Pacific NW

Monday, 29 October 2018

Pacific NW - Mt. Baker Scenic Byway

We hit some pretty spectacular places in the Pacific Northwest on a road trip this past September. Over three weeks, we drove a figure eight through Washington and Oregon in a rented car. From Seattle, we drove up to Mt. Baker near the Canadian border, then drove the Scenic Highway through the North Cascades National Park to Winthrop; turned south to Mt. Rainier National Park, head west via Mt. St. Helens to the Oregon Coast; from there inland to Crater Lake, John Day Painted Hills, north to Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge, Portland, then up to the Olympic Peninsula before completing the top of the loop in Seattle. 

We were mostly lucky weather-wise, with at most a couple days of rain in the entire three weeks. But the mountains could be elusive, even in dry weather. Low clouds would do it and we never saw Mt. Baker in the two and a half days we spent in Mt. Baker National Forest.  Them's the breaks!  

Please join me as I take you through this scenic journey - the best thing looking back at the trip, was the flexibility of stopping whenever we wanted and not encountering a single tourist bus at any of the sites visited!

When we arrived at Mt. Baker, the forecast was for rain all of the following day. So even though it was late afternoon, we took the Mt. Baker Scenic Byway into the park in the hopes of seeing the mountains before the rain. Unfortunately, it had already clouded over and all we saw was the foot of Mt. Shuksan above the ski lodge.  We drove up to the lakes where there would have been reflections of the mountains - but it was too late.

The following day we took the ranger's advice to visit Nooksack Falls as it was wet, more water wouldn't hurt! It turned out to be a perfect day to get silky waterfalls without a filter because of the dark skies. The other lucky thing was we encountered two rainbows in our drive through the park - sure helped us stay positive!  The misty mountains were magical and Heather Meadows was beautiful with its fall colours even in the rain.

We woke up the following morning to blue skies although there were still some low clouds. It was our last morning in the area so we made full use of the time re-doing the drive through the park that we did the day before. It was amazing how a little change in the weather could make the scenery look completely different.  Seeing the reflections of the mountains in the lakes made all the difference!  You could see below the before and after shots of Mt. Shuksan although we never saw Mt. Baker - it was still hidden from view in spite of the blue skies!

PRACTICAL TIPS:
- Plan to stay more than one night in any location on a road trip. Allow for time for the weather to change.
- Always dress in layers (or at least have them handy) with hat, scarf and gloves ready as the weather changes very quickly in the mountains. At one point on that rainy day, the temperature dropped more than 10 degrees within an hour as we drove up to Artist Point at 5,100 feet.
- You don't have to drive all the way up to Artist Point to see the mountains. You could see Mt. Shuksan before you get to Heather Meadows.  On a clear day, there should be a beautiful reflection of the mountain at Picture Lake. This is likely the best spot in the late afternoon for that iconic photo.  We were there in the morning and the mountain was backlit.

View of the ski lodge at the foot of the mostly hidden Mt. Shuksan

Nooksack Falls from above - I was a little leary of making it further down as the wet rocks were slippery.  But glad I did because the full view of the falls were quite different

Nooksack Falls - two of the trio anyway

Double rainbow on our drive through the park - the second one is only barely visible on the top right. There was this eerie light shining just on that particular spot on the mountains.

Mountains can be particularly beautiful when it's wet!

This photo of the area around Picture Lake was actually prettier than the one I took the following day when it was sunny!

The second rainbow at Heather Meadows 

Heather Meadows

Morning reflection of these mountains. The hike around Picture Lake is easy, accessible, and rewarding. You have your pick of mountain reflections - particularly pretty with fall colours.

Reflection of Mt. Shukshan, which was backlit.  Late afternoon would have been a better time for photos, weather permitting!  But we were happy to even see it!

Table Mountain - seen on the way up to Artist Point

Table Mountain reflected in the lake

Glimpse of mountains amongst the clouds from Artist Point Trail

Mt. Shuksan backlit but fully visible.  Compare this with the title photo - what a difference a day makes!

Next post:  North Cascades Scenic Highway

Monday, 5 November 2018

North Cascades

The North Cascades Scenic Highway (Hwy 20) was just a couple of hours drive from Mt. Baker and it didn't take us long to get to our first stop at the Newhalem Visitor Centre. There is a viewing deck behind the visitor centre with a splendid view of the Picket Range - perfect place for a picnic lunch.  The visitor centre gave us a list of places to stop for views and we just followed along. The highway itself was a beautiful road to drive, hardly any traffic when we were there, and perfectly engineered so that you can go around curves comfortably at the prescribed speed without having to step on your brakes - what I would call a BMW kind of road (except we were driving a Hyundai Elantra)! 

