Weekend in Paradise

 Today was Bill's birthday and we spent it in the most delightful way. Two of our friends have a cabin in the Detroit Wilderness area and they invited us to come stay. Their cabin is beautiful and it sits amongst vine maple, moss and old growth timber.

 We had a lovely evening with them and headed out the next morning for a hike to Marion Lake (Bill, Gala, Greg).

 Now this is going to look like a mushroom post because we saw so many varieties! I wish I knew which ones were edible because I would have brought them home and had a feast!

 This was my favorite one (above)!

Interesting spores

 My friend Gala

 Looking toward the top of an old growth timber

 More mushrooms!

Bill

 Becky and Bill

 Greg and Gala walking on the trail

 Moss on the trees

 Getting close to the first lake

 Anne Lake

 Bill said he was having a great birthday!

 More moss

I don't know what this was but it was really beautiful.

 We took a side trail to some beautiful falls that are not well known. Gala made me nervous as she stood on a rock at the top!

 You cannot really tell by this picture how far down it is, but it was creepy standing there!

 We headed down the hillside to get a better view of the falls.

 Fungus

 Mushrooms everywhere!

 Bill and Greg (this was a steep trail!)

 It was worth the effort! The falls were spectacular!

 We went farther down and saw the lower falls. It was a beautiful sight!

Another picture of the upper falls

 More fungus

 We continued on the trail toward Marion Falls.

 We all took a rest

 Yep, more mushrooms! This one was a beauty.

 A good old Oregon "banana slug"

 We followed the river and noticed a large log jam.

 We ate lunch sitting on this bridge (Gala and Greg).

 Looking toward Marion Lake

 Marion Lake

 The rain finally arrived!

 I continued to take pictures as we traveled around the lake.

 Gala

 Becky, Gala, Greg

 Bill, Gala, Greg

 The lake was pretty clear.

There was a lot of vine maple on the trail. This will be amazing when it all turns color!

 Greg and Gala

 More vine maple with Marion Lake in the background

 More moss

 One last shot of the lake before we headed back down the trail to our car

 Greg and Gala's cabin

 Greg barbequed on the deck and we enjoyed these kabobs! The next day our kids came and celebrated Bill's birthday which was a lot of fun!

It truly was a weekend in paradise!