Hike - Falls Creek Falls

Falls Creek Falls

The hike to Falls Creek Falls is one of my favorite waterfall hikes in the Pacific Northwest. The falls and Falls Creek are spectacular, especially in late winter or spring when the water flow is high. The falls are made up of three tiers starting with an upper tier at 109 feet, a second tier at 135 feet and a final tier at 91 feet that plunges into a narrow amphitheater gorge. At high-water levels, the falls are pretty loud and surrounded by a refreshing cloud of spray.

Falls Creek

The trail to the falls is a relatively easy 1.7-mile hike that parallels Falls Creek and includes two bridges, one of which is a cable suspension bridge that spans a spectacular rock gorge. 

Cable suspension bridge

The road to the falls had a lot of pot holes but was passable. The pit toilet at the trail head was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced. 

Falls Creek from suspension bridge

Falls Creek cable suspension bridge

Hike - Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge, Washington

Trailhead

The Catherine Creek Arch loop trail is one of my all-time favorite springtime Columbia River Gorge hikes. It’s a relatively easy hike with beautiful views of the Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood in the distance on clear days.

Buddy

On this day (May 7, 2024), it was partly cloudy and clouds hid Mt. Hood but the views were still spectacular. We saw lots of wildflowers including bitterroot, arrowleaf balsamroot, triteleia, lupine, lomatium and others.

Looking south

Things seemed a bit drier than the last time I hiked here (May 3, 2017), which may have limited the number of wildflowers this time. I also think there were more ticks last time. The trail was in good shape, and we had no problems crossing the creek on a make-shift plank. 

Bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva)

Arrowleaf Balsamroot

Catherine Creek Arch

Hike - Augsburger Mountain, Washington

Trailhead

According to multiple websites, the Augsburger Mountain trail is a difficult 12.5-mile hike with a 4,400-foot elevation gain. That being said, we opted for a shorter 3.7 mile hike that starts from the Augsburger Mountain trailhead and loops back on the Dog Mountain trail.

 Buddy Boy

The lower section of the trail was moderately steep hiking through Douglas-fir / White Oak forest with hardly any understory. The only wildflowers we saw were a few Nuttall's Toothwort (Cardamine nuttallii).

Nuttall's Toothwort

Not too far up the trail we came to a sign saying, “Old Loggers Trail” that we assumed was the trail that connected to the Dog Mountain trail. We followed the “Old Loggers Trail” to the east hoping it was the correct trail.

Old Loggers Trail

This section of the trail was fairly level and offered a few glimpses of the Columbia River Gorge to the south. Thankfully the trail did connect to the Dog Mountain trail where there was a sign showing two options to reach Dog Mountain, “Difficult” and “More Difficult”. 

Dog Mountain trail

Having hiked to Dog Mountain before, I knew the sign wasn’t kidding. All in all, it was an OK day hike but I don’t think it will make my top 10 list. 

Looking south towards Columbia River from Old Loggers Trail

Hike - Rodney Falls & Pool of WInds

Hiked with friends to Rodney Falls and Pool of Winds on the Hamilton Mountain trail. According to the trailhead sign, the hike to Rodney Falls is a moderately difficult hike of only about 1.25 miles. The Pool of Winds lies at the foot of Rodney Falls where there's a small natural viewing area that makes it possible to look into the narrow opening where the pool is. 

The water falling into the pool pushes the air out of a narrow opening resulting in a rush of wind; hence the name, "Pool of Winds". The water then cascades down a long slope sounding similar to a jet airplane taking off. Both Rodney Falls and Pool of Winds are awesome and well worth the hike. Going on a weekday worked out

nice since the trail is quite popular and can get crowded. The trail was a bit muddy in places with a down tree in one spot. Otherwise, easy peasy. 

Hike - Lewis River Falls Trail

The Lewis River Falls Trail on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest is absolutely stunning! I first experienced the trail back in August 2000 when I rode my mountain bike on the "Pedal the Pinchot" ride from the Curly Creek trailhead to the Lower Lewis River Falls.