The star attraction on the main stretch of highway was Diablo Lake, with its turquoise colour typical of glacial lakes. There were lots of pullouts along the highway and very few cars so we were able to stop whenever we chose to. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at the spectacular Washington Pass with its view of Liberty Bell.  It was a good thing that we had planned to come back this way the following day as the massif was backlit and it was hard to get a good picture.  

We spent the night in Winthrop, a small town dressed up like a western movie set. Quaint, but not much in town worth seeing and not much other than pub food in most restaurants. The two "fine dining" restaurants were closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so we ended up eating both nights at the Duck Brand, the only restaurant in town that is not a pub or a  pizzeria. In the morning we drove back up Hwy 20 towards Washington Pass, stopped there for photos, this time in better light and then on to the trailhead a few miles away to begin our hike.

The Blue Lake Trail was one of the easiest trails in the National Park but we were slow and it took us two and a half hours just to hike the 2.5 miles. There was an elevation gain of 1000 ft. so there were a lot of switchbacks. It was a good thing there was a beautiful alpine meadow at the halfway point - it was good incentive to push on. People we met coming down from the top were very encouraging and of course the view of the peaceful blue lake encircled by mountains made it all worthwhile.  There were views of Liberty Bell from different perspectives, at the top and also coming down.

The following day we drove south on the way to Mt. Rainier but took a detour to drive part of the south loop of the scenic highway to Leavenworth - dressed up as a Bavarian town. We had our picnic by the river before heading into town for ice cream and a taste of Bavaria - as expected, it was not quite the experience we had when we were actually in Bavaria earlier this year. 

Practical tips: 
1. It is true, it is better to drive the North Cascades Scenic Highway from east to west.  The mountain views approaching the Washington Pass from the east were quite breathtaking and I had to pull out several times to take photos.  Driving east from the Washington Pass the first day, we missed those views.
2. Plan to stop at Washington Pass for photos in the early morning rather than in the late afternoon. The sun is on Liberty Bell in the morning while it is backlit in the later afternoon. 

Picket Range view from the Newhalem Visitor Centre

Diablo Lake

Washington Pass

View of Liberty Bell from the Washington Pass overlook

Tree at the overlook

Looking east from Washington Pass overlook

View going west just before Washington Pass

Bridge in Winthrop

Winthrop

Along the Blue Lake Trail - this is the easy part

Alpine meadow at halfway point on the trail

View of the massif from the trail

The only larch tree we saw - initially thought it was spruce turned yellow!

The reward at the end of the trail

We ate lunch sitting on that rock on the lake, not realizing Liberty Bell was right above us until we took a walk after lunch

Hard to beat that for a picnic view

Unexpected find at the end of the hike - first sighting of a Steller's Jay

The beautiful drive south along WA-97

Leavenworth - faux Bavarian town complete with Maypole and horse-drawn carriage

Colourful balconies at the Bavarian Hotel

Wednesday, 14 November 2018

Mt. Rainier National Park

We arrived at Mt. Rainier National Park in the late afternoon after a relatively smooth drive along WA-97 with lots of fall colours already visible.  We drove up to our first viewpoint in the National Park to see Mt. Rainier floating above the clouds - what a wonderful welcome.  We then drove by Reflection Lakes on the way to our lodgings at Longmire and joined the photographers there watching the sun's reflection on the mountain disappear as it set.  It would be the only time we would see that even though we stayed in the park for three nights.   

 

Mt. Rainier at sunset

The following day was cloudy and the mountains were enshrouded in low clouds. It was a good time to photograph the waterfalls - they were all in low light allowing for the slow shutter speed required for silky waters.  We visited Narada Falls and Christine Falls with the lovely old stone bridge above it.  Christine Falls (below) is split into two sections, the top half is on the opposite side of the road. 

 

Top half of Christine Falls

Bottom half

 

Narada Falls

We headed to the Paradise Visitor Centre, the main centre in the Park. There is a beautiful Alpine meadow just behind the visitor centre with its red and yellow fall colours on display.  Little did we know we were missing something on that first day. We did the short hike up to Myrtle Falls and took the requisite photos. It was only when we went back to the Inn and saw a photo of Myrtle Falls that we realized the mountain was missing from ours!  You can see the before and after photos of the falls below.

