We are off today and decided to go for a hike.
A few weeks ago Grant Mcomie did a spot on University Falls in the Tillamook State Forest.
We found directions on the Channel 2 website. (http://www.katu.com/news/outdoors/12946327.html)
Off we go. It is one of those beautiful sunny freezing and windy days.
In traditional Jean and Cheryl Fashion we stopped for gas at Costco. We were good we did not go in.
US 26 no problem, Oregon 6 no problem.
Just past the Summit we made the left turn onto a forest road that was plowed and mostly icy. The 7 miles at 15mph made me realize we were not close to the highway. We gained some comfort by not being alone on this road, we saw a few cars.
We arrived at the trailhead and found a place to park off the road in not to deep a snow.
The car we followed stopped here to and young people got out and went up the trail.
We glanced at the sign and read University Falls 3.5 miles.
Well we have hiked that far before. I checked my cell phone and confirmed I had no coverage here.

We start on the trail to find out rather quickly that a trail covered with 18 inches of snow does not look like a trail at all.

There are some steps going in to the left and we decide to follow the steps. After going for a couple of minutes I realized I was not going to go like this for 3.5 miles without any idea of where we were going and it was 2:45 pm. We decided to go back to the trail head and look for a map,

Well we found a map of the whole Tillamook State Forest and just a squiggly in the corner under the name University Falls. No luck here. We go back to the beginning of the trail and realized that we miss red the sign it was 0.35 miles to the falls.

With renewed resolve we set back on the trail. After all, how far can you get lost in 0.35 miles?

The trail is now becoming slippery because of the molten ice and repeated freezing.

We are about what I guessed halfway and we see traces of deer on the trail.

All of a sudden I hear aloud snort, I could feel it in my stomach it was that loud. I turned to Cheryl who was about ten feet back and she heard it too. I look around, don’t see a thing, and we continue on the trail. I thought maybe a big deer or something. I checked the contents of my pockets and all I can find are keys and a very small pocket knife. Cheryl reminds me that I still had a screwdriver in my leg pocket. There it goes again, snort and I could feel it vibrate. Stop, look around, and see nothing. By now I can hear the water. We continue following the steps in the snow and this time I feel my stomach rumble without noise. What a relief, I just never had my stomach growl that loud before. The rest of the hike was fine; the Waterfall is beautiful the silvery landscape is truly enchanting. We take some pictures and returned to the car

Hike to University Falls