I swore to go back again soon but only just recently returned to hike the Lewis River Falls Trail from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls. The awesome Lower, Middle and Upper waterfalls and amazing old-growth Douglas-fir / Western Red Cedar / Hemlock forest make this one of the most spectacular hikes and rides in the PNW region!

Lower Lewis River Falls

Lewis River Falls Trail

Lewis River Falls Trail

Middle Lewis River Falls

Picnicing at Middle Lewis River Falls

Amazing old-growth Douglas-fir tree 

Buddy Boy hiking the Lewis River Falls trail

Upper Lewis River Falls

Hike - June Lake, Gifford Pinchot NF, Washington

Hiked with friends and Buddy Boy (the dog) to June Lake on July 4, 2023. The hike was an easy 2.9 mile out-and-back from the trailhead. Not surprisingly, it was somewhat busy with hikers and dogs. 

June Lake is located on the south side of Mount St. Helens just inside Mount St. Helens NVM (National Volcanic Monument). The trailhead, however, is located outside the NVM in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. 

June Lake is beautiful, surrounded by trees and lava fields with a 70-foot waterfall on the far side. We had hoped to get a view of Mount St. Helens, but were only able to get a glimpse of the mountain from along the trail. 

Being somewhat determined, we decided we needed to find a spot with a view of Mount St. Helens. So, we drove down forest road 83 and up forest road 81 to a spot where we were able to find a picnic spot with a great view of the mountain and some gnarly lava fields in the foreground 

View of Mt St Helens from forest road 81

Buddy Boy wading in June Lake

Wide angle view of June Lake 

Hike - Beacon Rock, WA

Beacon Rock trail

Beacon Rock located in Beacon Rock State Park, WA is one of my all-time favorite hikes in the PNW region. I’ve hiked it many times and it’s an experience that leaves you breathless in more ways than one. A plaque at the base of Beacon Rock describes how the rock was first named by Captains Lewis and Clark on October 31,

 1805, on their journey to the Pacific Ocean.

Beacon Rock Plaque

It was later purchased in 1915 by Henry Biddle who built the trail to the top. A large portion of the trail consists of a metal framework with switch backs secured to the rock. The views along the trail are truly spectacular and the vista point at the top literally takes your breath away.

Beacon Rock trail

View from Beacon Rock

Hiking Beacon Rock with friends

3D Parallel and Cross View from Beacon Rock

Hike - Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge, Washington

Looking south towards Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood

It’s springtime and Carol and I decided we needed to find someplace where we could see wildflowers. So, after a little searching, we discovered the Catherine Creek Arch loop trail in the Columbia River Gorge. According to sources, Catherine Creek Recreation Area is one of the best places to see spring wildflowers in the Columbia River Gorge. On top of wildflowers, Catherine Creek is also known for its spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge. The trailhead is about 90 minutes east of Vancouver, WA between Bingen and Lyle on old Highway 8. According to our guidebook, there is a paved trail below the road that is accessible to wheelchairs. There’s also a longer unpaved trail above the road. 

Abandoned cattle corrals 

We opted for the unpaved trail which paralleled Catherine Creek and passed the Catherine Creek Arch and some abandoned cattle corrals. The trail continued north and crossed Catherine Creek on a makeshift wooden plank. It then looped towards the east and up onto a lava plateau.

Columbia River Gorge & Mt Hood

The view of the gorge from the plateau was spectacular with Mt. Hood in the distance. The wildflowers were also spectacular and included bitterroot, balsamroot, large flowered triteleia, Nuttall’s larkspur, lupine, lomatium, chocolate lily and others. 

Catherine Creek Arch

On the negative side, there were a few ticks and poison oak but all-in-all, Catherine Creek is likely destined to be one of my favorite springtime wildflower hikes.

Chocolate lily (Fritillaria affinis)

Delphinium (Delphinium nuttallii)

Lomatium (Lomatium sp)

Large flowered triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora)