We woke to another great day with bright sunshine and expected temps in the mid 70’s. We decided to move our operation about 50 miles West. We had expected to view a plethora of waterfalls yesterday but found out that they are at the other end of the Columbia River Gorge closer to Portland.
We arrived at Ainsworth State Park around one grabbed a site and planned the afternoon.
Once at our site we noticed a skeleton on the grass. It looked a little weird and the Ranger that came by to dispose of it told us it was the the skeleton of a sturgeon. I guess there were some fishermen in that spot before us. We thought it was a deer but we were both wrong.
We decided to take in some of the waterfalls and maybe do some short hikes. This area of the gorge has the largest concentration of waterfalls in Oregon. The first waterfall we stopped at was Horsetail Falls. We were lucky to get a parking space it was so busy.
There was a hike to the another waterfall but since it was so crowded we decided to either catch it on our way back or save the hikes until tomorrow.
The scenic road was quite pretty with a canopy of trees that made you feel like you were in a grotto.
We stopped at the Oneonta Gorge and enjoyed the rushing water. We plan to walk into the Gorge tomorrow when we go back to do several of the hikes.
We planned on stopping at the Multnomah Falls but the parking lot was jammed full. So we passed it by and will return either in the evening or tomorrow.
Wankeena Falls was next and very pretty.
Then it was on to Bridal Veil Falls. To see the falls it required a one –mile loop hike covering some steep terrain but was worth it.
We stopped at Shepard’s Dell and hiked down to the base of the falls.
Latourell Falls was next : There was a hike down but we opted out today.
We stopped at the Vista House at Crown Point. It was built in 1918 and sits 733 feet above the Columbia River. Once called “Thor’s Heights,” Crown Point is a basalt promontory shaped by the same volcanic lava flows, floods and winds that created the Columbia River Gorge. It was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1971.
The Vista House was built as a rest stop observatory for travelers on the old Columbia River Gorge Highway and as a memorial honoring Oregon’s pioneers.It was listed in the National register of Historic Places in 1974.
After leaving the Vista House we decided to finish the scenic highway into Historic Troutdale.
While there we stopped to check out a cute little house that piqued our interest. We actually got to go inside because the Realtor was taking her sign down and she was more then happy to show us the inside.
Back at the CG we settled in and planned our hiking for tomorrow.
0 comments:
Post a Comment