It’s the last day. Time to go home, and I’m ready. But, I’m excited to explore a few waterfalls here in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. Then I need to meet Jolene at 4 pm to handover the van (she has graciously agreed to take me to my hotel, saving me an Uber fare). Before that I want to check into the hotel, unload all my stuff, and clean out the van. Portland is also about 45 minutes away, so I don’t have a lot of time to explore.
As I mentioned in the Day 6 blog post, I had a 9 am ticket for Multnomah Falls, but I wanted to get there early to get a parking spot as it was very crowded when I drove past the day before (Multnomah Falls is an extremely popular tourist attraction and can get very crowded). Parking proved not to be an issue, however. In addition, there did not appear to be anyone checking tickets as people were just walking in. Maybe before 9 is open admission? Who knows, but in I went. This turned out to be a good thing because there were few people by the falls, and I was able to quickly get the shots I wanted and get out of there. As I was leaving a tour bus load of people was just coming in, so my timing was perfect!
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| Multnomah Falls, which is actually two separate falls, is Oregon's tallest at 620 feet. What makes it unique is the walk bridge (the Benson Bridge) situated directly above the lower falls. |
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| Closer view of Benson Bridge |
Next up was Fairy Falls. You need to hike to get to Fairy Falls, and the trail head starts at another waterfall, Wahkeena Falls located just down the road from Multnomah Falls. Wahkeena Falls was pretty interesting as well, so I grabbed some shots there first before heading up the trail. And when I say “up”, I mean “UP”! The trail to Fairy Falls is 1.3 miles with an elevation gain of about 900 feet through steeply inclined switchbacks. Initially the trail was paved and well-maintained, but further up the rockier it became. I had to take quite a few breaks, and a couple times I debated whether to turn around. But, I decided to persevere. Over an hour after starting, I arrived at Fairy Falls. Not as large as I thought it would be but very delicate and graceful! Well worth the journey!
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| Wahkeena Falls |
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| One of many un-naned "falls" along the hike up to Fairy Falls. |
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| Fairy Falls |
Going down was much, much easier of course, but by the time I got back to the van I was exhausted. My legs were like rubber. There was one other waterfall I had considered visiting, but I was tired and running out of time, so off to Portland I went.
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| Example of the steep switchbacks up to Fairy Falls. |
I checked into the hotel and randomly stuffed all my things into my bags…I would organize things and repack later. I quickly cleaned out the van and drove to Jolene’s house. There were no issues with the check-in, and she drove me back to the hotel, which was just 10 minutes away. Next on my agenda: a shower! This felt soooo good! There was a sports bar within walking distance (part of the reason I picked this specific hotel) so I went there for dinner…beer and wings! Tasted so good!
Well, that’s it! I’ll do one more post, my traditional epilogue, after I get back and rest up a bit.
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