Myrtle Falls without Mt. Rainier

Myrtle Falls with Mt. Rainier

Beautiful fall colours on the slopes

We also did a hike to Nisqually Vista to see the Nisqually glacier, which sadly has retreated all the way up to the mountain.  The Nisqually River valley was completely dry.

Nisqually Glacier in the distance - it has retreated considerably. Mountain behind the clouds.

We saw some wildlife while we were on the hikes.

A marmot

I think this is a dark-eyed junco

A real Bambi!

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw tadpoles in one of the Alpine ponds!

This little chipmunk was right at the Visitor Centre waiting for scraps!

 
We were debating whether to stay on for a third night or forefeit our room charge as the forecast was for rain or snow the following day. It was a good thing that we waited till the morning to decide as we woke up to blue skies! So much for mountain weather forecasts!  We saw the mountain and its almost perfect reflection in the lake - even as we were leaving, the water had started to ripple and the reflection was already changing.  We revisited Paradise, took pictures of the meadow with the mountain atop and also retraced our steps to Myrtle Falls just so we could replicate that photo we saw at the Inn - with the mountain above the falls!

Mt. Rainier on a clear monring

Reflection Lake

Mt. Rainier above the meadow behind the Visitor Centre - absent on our first day!

  We then debated whether to do the 2 hour drive over to Sunrise, the visitor centre on the other side of the mountain that would give us a glimpse of the northern slopes of Mt. Rainier. Our main concern being the long drive and given the changeable weather and the appearance of clouds near the top, it could be hit or miss. We decided to take the gamble and made it to Sunrise in under two hours.  A short hike took us to the viewpoint where we could see the north side of Mt. Rainier with its glaciers.  It was worth the drive as it looked quite different from the south face.

The North face of Mt. Rainier from Sunrise

Mt. Adams in the distance

On our way back to our lodgings, we drove by the Grove of the Patriarchs trail and because it was too early for sunset, we decided to take a hike in the grove just to pass the time. This afterthought turned out to be a great hike with lots of amazing trees to see.  And of course, there was no point in rushing as there was no visible sunset that day either.  But we've seen Rainier in all its glory so we left the following day feeling blessed even though it was pouring rain...

Some striking ranges in the National Park

Giant red cedars, wetsern hemlocks and douglas firs abound in the grove.  Some of the cedars are close to a thousand years old.

Root of the giant cedar

Twins 

Our next stop was Mt. St. Helens but we didn't see much because of the rain. It also happened to be National Parks Day with free entrance so there was a crowd there to watch the two interesting films on the eruption and the regeneration of the mountain.  We were again grateful for a brief stop in the rain and a brief lifting of the clouds to allow us to at least see the foot of the crater and the broad expanse of the Toutle River valley below the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  It was impressive nevertheless.  Moral of the story - never allow just one day for an important destination!

PRACTICAL TIPS:
1. Grab your opportunity to take photos of a scene when you saw it, don't wait for another day or even another moment. The moment could disappear even as you hesitated and likely would never appear in the same form again. 
2. Take all forecasts, especially in the mountains, with a grain of salt.  What you see is what you get. Don't plan too far ahead but do always dress in layers.
3. The ranger at any of the Park Visitor Centres could look up the mountain views for you, whether you could see the mountain top or not. This is useful if you want to see what it's like at Sunrise when you were in Paradise and vice versa, they are on opposite sides of the mountain. Of course, there are no guarantees that conditions will remain the same by the time you get there as they are a two-hour drive apart.

View of the foot of the Mt. St. Helens crater and the Toutle Valley (from Johnston Ridge)

Monday, 3 December 2018

The dramatic Oregon coast - North

The Oregon coast was one of the main reasons for our road trip in the Pacific Northwest and we were thrilled that it was as awesome as we had expected it to be. It was just a couple of hours from Mt. St. Helens and we drove out of the rain as we approached Astoria, in the northern part of the coast.

Cannon Beach at dusk

We only stopped in Astoria at the northern end of the coast for a short break to stretch our legs along the waterfront. There were a lot of old pier pilings, remnants of Astoria's heyday as a cannery town. Now the old railway running behind the cannery is being used for local tourist transit, complete with conductor and bell.

