We got up early and went to the Pirate Coffee Company in Depoe Bay, Oregon, to get some yummy coffee before driving out to the trailhead for a hike on a crisp March morning .  It was my husband's birthday, (pictured below) and he got to choose what we would do.

He chose to hike to Drift Creek Falls, in the Siuslaw National Forest.  We knew from researching this location that it gets busy with people, so we got up early to hopefully avoid the crowds.  We were the first ones there, as you can see from the picture below.  Hooray!  It should be a nice quiet time out in nature, my favorite!  

There are pit toilets at the parking lot. With the coffee we had consumed on our drive to the trailhead, I was especially delighted to see them, even though they are not my favorite type of toilet to use.

I just love the sights, sounds and smells of a forest.  This one was no different, although there was a lack of bird noises on this day.

 This place is beautiful!  The trail was well maintained and the scenery was amazing.  I've mentioned some of my health issues in the past and I was interested to see how I would do on this 3 mile hike.  How would I do?  Would I be able to make it all the way there and back?  Time would tell.

Above is one of the seasonal springs that we saw along the way and a small creek, (part of Drift Creek?) we crossed.  

We made it!  The 1 and a half mile hike to the bridge was mostly downhill and I did pretty well.  This was our first glimpse of the Drift Creek Falls Suspension Bridge, a 240 foot long bridge that spans Drift Creek, over 100 feet above.  

The entrance was quite tall and impressive.
The bridge is even more impressive.  Wow!  A little intimidating, especially since I would be photographing from on top of it. The weather could have become an issue as it was getting breezy and drizzly by this time.

As we were about to step onto the bridge, I had to take another picture from this angle where the bridge disappears into the forest on the other side.

And, of course, I had to take one of the birthday boy on the bridge, too! :)

Below, is one of the photos of the falls, that I took from the bridge.  I had to wait at times, since there was a bit of wind, on and off, and I wanted to take a longer exposure to smooth out the water of the falls and it was shaking the bridge at times.  The overcast weather made it easier to expose the images I took today.

Once we were on the other side, we decided I was doing well enough to go the extra 1/2 mile to hike down to the creek; so I could take some pictures from the bottom. More gorgeous scenery on the way down.  

I'm wasn't sure what this overgrown hump-type thing along the trail was, but I found it interesting. I'm thinking it's probably an overgrown toppled tree trunk and roots. Below is an image of the falls from the creek.  This was the first time we heard voices and I had to shoot quickly before the people were on the bridge. The falls are less emphasized in these creek level images, (almost out of the frame) as is the bridge since it was now a half a mile away. One last image from the bottom, after waiting for the people to fully cross so they were off the bridge and wiping the drizzle from my lens again.  I loved the blue in the creek water.  So pretty!  

When I was taking the image below, there were people just around the rocks to the right of the creek, but I had gone down lower and managed to exclude them. The hike back up took longer and we had to stop a couple of times so I could rest, but we made it. Still few people on the trail so we beat the crowds or perhaps the rainy forecast kept them home. Whichever it was, the hike was a great victory for me and a great start to another birthday for my husband.  

The parting shot (below) was as we were driving out of the mountains and these elk were too tempting.  I just had to take one last image; from the car this time.