Sean and I
finally left the city of Portland today! It was our first Oregonian excursion since moving here, and really, our first one ever!
We'd gotten a bunch of recommendations to see the waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, but we didn't really know where we were going. We headed out on Rt. 84 and took the exit for Historic Columbia River Hwy (or whatever it's called at that point). It was super scenic, with vista points overlooking the huge river ever couple of miles! I've never seen so many beautiful views in one short drive!
We stopped at every single overlook, scenic view, vista point and waterfall we could find.
There was lots of stopping. I've gone on a lot of hikes in New England, but nothing compared to these! None of the places we stopped made us walk more than 2/3rds of a mile from our car (round trip) to see amazing views or breath-taking waterfalls. Check out my
flickr photos to see pics and videos! Sorry some of them are redundant--Sean and I took the some of the same shots, and I was messing with exposures on some of them.
I'm used to waking up at the crack of dawn, driving a few hours (into another state) to a mountain, then hiking straight up through mosquito-infested stank-smelling forest to see a damp rock that the guide book claims is a "waterfall". Okay, so it was more enjoyable than that! Sometimes we actually saw
running water.
There were no insects. It smelled clean. There was tons of water, lush greenery and moss, and the other folks on the trail were friendly (except for the collection of college dolts at Multnomah "Huge Tourist Attraction" Falls). We'd avoided the rain most of the day, but got a bit wet at Bridal Veil and it continued to rain at Multnomah Falls and the whole drive home. It was a great day, however, and some hot tea and dry clothes have brought me back to a peaceful place in the world. Maybe we should do this
every weekend!
Sean and I finally left the city of Portland today! It was our first Oregonian excursion since moving here, and really, our first one ever!
I'm used to waking up at the crack of dawn, driving a few hours (into another state) to a mountain, then hiking straight up through mosquito-infested stank-smelling forest to see a damp rock that the guide book claims is a "waterfall". Okay, so it was more enjoyable than that! Sometimes we actually saw running water.
5 comments:
Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing. You always have fantastic photos! Linda
Is this a place we can visit while we are in Portland? It sounds and looks great!
Oh yes! We're planning on taking you there. ;) I even have tips on a waterfall that's a little further than we went... Maybe if we leave earlier than mid-afternoon, we'll be able to see ALL the waterfalls. Ha ha!!
Hurray!
Is it raining a lot there? We're dealing with hurricane season.
Not a drop! :) It's been blue skies, mid 60's-mid 70's. Absolutely perfect.
The last time it rained was last weekend during our hiking, but that was only for the afternoon and evening. We got some exciting thunder though!
We have really wide eaves on our house over the windows, about two feet. That means that it almost never rains into the house, even with all the windows open. I just noticed that recently, and I wondered why no one else does that! I love hearing the rain and the having cool breezes through the house.
It might be a little rainier when you get here, but so far it's been extremely dry. Are you excited?! :)
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