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A last waterfall hike
Well, we will shortly leave the NorthWest, and it was inevitable…. our last waterfall hike. Labor day, beautiful weather, so off to an early start. Good thing too, the trails and parking lots were jammed by the time we left.
Anyway, we chose Triple Falls. A moderate but steep and rough hike. And some serious drop offs right next to the trail, so we had to watch where we put our feet. But again we had a great hike, enjoyed every bit of it, both the uphill and downhill. And the waterfall was beautiful as well. Looking forward to next year!
The switch back gives some idea of the steepness of this trail.
Don’t look now, but that is a LONG way down on the left!
The trail gets narrower and bumpier as we get higher
A peaceful scene before the waterfall itself
Better have decent hiking shoes!
At last, Triple Falls
Latourell Falls and “town”
Our time in the Pacific Northwest is drawing to a close, and today we took one of our last waterfall hikes. This time, it was to Latourell Falls, about 40 miles from Portland in the Columbia Gorge. Not a difficult hike, maybe 1.5 miles and modest uphill. But a great view of Latourell Falls.
The bottom falls are an easy walk from the parking lot. A very short, steep, paved path takes you to a terrific view of Lower Falls. Then, a nice hike through heavy forests takes you to the upper falls, an entirely different look. There were some trees that exhibited strange growth patterns.
After that, we took the long ways down to visit the old 1880’s lumber town of Latourell. It’s mostly gone, but this was a bustling town in the late 1880’s. It boasted 6 saloons, hotels, and presumably other attractions for hard working men. It became a popular spot for Portlanders, who too a ferry up the Columbia, hiked to the town, and partied. Some even walked to the falls for a look. There isn’t much left, we found an old structure in the woods, as well as some of the last of the now deserted homes.
A view of Lower Latourell Falls, 246 ft high.
Upper Latourell Falls, probably some 200 ft tall.
Remains of an old structure in the hills
One of the remaining old homes, now abandoned
Romola by a strange tree
John by a strange tree
This bridge built by the CCC in the 1930’s
Angel’s Rest hike, Columbia Gorge, OR
The Angel’s Rest hike in Oregon (not to be confused with the one in Zion NP) is a beautiful hike to a fabulous viewpoint. It isn’t that long at 2.5 miles, but it is all uphill…. 1,500 ft. altitude gain. And, it is rated moderate because much of the trail is quite rocky. But, if you wear good hiking shoes, its not a bad walk at all.
Of course, there was a waterfall- in this case, Coopey Creek
There were some rugged spots on this hike
Some interesting plant growth
A view west to the Columbia River
Looking south
Romola at the top. We started out at the river level, a good climb….
Panther Falls, WA
OK, one more waterfall from the Washington side of the Gorge. This time, Panther Falls was a longish drive (10 miles on simple one track but paved road) followed by a very short walk took us to the amazing Panther Falls.
Actually, there are three falls, all feeding into one pool at the bottom. Rather unique, usually one creek gives you one falls. And, in this case, each creek has a different “look” before it joins together. We had a nice picnic lunch, bought at the A&J Deli in Stevenson, WA and thoroughly enjoyed a quiet hour or so (except for the sound of rushing water….).
Top of the falls, creek number one…
A much more genteel creek, number two…
And the third creek all feed into:
Panther Creek Falls. Amazing!
Falls Creek Falls, Washington
The Columbia Gorge is well known for its many waterfalls. The best known ones are on the Oregon side, but there are some spectacular falls on the Washington side as well. This week we hiked to the eponymous “Falls Creek Falls”, about 60 miles from our home base in Vancouver, WA. It was a terrific hike.
The hike itself starts next to Falls Creek, and there are small water falls and larger pools that look most idyllic. Certainly photogenic! As you head towards the Falls, you walk alongside (and across) the Creek, so you hear and see the creek all the way up. It is just under 2 miles, all uphill but moderate. And when you get to the Falls you are greeted by a magnificent sight… the Falls themselves.
It is a two stage Falls, Upper and Lower. Both are quite scenic and very camera friendly!
Falls Creek, at the start of the trail
Part way up you can see the rocky Falls Creek bed
In fact, you have to cross it several times
Just as you get close, you can see the Upper Falls
And here is a full shot of the Falls. Both Upper and Lower are visible.
A slightly different angle of the Falls
Elowah Falls, Oregon
The Columbia Gorge is well know for its many waterfalls. Certainly, they are one of the man attractions. This week, we hiked to Elowah Falls, one of the few we have never been to before. Sure glad we didn’t miss this one!
