24 September 2016
OK, I’m officially in a state of nirvana. The ultimate goal of this trip was to see Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge and I did it.
Many years ago, I saw a photo of this waterfall and decided I wanted to see this. The photograph was stunning and I did have an idea it could not be as beautiful as portrayed in the photo, but worth the effort to see it in any case. Boy, is this thing beautiful! More on this later.
I started out a little late this morning. I woke at 6 am and was on the road by 8 am. Wouldn’t you know it, it was a blue sky day with perfect temps in the low 30’s. As I drove past The Watchman on my way out of Crater Lake, I had a tremendous urge to stop and do the hike, but I was on a schedule and had already done the hike two years ago.
As I traveled, I kept seeing this snow covered peak. It finally dawned on me it was Mount Hood. As I got closer, it got more spectacular.
In any case, I headed to Columbia River gorge in Hood River, Oregon and checked into the historic Columbia River George Hotel. What a great place! My room was not ready (2 pm) so I decided to drive to Multonmah Falls to see what it would be like for tomorrow.
The place was a zoo. Cars were parked on the sides of the road and there was a back up of traffic forever. I tried to find a parking place to no avail, so I headed up the road and turned around, thinking of an early start the next day when a parking space opened up.
I did not realize how the falls were so close to the road and there is a restaurant and gift shop as well as a ranger station on the site. You can walk right up to the scene in everyone’s photos and the sight of the falls was everything I expected.
I decided while there, to walk to the bridge in the photo which was 0.2 miles away and when there decided what-the-hell, climb to the top. It was a mile in distance, straight up with 11 switchbacks. I can tell you it was a bit of a climb but I made it surprisingly well. The traffic on the trail was like Grand Central Station at rush hour. You needed traffic cops to sort it out.
What they didn’t tell you was the last switch back was downhill quite a ways, which meant a steep climb to the next to the last switchback on the return. It was worth the effort, worth the trip. Everything before and since has been icing on the cake.
I met a couple from Albuquerque and we got into a friendly banter about the trail, our itinerary, and retirement – he’s wanting to. Everyone on the trail was super friendly and realized how difficult the climb to the summit was and encouraged everyone along the way.
I returned to the hotel and had dinner there at Simon’s. This is a great old hotel with an elevator that must be operated by someone at the desk, like I remember as a kid – “3rd floor, men’s”. I had an outstanding halibut and I’m sorry to admit, 2 martinis – well, not really sorry.
The hotel sits on the banks of the Columbia River, impressive in it’s own right, and my window overlooks the river. On the wall of the rooms and in the hallways are the prints that I remembered as a kid from my grandparents of the golden age with lovers in swings, languid images of women staring into space, etc. To me, this was the art of the 1910’s and 1920’s before Art Deco.
My intention is to get up early-ish tomorrow and head back to that area of Multnomah Falls and see other waterfalls along historic highway 30.
So glad you weren’t disappointed. You sound positively elated, what a wonderful day for you.