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| Hiking | 6.00 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.00 Miles | | | |
| 2,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | You can't do the Pacific Northwest for the 1st time ever, and not do the Columbia River Gorge. For a water baby like me, it's a no brainer to spend some days chasing waterfalls. I came down the night before and found a dispersed camp above Hood River in a MTB Park. Got up pretty early the next morning to hit this iconic waterfall and hike. I was like, the 20th car in the lot so I was happy to catch the bottom viewpoint with hardly any people. Overcast at the start and windy, if you stopped, it was a bit chilly and rain threatened. But as the day wore on, the sun finally made an appearance and I could shed a layer or two.
It's been quite a while to put it mildly, since I've done more than 2 or so miles and had any elevation gain at all, but with no more limitations now, other than being out of hiking shape, I decided to really go for it and put on my regular day pack with about 25lbs plus the camera gear. While I didn't regret it, it did make things a tad harder and longer  I also found that my confidence needs a boost as some of the trail had a little exposure that I wasn't used to and I felt like a sissy at times. But the only way to get over it is to keep on keeping on.
6 Waterfalls, Spring Flowers, Spring Greens, Moss, Trees, and Water everywhere made for a photographic journey I could barely imagine. At only 6 miles, it still took me most of the day. Sometimes it did feel good just to sit and unload the pack. 
A few changes to this trail. I had looked up the Wahkeena Falls to Multnomah description before hiking and there was a difference that added mileage to that one. The cutoff/shortcut that took you to a viewpoint before you re-intersected the main trail is closed. You have no choice but to take the upper trail of the loop. They are still having a hard time with landslides since the 2017 fire. There were places even on the main upper trail around Fairy Falls where it looked like they were constantly rebuilding and shoring up the trail. At a couple of points, they hadn't really fixed the trail yet, only mitigated the damage so you could get through. A few steep spots, sliding on the butt or carefully working your way down a dirt slope.
It was a great day. While I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back to the truck, I felt good about being able to do this one. And yep, with everything I encountered on this hike, it's a big, fat, photo bomb. I'm also including a few pics from my arrival and my camp. It could have been way worse, trust me. Even after several deletion passes I kept over 400 photos from this hike alone.  |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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| Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty & well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming, "Wow What a Ride!" |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