Elowah Falls is actually two falls in one. It is about one mile hike in to get to the Lower Falls, an additional mile to get to Upper Falls. Both Falls are worth the hike in, the view from the top is totally different than from the bottom.
As we stared our hike, we noticed an old water tower. And later, the remains of an old iron pipeline. Presumably, these provide water for the steam locomotives that used to carry goods to and from the coast.
The old water tower, close to the bottom
The trail is good, mostly uphill
A spider web, just visible in the sunlight
The old steel pipeline
Our first view of the Lower Falls
And here is the Lower Falls
Romola, at the bottom of the Falls
A little froggy didn’t like our intruding his living space
A little flower
A view back to the Columbia River
The way up gets steeper, and narrower
We can see the top of Lower Falls on our way up
And here, at the top, Upper Elowah Falls
Horsetail Falls
We haven’t done much hiking this year, so with our time in this area limited, and beautiful weather, we thought it was time to get out the old hiking boots. We took the short drive into the Columbia Gorge and hike the full Oneonta Trail, which leads to three waterfalls. It was nice to get out again. We’ll miss being so close to such wonderful scenery when we leave.
Just so we know where we are….
Recent high winds added some obstacles to our hike
Romola isn’t sure if she’s Lewis or Clark
Signs of fall are evident
Oneonta Falls, a small fall along the way
Upper Horsetail Falls. You can walk under the falls
A view from behind the falls
There’s quite a bit of space behind the falls
Lower Horsetail Falls. Easily accesible from the Historic Highway.
Petroglyphs in the Superstition Mountains
For 2,000 years, local Indians have carved a record of their lives on rock faces in the mountains. They leave behind a legacy that is fascinating, yet hard to decipher. We have seen great petroglyphs last year in Utah, now we have found some in Arizona.
The way to the canyon was rough and rocky but easily passable. It would have been easier if it wasn’t so blasted hot, but then, this is Arizona…
The petroglyphs are in the canyon, uop ahead
It wasn't all smooth walking to get there....
Now we get to see some
You can see the relative size here
Lots of petroglyphs
A cave where Indians sheltered for centuries
Indians used these holes to grind their corn
Lots of these little buggers, all at ankle height!
A collared lizard watches us head back
Lake Tahoe area
We spent the weekend in Carson City, NV, parked in the RV lot of a casino. Actually, it was inexpensive, the park adequate, and Romola won enough to pay for dinners and two nights stay. Who says you can’t beat the odds?
Saturday we went on a hike to Skunk Cove, a beautiful cove on Lake Tahoe. Here we found the summer home of a wealthy industrialist, who had the home — along with guest quarters, separate kitchens, etc. etc. built in 1927. Cost was no object, all the stones and other materials were shipped by boat as there was no road. The hike itself was fairly strenuous as it dropped 700 feet or so to the lake. Of course, we had to hike back uphill all the way…. and at 8,000 ft. altitude as well!
Sunday we decided on a less strenuous hike around Spooner Lake. We saw strange, colorful objects hanging from tress, and had no idea what these were. We were unaware that this was a special Arts weekend, and there were magic acts, singers, dancers and specialist acts around the lake. Each of these objects meant some act was nearby. Sure made for a different hike!
A view of Lake Tahoe from the road to Reno
Part way down. You can see the cove almost in the middle of this picture.
A view from Skunk Cove
And another view from Skunk Cove
The summer home, part of the main building
The trail to the lake. Lots of Aspens!
A view of the lake
Another view of the lake, through the pine trees
What was this strange object, hanging from a tree?
A singer along the trail
No idea what this contraption was, but it was on bungee cords....
Clothing optional
Just a few miles from our campsite on the Columbia River there is a lovely stretch of woods, and a sandy beach. And a very nice state park, called Rooster Rock State Park. There are many marked hiking trails there, so we did some of them. However, we were warned that this whole beach — and it’s almost 2 miles long — is clothing optional. But hey, I’m European, and Romola is a nurse, so what did that matter?
Actually, we started early to beat the rush. It really is a nice hike, through the woods, along the river. And there were tons of blackberries! We ate our fill, for sure. At one time, we were picking when some guy came strolling by, totally necked except for a backpack. We exchanged “good mornings” and went our merry way.
We also saw one guy who lived dangerously, picking berries while he was nude from the waist down. Those blackberry bushes do have some wicked thorns on them!
On our way out we saw the place filling up rapidly. Hey, it’s in the 90’s today in Portland, get the rays while you can, and as many as you can! If nudity doesn’t offend you, it’s a really nice park.
The Columbian river is way down this time of year
The trail along the waterfront
Some of the beach front
Lots and lots of blackberries
And a dangerous way to pick them
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