At the Astoria waterfront

Astoria-Megler Bridge - old pilings at the waterfront from the old cannery

The old rail is now being used by a sightseeing tram

We made it to Tolovana Beach right next to Cannon Beach just before sunset. As luck would have it, the weather had cleared just enough to allow me to take a few pictures with the dramatic clouds still around. We must have walked a mile on the beach when it started to rain. By the time we got back to our waterfront hotel, we were drenched. But then it cleared again giving us a dramatic Pacific sunset - it was all worth it! 

Cannon Beach at the blue hour

Cannon Beach by day

Tillamook Rock Light off Ecola State Park

Ecola State Park

I had been hoping to see some shorebirds at Ecola State Park but there were only surfers! I think we were too early for migration - they are probably still in Canada on their way south. I did see a lonely juvenile spotted sandpiper near a culvert as we left after spending some time watching surfers.

As we headed south towards Yachats, where we were going to spend the following two nights, we came across a beautiful art deco bridge, the Yaquina Bay Bridge built by engineer Conde McCullough. We were to see two more of his bridges in the time we were on the coast.

Yaquina Bay Bridge - note the art deco columns

The Tourist Information office at Cannon Beach gave us "The Original Highway 101 Mile-by-Mile Guide" by the Oregon Coast Magazine - it was extremely helpful for our drive as it covers mile by mile the key sights along the highway. We stopped in Garibaldi to take the iconic photo of the Pier's End, stopped in Bay City to have an oyster snack at The Fish Pedlar - Pacific Oysters, then the obligatory stop at the Tillamook Dairy to try their cheese and line up for ice cream.  All this snacking made the drive longer than we expected, especially when part of the Three Capes Scenic Drive was closed and we had to make a detour, making it so late that we didn't have time to stop on this scenic drive which rather defeated the purpose.

But we made it to Yachats before the dining room at the hotel closed!  Yachats turned out to be a quiet little town, not busy like Cannon Beach. Thanks to the local experts on Tripadvisor for recommending it.

Pier's End, Garibaldi

The surf in front of our hotel in Yachats

Yaquina Head Lighthouse - the whales were right near the promontory

The following morning we drove north again to cover all the places we skipped the day before. The Yaquina Head Lighthouse stood out on a promontory and we lucked out when we joined a small crowd that had gathered to watch the whales frisking around quite close to shore.  When we got to Depoe Bay, they got even closer. We stood on the seawall and they put on a show right in front of us.

Whale spouting - see how little the duck looked beside it!

Here's the head...                               

...and here's the tail

The so-called "Devil's Punchbowl" was a little disappointing, even though we were there at high tide, there wasn't much action there - maybe our timing was wrong. I could see how if there was a huge surf and everything got pushed through the hole, it could be quite spectacular.

Seal Rock State Recreation Area

We managed to get back to our hotel before sunset - it was great that our dining room had the perfect sunset view so I was able to get out to capture the sunset while we were waiting for dinner!  But really, the best sunset was the one at Cannon Beach with the rain clouds.

 PRACTICAL TIPS:
- make sure you visit the tourist information centres at your first stop on the coast to get the publication "The Original HIghway 101 Mile-by-mile Guide". It's free and literally tells you what to see at every mile down the highway.
- allow enough time when you're driving any of the scenic drives because you have to get out of the car and sometimes walk a bit to see the scenery. One of the access to the Three Capes Scenic Drive was closed and google doesn't seem to realize that.



Next Post: Cape Perpetua, Bandon and the Oregon Dunes

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

The dramatic Oregon coast - South

We didn't realize it at the time but our last two days on the Oregon coast turned out to be the most exciting ones. Cape Perpetua, a volcanic remnant a short drive from Yachats, has some very dramatic rock formations which provided some phenomenal seascapes.

Cape Perpetua in the distance

Based on online suggestions, we visited the area at high tide to get the highest waves crashing against the coastline with its myriads of rock formations like the Devil's Churn, Thor's Well and Spouting Horn. We checked the tide tables before we headed out and it truly was quite a spectacle.

"Spouting Horn" - the tide rushed up Cook's Chasm (first sighted by Captain Cook) then spouted through a hole - endless fascination for spectators waiting to see the highest spout...

Another spout where the tide went almost underground then spouted through this break in the surface

It was mind-boggling watching some photographers risk their lives to take that "must-have" iconic shot. You can see below how one over the top wave or one slip of the foot could have sent these two photographers hovering over Thor's Well into the ocean. The swell at high tide must have been over 10 feet before it hit the outside wall of the well.

