Saturday in the Columbia River Gorge

So this whole week it has been gorgeous weather here in Oregon, high 50's and sunny. So of course being the eternal optimist that I am I figured "No way will this last into the weekend.", well this is a time I was happy to be wrong. We woke up this morning to another gorgeous day and since my new goal is to explore more I decided we were going to take a trip that I had been thinking about since we moved and just never got around to doing.

About 25-30 miles from us is the Historic Columbia River Gorge Scenic Byway, otherwise known as Route 30. If you lived here in the early 1900's through about 1945 it was the only route along the Oregon side of the Columbia River, today most people use I-84 which runs right along the river and misses out on all of the wonderful views that the old route provides. Now granted commuting along Route 30 is much slower than the I-84, 3 lanes each way and a 65 mph speed limit vs. a windy 1 lane in each direction road that hits grades in excess of 10% and rarely allows for speeds above 30 mph, but I was in no hurry.

Our first stop along the way was the Vista House lookout point which overlooks the Columbia River.

Once we were done admiring the view and checking out some of the photos inside the Vista House showing it's progress from the start of construction in 1914 til today, we headed back out to our first waterfall stop.

About 5 miles up the road is Latourel Falls, which is only a short walk from the road to get to the base of the falls. Latourel Falls crashes over the side of the Gorge and falls an impressive 249'. Things like waterfalls and the ocean always make me realize the sheer force that something we use everyday to wash with and to drink can actually have. The view was amazing and aside from the spray being a little chilly it was a perfect day to visit, not too many people made for some nice photo ops.

After Latourel Falls we packed up and headed another 5 or 6 miles up the road to our main stop for the day, Multnomah Falls. Multnomah Falls is the second highest year round falls in the US, 2nd only to Yosemite Falls, and drops in two steps, the first one being about 550' and the second being about 70'. It really is a breathtaking site.

Parking is basically right at the base of the falls and you have the option of a couple of different hikes to get a more up close and personal view of the falls. The first hike is 1/4 of a mile and takes you to a bridge which crosses over the divide between the upper and lower falls. We made it to this point with little issue even with a todler in tow and the view was well worth what little amount of work it was to get there.

The second hike would have taken us another mile to the top of the falls, this hike is almost 600ft of elevation gain in that mile and is on a path that is about 3' wide and consists of 11 switchbacks. We decided to save that part for either a time where Kai was being babysat or at least was a bit older and more sure footed. I tried carrying her up but after about 1/4 mile I was pretty cooked and overly nervous about slipping and taking her over the side so we turned back.

So that was our trip, after Multnomah Falls we bought Kai a cookie the size of her head from the Coffee Cart that was in the parking lot and headed for home on the much faster I-84 that we had ignored on the way in. All in all a marvelous way to spend 5 hours on a Saturday morning.