Dream Date Hike Triple Falls

Today we went out the gorge and hiked up a little past Triple Falls, about 4.5 miles altogether.  We got an early enough start that it wasn't too busy on the way up but the crowds were pretty bad on the way down.  Lots of tourists without any trail etiquette.

Horsetail Falls from the parking lot

Coming up on Ponytail Falls.  You can see theRock of Ages trail start on the left there.  It's not one I have ever taken.  Too steep for me.

Behind Ponytail Falls

Oneonta Falls

A large section of the trail went out winter before last.  The new part is quite steep and not as stable as I would like.

I didn't even take a photo of Triple Falls.  We walked past it to a spot on the creek and hung out for a while.

John hardly ever takes a picture of me and these came out pretty well.

There were several big trees down along the trail.  We had some heavy rains the last few falls.  That plus the trail usage probably did them in.

Dream Date Hike Ecola State Park

Last week we drove to Ecola State Park just north of Cannon Beach.  John needed some sea air.

Those are surfers in wet suits at Indian Beach.  Surfing is pretty good in Oregon but the water is cold.

 Our hike took us along Tillamook head with a view of the old Tillamook lighthouse known as Terrible Tillie.  It was very treachorous to build and take care of.  In storms the waves often go over the top of the lighthouse and sometimes the water would extinguish the light.

Source

But we were there on a pretty calm day.

 This is the road inside Ecola State Park.

The traffic was pretty bad when we got close to Portland even on a Tuesday.  The traffic is getting worse and worse in Portland.

Beautiful light on Eagle Creek Trail

This section is covered in now dormant mosses.  Most of the year it is green and dripping.

Salmon spawning and dead

Early Second Spring

Yesterday we went for a dream date hike to Triple Falls in the Columbia Gorge.  It's a favorite of mine.  It's been a while since I made it to Triple Falls.  Last winter a slide destroyed a section of the trail.  That happens to gorge trails fairly often in the winter, especially in places where people cut through rather than following the trail.  They re-routed the trail and the new part is very steep and more like hiking on scree.  I don't like it one bit.  I sure hope they fix it better than this.  Down is always much worse than up and I worried about the way down.  I made it, but I didn't like it.  Other than that, it was a lovely day and my body did well with the hike.  I am very happy about that.

When the rains start in the fall, we have what I call second spring.  This summer was exceptionally hot and dry.  Many things went dormant for a long time.  We had some rain last week and the ferns are coming back to life in the gorge.  They looked so fresh and green.  This is a very early second spring.

Ponytail falls

 That's John walking behind the falls.  He told me to be quick about the photo.  He doesn't like being under all that overhanging rock.

Middle Oneonta Falls

Short hike on Triple Falls trail

We went for a hike, hoping to get further than we did.  My knee started complaining and we turned around after about half a mile.  What a drag.  I take knee pain seriously because I know my knees can be slow to heal.

Still, it was nice to be out although it was very dry.  It made me wince to look and it made John afraid that just one spark could start a huge fire.

There is John, just to the right of the waterfall.  He is very small...

Eagle Creek Hike to High Bridge

We hiked at Eagle Creek today.  We went last week as well, leaving the house by 7 am-ish and getting started before the summer hordes.  We went as far as High Bridge.  I met a woman who recognized me from THIS blog.  That was cool.  She is quite a hiker and went to Twister Falls today.  You can see her blog post and photos here.

It was very very dry...scary dry.

Here we are meeting AnnMarie, who reads my blog.