Half an hour before high tide at Thor's Well

High tide at Thor's Well - you can't see the other side of the well

One of the many chasms along this stretch that allowed the tide to rush in and create whipped cream like swirls

Heceta Head LIghthouse just before Florence - we took the trail leading up to this historic lighthouse that sends out the strongest beam of light on the Coast. The view down the coast from the lighthouse was quite pretty and worth the hike. The historic lighthouse keeper's quarters are now a bed and breakfast - it was full when we tried to book it six months before our trip - obviously a popular destination.

 

 

 

 

View from the Lighthouse

After Cape Perpetua, the Oregon Dunes was the most unique feature in the south. The dunes stretched from Florence down to North Bend. We saw one section of the dunes near Florence on our way down to Bandon Beach where we spent our last two nights on the Oregon coast. 

View from the Oregon Dunes Overlook - the dunes stretched all the way down the coast

Looking down at the trail from the overlook

 

 

Bandon was just an hour from the dunes so we were able to visit the southern section of the Oregon dunes the following day. We would have missed this even more spectacular section of the dunes if we didn't see a photo of the Dellenback Dunes in the "Mile-by-Mile" publication.


The Dellenback trail is 5.5miles over sand all the way to the sea, not an easy hike. We opted just to do the 1 mile interpretive loop trail which took us to the huge sand dunes and gave us a taste of the desert without being too strenuous. We felt our knees nevertheless the following day because it was tough walking in sand.

The Dellenback Dunes are further south and seemed bigger.

Not quite the Sahara but good enough...

Curvaceous!

Bandon Beach was even more spectacular than Cannon Beach, more remote and much quieter. This whole southern stretch is very scenic and much less commercialized than the north coast. Close to Bandon are a couple of coastal lookouts - FaceRock Park and Coquille Point with Bandon Beach in between.  They provide views of Bandon Beach from the north and south. 

View from FaceRock State Park

View from Coquille Point

We also took the scenic drive to Shore Acres State Park, which used to be the grand estate of timber baron Louis Simpson. It included a formal garden, an Oriental garden, hiking trails and its own private beach.

View from Shore Acres

The formal garden inside the estate

The Oriental Garden

The secluded private beach

Along the scenic drive, there are lookouts on a sea lion colony. Somewhere north along Hwy 101 is a business charging quite a few bucks for you to visit their sea lion cave but didn't guarantee a sea lion sighting. Skip that and come here to watch the sea lions cavort in the waves instead.

Sea lion colony

Several pods of pelicans returning home in late afternoon near Shore Acres

The Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge on the way south to Bandon

We made sure we arrived back at our Inn before dark so we could enjoy sunset on the beach. It was a cold and windy evening so the beach was deserted, but the sunset was spectacular. It was our last evening on the coast - surely a place we would like to come back to.

View from our balcony - miles of beach and not a soul

Goodnight, Bandon!

 Next post: Heading inland to Crater Lake

Sunday, 23 December 2018

Crater Lake and Painted Hills (Central Oregon)

Our primary destination in Central Oregon was really the Painted Hills; we stopped by Crater Lake just to break up the drive and also because it seems to be on many tour itineraries.  
 

This was the reason we drove 500 kms from the Oregon Coast!

The drive from Bandon on the Oregon coast to Crater Lake was quite scenic and it only took us a few hours to get to Crater Lake. We had a lunch stop at a fish hatchery (learned something new!) and a couple of photo stops on the way, mainly at the North Umpqua River which ran beside the highway OR-138, Oregon Scenic Byway. An interesting wood bridge caught my eye as I drove and I stopped to photograph this unusual wooden bridge that was built on the piers of an old bridge. Tioga Bridge was very photogenic as was the river with its fall colours.

Tioga Bridge on the North Umpqua River and the view from it

Crater Lake was unfortunately shrouded in a smoky haze from a nearby fire. But I could still see it could be a very scenic lake. One thing to note is that signage is very poor in this park and it took us several drive-bys to find several of the lookouts, including the Phantom Ship which did look rather mysterious in the haze that was on the lake when we first saw it. By the time we got to the Sun Notch lookout, we could see it clearly with the setting sun shining right on it - it made the steep uphill hike worthwhile.

Crater Lake

The rims of the crater are obvious in spite of the smoke

 

"Phantom Ship"

Another deer encounter

Sunset at Crater Lake

Crater Lake Inn was full when we first looked at booking a room six months earlier - it was worth a stop with its Arts and Crafts style interior.

