here... 4

We left Suttle Lake and went 10 - 15 miles to the HooDoo Ski area. Here there were ski and snowboard slopes and lifts, tubing areas and snowmobiles everywhere. Supposedly their motto is "Steeper, Deeper, Cheaper! . Enjoy the pictures . Thirty years ago, we would have been all over this place.

From there we started down. We only had one more quest in mind for the weekend. Proxy Falls. After reading this posting, we just had to try, although the odds were against us. http://www.waterfallswest.com/or_proxy.html

Here's the deal. Proxy falls is on 242 which is a "scenic by way" which is closed in the winter months. However, the estimation was that it would be closed on the "other end" and we might be able to get up the road far enough to see the falls. We saw the road going up to Suttle Lake, but due to the time of day, decided to wait til we came down. So we drove and drove and were sure we had missed it. Then, glory be, there it was. We wheeled around the turn and up this really cool remote road where the Ponderosa pines actually closed over our heads. Our mapquest said that after we turned onto 242 we would go 8.2 miles. Here is the picture we found in front of us at 7 miles. Again 30 years ago, we might have hoofed it the extra 1.2 miles, but at least we saw one of the 3 falls we set out to see. More in the future. Surely Silver Falls State Park is in a more hospitable area.

Along the McKenzie river going up and down, we kept seeing these unusual orchards. When we asked, we were told they were Filberts! Check out this link to see that they most likely are one of my favorites... Hazelnuts. http://www.thenutfactory.com/kitchen/facts/facts-filberts.html

Coming down, we stopped at Belknap Springs Resort. http://www.belknaphotsprings.com/ There are hot springs along the McKenzie and they built pools to which people flock to sit in the hot mineral pools. The neet thing is that at this site, we were able to capture the McKenzie. See if I was right about it in the original "here we go again".