls, I knew I have to come here. But still, I had to wait till the my last day in Seattle (or maybe second last, if I leave on Monday) to come here. But I am really glad I did not miss it. Its quite late - almost the end of the day. I don’t see anybody here - and it is going to be dark soon. I hope I don’t get eaten by a bear. It is kind of cold and damp up here, and the sky is cloudy - but these things make this experience even more worthwhile.
Since I plan to do this kind of travel blogging from wherever I go, I bought this really handy, small and cute bluetooth keyboard so that I don’t have to endure the pain of typing in the cell phone keypad. It is really neat to see that the letters that I type in that keyboard appear in my cell phone window. Whether you like it or not, I have to put some amout of geekiness in everything, and this is no exception. This kind of cool little things make amateur mobile bloggin quite fun.
Anyway, back to where I was. The driving: Being extremely confident in my skills in maps and direction, I did not even look up the directions to this place in the net. All I had were a AAA map of Oregon and Washington and the book 100 Hikes in Alpine Lakes (which is an extremely good book by the way). As usual, I was late in starting. I got lost and drove mostly based on a compass for half an hour before I reached Highway 2. Continuing east on Highway 2, past Monroe (a really small and cute town) you have to turn right on Mount Index road, just after crossing milepost 35 and then follow the signs to Lake Serene trailhead to reach the parking lot in the trailhead. I did not have the parkign permit and I didn’t have the time to get one, so I have parked my car without permit and I am hoping that I don’t get a ticket.

The Trail: I was planning to go all the way to Lake Serene, but I don’t have time and physically it is not possible for me to go 1000 feet more elevation. My bad knee is starting to hurt agin - I will have difficulties in going down - and it is going to be dark when I get down. Anyway, the trail is damp, slippery (it rained today) and quite rocky. If you ever plannin on coming here, wear hard soled good hiking shoes - else you feet will be uncomfortable. Elevation gain around 900 feet in 1.5 miles.Sometimes it was quite steep.
I think I am getting used to these kind of hiking. It took me 40 minutes to reach the falls, and I was out of breath - but not dying. It is so quiet, calm and serene - I am feeling wonderful. There is nobody around, and I needed a photo of myself with the falls in the background. After some careful and risky placements of the camera, I finally was able to take a couple of shots :).
What more to say, it is getting dark. I better start the return journey. I have to pick up Jennifer, my landlady, from the airport at 9:30pm today.