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APPEAL TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2017
Life in the
Valley y
sanews@salem.gannett.com
PHOTOS BY JUSTIN MUCH/STAYTON MAIL
Dory Lapanamea of Vancouver, Wash., right, and her daughter, Amado, admire a blue parakeet named Cloud, a pet of Rich Hawkins of Medford and his boys, Kenji and Kaneda, left. They all
enjoyed a 4.5 mile hike at Silver Falls State Park May 23.
Blue parakeet turns heads as
hikers explore falls and trails
JUSTIN MUCH
STAYTON MAIL
Cloudless blue skies and warm
spring temperatures lured hundreds of
hikers to Silver Falls State Park on
Tuesday, May 23, while one blue para-
keet named Cloud lured a passel of
post-hike attention.
Cloud actually finished up a roughly
4.5-mile sojourn perched atop his keep-
er’s shoulder. Rich Hawkins of the Med-
ford area made the trip north with his
boys, Kenji and mohawk-adorned Kane-
da. And Cloud came along for the ride
and walk.
“We try to do stuff like this all the
time,” Hawkins said of the day’s out-
door adventure, which involved the
falls-filled Canyon Trail jaunt, followed
by a precipitous Maple Ridge climb on
the return.
“We usually go out on our bikes, but
this is an entirely different setting
from what we’re used to.”
Cloud actually brought a different
sight to Silver Creek Falls as well,
which is steeped in rich verdure smat-
terings of wildlife in the air and on the
ground and, of course, the roaring
splashes of the creek and its plentiful
falls.
But a parakeet?
Another out-of-town visitor, Dory La
Panamea of Vancouver, Wash., and her
stroller-strapped toddler Amado, were
entranced by the docile, powder-blue
Cloud, who perched on La Panamea’s
hand to provide a peek as Kaneda of-
fered instructions.
The visitors joined hordes of others,
including a contingent from Salem’s
Roberts High School, who took advan-
tage of a pleasant weekday to meander
through the picturesque footpaths in
search of a little jaunt away from the
weekly norms.
Cloud, a blue parakeet, joins a family hike at
Silver Falls State Park.
Silver Falls State Park trails were a popular draw on a sunny day in the Willamette Valley.