This next day started early. We were up around 8 but still had about 9 hours of sleep. This was needed for Ashley as we put about 7 miles under our feet the previous day. Ashley was feeling much better and we were ready to do some short hikes to beautiful waterfalls along the road. This area to be explored today was called the Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge features many waterfalls and Cascades along the road. The area itself is carved out by the Colombia river and is exquisitely beautiful. There are various overlooks driving along the river.
The first waterfall on the agenda to see was the Vista House. This was an overlook on the gorge and gave us a great taste of what was to come. This was a winding road to get too, but it used to be a lookout point during the world war, as Portand was an area being utilized to build military ships for the West’s Defense.
The Historic Columbia River Road was our drive for the day, and it contained all the famous sites and waterfalls. The first waterfall was Latourel Falls and it always about a 500 yard hike. We unfortunately had to see it from a distance because there was a film being shot, and they would not let us near. Nonetheless we had a great view and took a great picture.
The next was Bridal Veil Falls and it was about a mile down the road. This was below the main road and we had to walk downhill to reach the waterfall. This is where I believe I obtained poison ivy. Unfortunately this happened but the waterfall was worth the walk.
Wahkeena Falls was next, and this proved to be an amazing stop, as you could hike up to the base of the falls, and as a pro-tip, you can park here, before the next famous falls, and hike, so theres no trouble going through traffic. The next waterfall is one of the most famous in the entire country called Multnomah Falls. It is often featured and shown on postcards and tv shows. This features a large cascading waterfall that has a bridge in the middle of its falls that presents a beautiful picture opportunity.
We were able to hike from the previous waterfall as mentioned, and it was an enjoyable walk along the road as well. At the visitor area there is a coffee shop, gift shop and restaurant. We spent about 20 minutes here after hiking from the previous falls. We decided to hike up to the bridge, however it get so crowded we had to stand shoulder to shoulder to get a good photo on the bridge. Once we were done, Ashley stayed at the visitor area while I hiked back to get the car. It took me a whole 20 minutes to drive a 1/4 mile from the point I picked up my car to the Multnomah falls area, just to give you an idea of how much traffic was present.
After the famous falls come the Oneonta Gorge which is this spectacular lush Slot Canyon Gorge that has about a foot deep water that you can hike back as far as 16 miles! There is a large group of broken trees that has fallen into the gorge and has blocked the area, thus if you are not agile to get over the lumber, I would not recommend it. We hiked for about a mile until we decided to turn around and call it quits.
There are many other aspects to this area but we enjoyed the major parts to it and it was now time to drive to our hotel for the evening which was actually the Overlook Hotel on Mt. Hood. This is actually known as the Timberline Lodge, and ski Resort. This hotel was the outside to the hotel filmed in the movie The Shining! The inside was definitely unique, and it was a beautiful property but for the price I would’ve hoped for better accommodations. The food was great, but the rooms have bunk beds and only shared restrooms and showers. This was not exactly luxurious but nonetheless it was better then camping for the sake of comfort. It would have been better if we had a group of 6 as we had a room of bunk beds all to ourselves, for $150 a night. Nonetheless it was great to say we stayed there.
We ended up eating upstairs, which to our surprise was a great gourmet meal, and worth the money. It overlooked the mountain ranges, that sit below the famous Mt. Hood, of which this property resides. This was a great night and we also were able to get some laundry done, which was much needed since our last wash. After we packed up that night we got some sleep for a big day to follow.
The dinner at night featured an overlook of the landscapes south of the mountain and reminded us of some terrain in Arkansas of rolling hills. These were just much larger! Now because we ran out of daylight we had to forgo a hike we were looking forward to called Ramona falls. This is ok though because of Ashleys healing condition, we perhaps may have been in no shape to do this. So we decided to take the night and enjoy a smoke of Oregon Weed outside and then head to bed. This hotel once again had bunk beds so we were unable to sleep next to each other that night, but it truly felt like a camping experience you would have as a boy scout or something! I highly recommend this hotel for its history, and natural beauty.
July 17 – Expenses
35 lunch
8.30 mcdonalds
3 snack
14 beer
7 beer
167.35 over look hotel
130 dinner
Total – 364.65
MILES DRIVEN – 123