University Falls and Shafer Vineyard

Two things Oregon is known for are wine and waterfalls. Last weekend, Charlie and I went on a short drive to Tillamook Forest in search of the latter. I had earlier found some falls online that sounded promising: they weren't too difficult to find, they weren't too long of a hike from the road, and they weren't too far from where we live. And so we set off into the forest to find University Falls. Less than 30 minutes after entering the Tillamook Forest road from the East, after turning onto a gravel road turn-off, you find yourself zig-zagging along logging roads, steering clear of ATVs and intimidating trucks, and crossing your fingers that the path you chose was the one leading to the trailhead.

I suppose that's the one negative of navigating forest roads. Or perhaps positive, if you view it as "the journey," not "the destination." Don't get me wrong, the forest is exciting and beautiful, but GPS signals are lacking so you better hope that you have a good navigation sense or that you're not too nervous to ask a logging truck for directions.. Times like these are when having Charlie around comes in handy, and having him motion to a logger to roll down his window for directions, as we squeezed next to his large truck in our tiny car, was one of those times. We were almost to the trail-- just as long as we kept right. Except for the one road where we should take the fork to the left. And, of course, we took the fork to the right when we should have gone left (it wasn't as obvious as it sounds) and Charlie had to put up with my squeals as we drove straight up a slippery wood-chip road that lead us to prime logging territory. And then to another road, that was likely meant for power-line upkeep.. We knew how to re-trace our tracks and successfully made it to the trailhead without much time lost. Only two other cars were parked next to the wooden sign and we began our short trek in search of what we came for. There's something so adventurous about starting a waterfall hike for the first time. As much as I'd like to consider myself a "journey" girl, I admit that I am probably more into it for the "destination" when it comes to waterfall hikes. That being said, this journey was worth the walk.

I am not too familiar with mushrooms. Majoring in Biology, I should be more knowledgeable about flora and fauna but, while I absolutely love the flora, I can only really tell you some things about the fauna. Not more than five steps into our waterfall walk, we saw the most perfect mushrooms. Their stalks were bright white with a brilliant cap. The cap had a bright red center that faded to orange along the mushroom's rim. This color gradation was incredibly glossy and was speckled with white, flakey patches. These mushrooms were out of a fairy tale. I almost expected small forest creatures to start talking yet, alas, we were surrounded by the silence of nature (which wasn't all that silent with the birds chirping, leaves rustling, mist settling on the ground, dew dripping from the ferns.. but so I digress).

After just a few minutes, we happened upon a clearing. Following the path ahead, we found ourselves at a relatively fast flowing stream. Fording a stream while it was cold and misty in the forest didn't seem like the best idea to either of us and we decided to find another way. We could hear the falls, yet we felt so far. Scrambling back up the trail to the clearing, we found another path and were glad we chose not to ford the stream. This path was much more promising and less than a minute later, we came around a bend to see the rushing University Falls. This waterfall walk was a success!

On the drive back, we waved goodbye to the logging trucks and enjoyed meandering home along the winding forest roads. The forest roads soon turned into country roads and WAIT-- --we're driving through wine country on the way home, so why not stop in for a tasting? And that's how we came across Shafer Vineyards. The cloudy sky had begun to open up and we drove up the winery road as vineyards unfolded ahead of us.

A few flies buzzed around the tasting counter as we sipped our tasting flight. We joked that our newly purchased Venus Flytrap plant (Safeway was selling them if you can believe it!) would enjoy living on that counter.. That said, with the delicious wines and the breathtaking vineyard view, the flies didn't draw too much attention away from the scene. Shafer Vineyards had one of the first flights we've tried so far that included more than just Pinot Noirs. We both enjoyed the Muller-Thurgau 2014, and ended up buying a bottle, which is an unexpected purchase for a red wine couple. We drove the five minutes home and put our newly purchased bottle in a corner of our kitchen where we've been stashing acquired wines. As tempted as we were to open it up then, I think we both knew that a nap was in order before making some dinner and heading to bed. It had been a long day, but definitely one filled with adventures that we would choose to repeat again soon.