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 - Wahclella Falls

Wahclella Falls

Wahclella Falls is one of my all-time favorite hikes in the Columbia River Gorge. It’s a very popular hike and the parking area fills up fast, especially when the weather is nice (Note: overflow parking is available). The hike is relatively easy and follows a 1.8-mile (2.9 km) loop trail that parallels Tanner Creek. The beginning of the trail passes within a couple feet of Munra Falls on a short footbridge. 

Munra Falls

Further along, the trail crosses over Tanner creek on two wooden footbridges. The first footbridge provides a great view of the steep canyon walls. The last footbridge is just below Wahclella Falls and crosses above a huge logjam which is the result of the 2017 Eagle Creek fire.

Logjam

Wahclella Falls are split into an upper and lower segment. The upper falls are somewhat hidden however the lower falls are quite spectacular with water gushing through a narrow basalt gorge into a beautiful plunge pool.

Munra Falls

Wahclella Falls

Footbridge over Tanner Creek

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

Road Trip - Burney Falls, CA

Burney Falls

On the second day of our road trip to southern California, we paid a visit to the McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park. Established in 1922, McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park is the second oldest park in the California State Park system. The park is best known for the spectacular 129-foot tall Burney Falls.To the people known today as the Pit River Indians, Burney Falls, or 'uts' i mi' wa, is a sacred place. Some say that President Theodore Roosevelt called the falls "the eighth wonder of the world." The McArthur family believed so strongly that the falls should be protected that they purchased the land and water rights and then sold them to the state for preservation as a park.

Hike - Ramona Falls

Ramona Falls Trailhead

I'm writing this post about 14 years after actually taking this hike so details may be a bit sketchy.  I'd almost forgot about the hike but I ran across a blog post about Ramona Falls that triggered my memory. Carol, Hobie (our dog) and I decided to take a hike to celebrate my birthday. I'm a bit of a pack-rat when it comes to saving photos so thankfully I was able to find photos from our hike. Based on photo metadata, I determined  we arrived at the trailhead around 12:15 pm and took about two hours to hike to the falls.

Sandy River & Mt Hood

The hike started out following the Sandy River trail and wound along the river with some nice views of Mt. Hood in the distance. It eventually crossed the Sandy River which I now realize can be a bit treacherous. Thankfully, the Forest Service had installed a seasonal foot bridge that made the crossing uneventful.

Carol & Hobie

After crossing the river, we soon arrived at a trail junction where the trail sign pointed left and right to Ramona Falls and right to the Pacific Crest Trail. Since either direction went to the falls, we decided to go left and then come back on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Steve & Hobie

We soon arrived at the falls which were quite amazing. The falls were fairly wide with water cascading down over about 120 feet of broken basalt columns. There was a small foot bridge at the base where it was possible to view the falls from below. We took pictures, shared some snacks and then headed back on the Pacific Crest Trail. This part of the trail was beautiful and followed Ramona Creek through lush green forest. We arrived back to the trail head at around 3:45 pm which put our hike at around 3 1/2 hours.   

Hike - Eagle Creek, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Eagle Creek Trailhead

I had heard the Eagle Creek trail was one of the most spectacular hikes in the Columbia River Gorge and a great hike for seeing waterfalls. Well, that was no lie. The Eagle Creek trail is amazing. 

Hobie & me

Unfortunately, it’s also one of the more popular hikes in the Columbia River Gorge. Our goal was to hike to Tunnel Falls which is about 12 miles out-and-back. We went on a weekday hoping to avoid the crowds.

Eagle Creek Trail

We arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 am and were happy to see the parking lot wasn’t too crowded. Overall, the trail was moderately difficult but mostly level with a few rough areas. I was a little worried about how our dog would do on a 12-mile hike, but other than making sure he had enough water, was on a leash and stayed on the trail, there were no problems. 

Eagle Creek Trail

Large sections of the trail are very narrow and literally carved into the basalt cliff with cable hand grips fastened to the cliff to help hikers stay on the trail. I had heard numerous reports of people or dogs falling off the trail and now I see how easy that would be. At 1 1/2 miles we saw Metlako Falls on the opposite side of Eagle Creek 

Metlako Falls

and at 2 miles, we came to Punch Bowl Falls which was accessible from a side trail. Punch Bowl Falls is beautiful and very photogenic but can be a challenge to get a photo without people in it. Luckily that wasn’t a problem this time. 

Punch Bowl Falls

At about 3 miles up the trail we came to High Bridge which crossed over the narrow gorge about 150 feet above Eagle Creek and offered a stunning view of the gorge and creek below.

High Bridge

A little further up the trail we passed a sign that described a fire that swept through the area in 1902. According to Wikipedia, it’s thought the fire was started by some boys trying to burn a nest of hornets.

Carol & Hobie on High Bridge

The fire spread and eventually became a part of a fire complex named the Yacolt Burn which burned about 239,000 acres and caused at least 65 deaths. At 5 miles we came to a sign saying we were about to enter the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness in the Mount Hood National Forest and we needed to obtain a permit before entering the wilderness.

Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness

After getting our permits we continued for about 2 miles until we reached Tunnel Falls at around 2 pm which meant it took us about 4 hours to reach the falls. At a height of 172 feet, Tunnel Falls was spectacular.

Tunnel Falls

The trail was very narrow with a man-made tunnel that was blasted through the cliff behind the waterfall. There were quite a few people around the falls which made it difficult to pass on the narrow trail. We hung out for about a half hour taking pictures and enjoying the mist coming off the falls. I later found out there was another waterfall not too far up the trail called Twister Falls that I wish we had seen. But I guess that leaves something for the next time. 

Carol at Tunnel Falls entrance

Hobie & me at Tunnel Falls entrance

Carol & Hobie hanging out at Tunnel Falls

Carol & Hobie hanging out at Tunnel Falls