Today’s activities were all about exploring the Columbia River Gorge, several of its 90 waterfalls and circumnavigating Mt. Hood.
I knew that we were going to get in our steps today, so I filled everyone up with some Brioche French Toast topped with a mixed berry compote and homemade Bourbon whipped cream, hashbrowns and some Polska Kielbasa finished with a drizzle of Japanese BBQ sauce.
After cleaning up from breakfast we headed out on Interstate 84E along Oregon’s southern bank of the Columbia River for about 30 minutes until we came to Corbett, at which point we got off the main thoroughfare and made our way on to Hwy 30, the Historic Columbia River Hwy. About 10 minutes along the twisting two-lane road our first stop of the day was Latourell Falls. Well, it wasn’t exactly our first planned stop, but rather was more of a roadside surprise, the first of several. The path to the overlook was under construction, but Kay noticed there was a trail down to the waterfall itself, so we walked the 5 min or so on the easily accessible hard-packed trail that led us right to the base of the falls.
Next, we were headed for Multnomah Falls, but once again, we were pleasantly surprised by our next stop, Bridal Veil Falls. (To clarify, I mapped out all of these falls on Google Maps well in advance when planning for our trip today, but I hadn’t put them in the gps this morning, so while I knew they existed I was still surprised when we happened upon them.)
Bridal Veil Falls has a 2/3-mile fairly rocky and slightly muddy hard packed trail that has some probably 30-degree declines on the way down before getting to the falls, then another separate 1/2-mile level hard packed trail that overlooks Hwy 84 and the Columbia River. We took both (told you we got our steps in today).
The pictures can’t really capture the power and size of these falls. The walk back up to the parking lot was a bit taxing, but the Western Trillium along the trail were pretty.
We also discovered a perfect picnic spot for our next trip along the river.
Leaving Bridal Veil Falls, it was only a couple minutes’ drive to Multnomah Falls, but once again we were surprised by yet another roadside attraction, Wahkeena Falls. This one was nice, but not nearly as impressive as the others we had seen so far. However, it was a 20-second walk across the street from the parking lot, so we checked it out (and once again, it is still more impressive in real life than the photo allows for). Also, it is the trailhead for Fairy Falls, which we didn’t go to, but on the internet looks quite impressive and warrants a visit sometime in the future.
Back on the road for less than a mile, we finally came across one of the major attractions along our path, Multnomah Falls and the Multnomah Falls Lodge. We easily found parking (As we did at all the falls, this being a low season. However, it appears that from May-September the “Waterfall Corridor” is rocking, and you actually need a timed permit to park).
We walked the .2 miles up the trail to the bridge overlooking the main falls and stood there with the spray blowing up. I’ve never been to Niagara Falls, but I imagine that this is just a fraction of what that must be like.
On the way back to the car I saw this Union Pacific sign and had to take a picture, then when I got home I did some research and came up with a little background on the sign and the bridge.
Back onto Hwy 30 a couple minutes up the road we stopped at Oneonta Tunnel which has a pretty cool history itself.
After a quick photo session we headed another couple hundred yards down the Hwy until we came to our last waterfall of the day, Horsetail Falls.
After all that hiking around everyone was ready for lunch. I had planned to have us stop at noon at the Bridgeside restaurant at the base of the Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks, OR and at 1155 we pulled into the parking lot.
B3 and I both opted for the Char Burger, and I got mine with a fried egg. It’s no wonder this roadside eatery has been serving up great food in some form or fashion since 1963.
Stocking up on some handmade chocolates and coffee from their gift shop, we headed back out and started to gain elevation as we headed around the back side of Mt Hood.
Just outside of the town of Mt Hood, heading south on Hwy 35, we saw signs for fresh hard cider and decided to stop in at the Draper Girls Country Farm to check out their fruit stand and old country store.
Kay bought some apples, and B3 and I tasted and bought a couple growlers of hard apple cider. Then we all headed outside to a rather large swing with Mt Hood in the background.
The Hwy continues for another 35 miles or so to the south before turning west, heading back towards Portland. Just east of Government Camp we came upon the exit for the Timberline Lodge and we proceeded to head up Mt Hood toward the ski lodge. After winding back and forth for six miles we neared the lodge and pulled over to grab another pic and to take in the view of the mountain and the ski lift on the left side of the slope.
After a quick drive through the lodge parking lot we headed back down the mountain, and completed our journey back home, going through Boring and Damascus. We had planned to stop at Agave Azul in Gresham, but we were running ahead of schedule and it wasn’t quite dinnertime yet.
With our hearts still set on Mexican food, after we got home we ordered from La Naranja and B3 and I both got the quesabirra tacos… I just love their braised beef birria tacos and I especially like that they have the sauce on the side and that they haven’t pre-drenched the tacos in the sauce. Birria tacos can get messy, but I hate it when the sauce is running down to my elbows. I froze the remaining birria sauce to use at a later date because that is gold.
And that wrapped up Day 5. Tomorrow we head south to Lake Oswego, Oregon City and beyond.
Originally published on NW Wondering Wanderer
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