We drove into Umpqua at nightfall having not passed another car or human being for hours. After hours of driving through dark, unused roads we finally reached our destination coordinates which had been carefully picked out by myself prior to our road trip. We parked anxiously, brushed our teeth in pitch black and scrambled to get ready for bed. I struggled to drift off. The sound of crickets and deafening silence beyond that should have been comforting, yet something was telling me to be on my guard. Rain pattered softly on the roof of the van and I finally drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
Morning came and gave a fresh perspective on our surroundings. The trees, now bursting with moisture, which glistened in the morning sun. Birds chirped and all around us as early fall crept into the forest. The anxious energy of the evening passed, fresh expectation followed a wash and a quick breakfast. Rob and I had planned on being in Umpqua later that afternoon, but decided to drive inland from Oregon early. We had a slow morning and set off for our first scheduled activity for the day: hot springs. I had never been to a hot spring before, so had very little expectation as to what they would be like. We drove to a carpark which was well signposted and began our treck. A few others were also unloading their cars for a hike, assumingly to the same destination. We began our journey with an unexpected uphill hike through the trees up the side of a mountain, using well placed roots for footing. It was a short hike, however the incline made it feel twice as long. When we arrived at the springs, multiple groups of millennials from different backgrounds engaging
in various activities: a nudist photoshoot, a group drinking beers with friends, an influencer in the midst of a photoshoot and finally two hippy type guys who seemed to be in their 30s. Both had scraggly hair and beards. We laid our bags down on the rocks and began to undress for the springs. The blonde hippy struck up a conversation with us- he told us of his previous years in Chicago, what brought him to Oregon, some local "festivals" taking place within the month and gave some unwarranted medical advice. We wished him a good day and settled into a nearby spring. I don't know what I was expecting , but somehow the heat surprised me. It felt like a bath I had ran at home, one where I had underestimated when to switch the cold tap on. We adjusted to the heat and watched the layers of alpine mountains cascade into the distance, we listened to far away waterfalls and the sound of people enjoying themselves. It felt good. When we finally had enough of the heat, we got up, dried and headed back to our van. There was alot going on in the carpark. The couple's we had initially seen ha
d gone, there was a hippy couple sitting ontop of a U-Haul with what looked to be a bongo, playing standing on the roof. Rob and I sat among the sound of the bongos, ate our lunch and drove into the next activity: Toketee falls.
The Toketee falls trail was incredible. The trail started with a signpost featuring some interesting facts about the falls, some information on the hydro electric scheme that had been set up and trail info. Rob and I left our kit in the car and set off for the falls. The trail itself was beautiful- forest views, winding roots of ancient trees, the roaring of rapids next to us. After about 10 mins of walking, we came to a wooden viewing platform, where the falls opened up spectacularly. A pool of deep blue water sat at the bottom of the falls, roaring cascades all framed by green alpines and blue sky. It was beautiful. The final activity for the day was set to be a dip in diamond lake. We drove away from Toketee falls towards the lake. As we drove, the alpines turned to ash. We were driving through a scarred landscape of charcoal. It felt sad. Just before we arrived at the lake. After a short walk around, we quickly established that there was nowhere to swim, it seemed to be a boating lake. We made the decision to abandon our second night at the forest in favour of our next location: Crater lake.
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