 We had to spend the night at a sketchy roadside motel as there was nothing much around. The dining room was closed due to a power outage so we had to drive further down the highway to a casino to get some food. As expected the food was cheap, but the pork steak was unexpectedly delicious.

The following morning, we drove to John Day Painted Hills via Bend. We stopped for lunch in Pioneer Park and saw a man taking fly-fishing lessons on the river. That was a great photo op with the fall colours as backdrop. 

This extended lunch, including a walk by the river, plus unanticipated traffic on the highway delayed our arrival at the Painted Hills so we barely made it before the golden hour. I was able to catch the light at Panorama Point, but by the time we got to the Painted Cove, the light was gone. We barely caught what was left on the top of the Red Hill; as you can see in the photos below - having the golden light could make a huge difference. It was all pretty awesome. We went back again the next morning, but the morning light wasn't the same as the golden light. The panorama was a far cry from what we saw the afternoon before.

The different layers of the Painted Hills correspond to different geological eras, formed when the area was an ancient river floodplain. The red colour came from the laterite soil that was formed by floodplain deposits when the area was moist and humid. (Wikipedia) It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon.

View from Panorama Point during the golden hour

 

Painted Cove near the end of the golden hour

Three different shades on the same hill - but no gold

Below - three different aspects of the Red Hill at three different times of day

The Red Hill was a little higher than Painted Cove so we were able to just catch the sun on it - you can't buy this gold!

More deer at sunset

Lizard at the cove

Practical Tips:
- Beware of missing or misleading signage at Crater Lake National Park
- Painted Hills - make sure you arrive at least three hours or more before sunset to allow enough time to see the setting sun on the painted hills.  As the Painted Cove is not very high, they will be dark already if the sun is too low, even though you may still be able to see it in the sky. It made all the difference if the sun is on the red hills.
- The Oregon Hotel in Mitchell, where we spent the night is quite quaint - a historic hotel from 1905 twice rebuilt because of fire. It is also the only hotel in Mitchell and we saw people being turned away because the place was full. Always book ahead as there is nothing else around, unless you're camping!


Next post: Mt. Hood area

Sunday, 13 January 2019

The famous Columbia River Gorge

From the Painted Hills in Central Oregon, we headed up north to Mt. Hood. It was only a three hour drive on a sunny day and we decided to head right up to Mt. Hood in case it's not visible in the morning (and it wasn't!). While we could see it clearly, it was disappointingly flat - wrong time of day? The iconic Timberline Lodge was more attractive and we made it just in time for lunch in the Cascade restaurant.  Oregon pork is so delicious!  You can see from the photos below the impressive interior. 

We then headed to the famous Trillium Lake, hoping for some reflections but it looked like late afternoon was not a good time for that; we went again in the morning and there was no reflection either. It was a busy lake and quite big - not conducive to reflections. Our original plan was to do a hike to Mirror Lake which would have given us a better reflection because it is supposedly smaller and much quieter.  But we have been on the road for 2 weeks now and getting a little tired so decided to take it easy. Afterall we had seen quite a few lake reflections in the past two weeks.

The Columbia River Gorge was famous for its waterfalls. Unfortunately, because of a recent fire, parts of the scenic historic Columbia River Highway was closed and we had to take the Interstate to get to the various falls the following morning. Our first stop was Bridal Veil Falls, reached by a short but steep hike downhill. It did look like a pretty bridal veil. The next stop was the iconic Multnomah Falls; we had been warned that this was always crowded and there were sign boards on the highway directing visitors to take a shuttle from a nearby park because of limited parking at the Falls. We decided to take our chances even though it was a Sunday and did manage to park at the Falls. It was a short walk from the parking lot. The Falls were indeed awesome but was the most crowded of all the sights we have visited in the past two weeks.  But since the crowds did not really affect the view of the falls, it was not a big deal.

We continued east going up the gorge visiting the Bonneville Dam with its interesting fish ladder, then Starvation Creek State Park to view another tall waterfall. There was supposed to be another waterfall at Mosier but we couldn't find it and it was getting late in the day so we headed up to Panorama Point. But the light was already gone by the time we got up there - time to go back to the hotel.

Excited about visiting Portland the following day!

Mt. Hood from Trillium Lake

Mt. Hood from Timberline Lodge

The impressive lobby of Timberline Lodge, built of Oregon woods during the Great Depression

The stairs

Light fixtures

Bridal Veil Falls

Multnomah Falls

Starvation Creek State Park Falls

Columbia River

Next post:  Portland