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Columbia Gorge, OR June 11, 2000
Oh my god. I had NO idea how much really super cool stuff there was down here... you know, I'd read the book and all and it looked pretty cool, but I didn't expect nearly the number of really large, gushing waterfalls as we found.
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| Bridal Veil Falls | Shepperd's Dell Falls | Latourell Falls |
| Bridal Veil was the first falls we
visited. It's a lovely double falls.
The trail is paved until it starts to get a bit steep... It's a .6 mile walk roundtrip and the trail is okay. There were quite a few people despite the abundance of rain. |
The road drives right over the exit creek (about 75 feet above). There's a nice little path that winds around the gulley. It ends right at the top of the waterfall. You can see the rock railing at the top of the falls in the picture. | This falls was very tall... the trail for this one takes you right down to the bottom of the falls. One of the neatest things about this falls is the rock face. You can't see it too well in the picture here, but about 2/3 of the way down the falls the rocks behind are almost shingled. They almost look to be chisled out. Very cool! :) The trail goes on after the falls, I'm not quite sure where to... Another nice thing about this particular falls is that somewhere up stream there is Upper Latourell Falls at which you can actually walk behind the falls. We went up the trail aways. The upper falls was supposed to be .8 miles up the trail. We didn't get to it, although it seemed like we did walk that far. |
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| Wahkeena Falls | Fairy Falls | Horsetail Falls |
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This is the view from the parking lot. There's a short .2 mile paved
trail that takes you up to the bottom of the second falls from the top
that you can see in the picture to the right. The wind coming off the falls was so strong and it was raining so hard that I couldn't take a picture without risking coating my lense with water. So, all I could do was stand there and let the wet wind wash over me. Have you ever seen the movie Pocahontas? Well, when she is singing Colors of the Wind there are a couple of times when she just kind of stops and takes a deep breath of wind... well... that's what this falls was perfect for. Very enjoyable! :) |
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a puzzle. Surprise, surprise, right? Well, it's of Fairy Falls. Little did I know (really) when I bought the puzzle that I would be visiting it in person in the next couple of weeks. Anyway. Fairy Falls is just under a mile past Wahkeena Falls on the Wahkeena Falls Trail. I have to commend the trail builders on having built a very nice trail. After you pass Wahkeena, you begin about .5 miles of switchbacks. Dude. Serious Switchbacks. Good for the heart muscle though. :) |
Last, but certainly not least, Horsetail Falls is a roadside attraction. It's one of those that had I not been scolded for almost scaring my driver to death a few weeks ago by gasping at the breathtaking sight, that I would have gasped at. Instead a simple "uh... uh..." had to do the suffice. Oh god... the price we pay. :) |
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Multnomah Falls  Multnomah is the 4th highest falls in the US. It's pretty damn tall. It's much nicer than Snoqualmie. There's a lodge. There's a gift shop. Damn gift shop. I bought a poster that's now hanging on my wall at work and a green glass mug. By this time we were soaking wet and our enjoyment of the fantastic views was diminished substantially by the uncoopertive weather. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE rain. I love hiking in the rain. I love walking in the rain. But sometimes enough is enough. In the car, out of the car, wet, dry, cold, warm... too much inconsistency for me.
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