Category Archives: Pacific Northwest Outdoors

SAM HILL – NEW WORLD STONEHENGE DREAMER

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An appropriately masked guitarist makes music at the altar stone of Stonehenge

To say Samuel Hill lived a fascinating life is almost an understatement.  A frenetic Quaker, Sam’s life is magnificently on display online where you can find his excellent biography Sam Hill, The Prince of Castle Nowhere written by John Tuhy.  Among his many interests was his participation in the Good Roads movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Hill was instrumental in the development of both the Pacific Highway, a route linking the three Coastal States to each other from Canada to Mexico.  He pushed for the development of a true coastal highway paralleling the Pacific Highway – today’s US 101 – as well.  But Hill is best known for his role in the development of the Columbia River Gorge Highway, now over a hundred years old.

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SHEPPERD’S DELL – MAGIC, AWE, WONDER BUT, NO SHEEP

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Falls and bridge at Shepperd’s Dell.

Magic is a word overused in the Columbia Gorge.  Magic, awe, wonder all terms liberally employed by visitors and writers when trying to describe the majesty of the Gorge.  One of those sites spectacularly earning such accolades is Shepperd’s Dell.

Shepperd’s Dell is one of those places I never seem to have time to stop for.  There is very little parking – always full on the weekends – and only a small waterfall to be fleetingly glanced at as you cross over a bridge.  The Dell lies along one of the most scenic stretches of the Historic Columbia River Highway – HCRH – a true highlight between Multnomah Falls and Crown Point.

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APPLICATION OF FULL THROTTLE IN WATERFALL ALLEY

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King of Waterfall Alley – Multnomah Falls.

Seasons change. Fall brings a return of rains seeming endless, at times. Late summer streams replenish aggressively. Waterfall Alley resumes its magical aura. Falls dwindled by summer drought flash into prominence once again. Where you once could get a photo easily at the bottom of a falls, now means getting very wet from the same spot.

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MAGIC DEEPENS WITH FALL COLORS AT ELOWAH FALLS

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Exposure challenges from the ledge trail above Elowah Falls.

Ollie and I last visited the waterfalls on McChord Creek – Elowah Falls and Upper McChord Falls – early in the spring. We live in the shadow of the Columbia River Gorge, a region of true natural magic. Within twenty minutes, we can be deep in the woods, hiking to an overlook or behind a waterfall. Many of the trails are short – 1-2 miles – translating to the ability to discover the magic again and again.

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LATOURELL FALLS – waterfall magic and a primeval canyon

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The main Latourell Falls dropping 224 feet in one long plunge over basaltic cliffs.

Latourell Falls is an easy hike.  At only 2.4 miles with a gain of 625 feet, the hike is one for the masses.  And the masses do hike.  Come early.  Come late and there will be no parking.

Here, the first of a series of waterfalls seen from the old Columbia Gorge Highway US 30 in an area known as “Waterfall Alley”.  Technically, it is not the first, but it is the first seen from the old highway heading east from Portland.

The hike being short can easily be an add to other short hikes or even longer, more technical endeavors.

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NATURAL EMULSIONS MANIFEST IN THE PAINTED HILLS

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Sunsets seem to pop out the colors even more at the Painted Hills.

The Painted Hills can be magical. Geological stratigraphy on display. Reds, tans, blacks, browns all laid out in layers slightly tilted. Of the three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, this one attracts the most visitors. The Hills are closest in distance to large cities of any size – one and half to two hours from Bend (90 miles) and four to five from Portland (a little over 200 miles depending upon your route) – while the other units are another hour further on.

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DOGGIN’ IT IN THE FLOWERS ATOP DOG MOUNTAIN

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The next to last switchback before the summit of Dog Mountain is reached. Indian Point is the tall rocky point in the sunshine on the Oregon side to the right center with Wind Mountain further to the right on the Washington side of the river.

Ahh, Dog Mountain. This seven mile, 2800 vertical foot gain hike is one of the most popular in the Columbia River Gorge. I would guess it to be number three after Multnomah Falls and Angels Rest, both on the Oregon side easily accessed from the freeway I-84. Dog Mountain is on the Washington side in between the towns of Stevenson and White Salmon-Bingen with the trailhead right on Washington Highway 14. The hike is a workout, but the views over the eastern sections of the middle Gorge during the wildflower season of mid-spring are what brings the crowds out.

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ANCIENT DREAMS AWAKEN BY FOSSILS OF THE JOHN DAY

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Sheep Rock with Picture Gorge to the right.

Thomas Condon, John Day and fossils all come together in the middle of Oregon.  The fossils came first.  Then, trapper and hunter, John Day, working with the Pacific Fur Company came west in 1810. He spent the final ten years of his life living in the Pacific Northwest.  He and fellow fur trader Ramsay Crooks were robbed and stripped of their clothes by Native Americans near the confluence of the John Day and Columbia Rivers.  History records four different dates for John Day’s death and posterity has left many geographic features named in his memory.

Sheep Rock from the John Day River near Cant Ranch.

The best known is the John Day River. Note – there is another smaller John Day River near Astoria close to the Pacific.  This river is the fourth longest river in the lower 48 United States without a dam along its entire length. It is the longest within Oregon and the Pacific Northwest – not that there have not been plans for one.  The section between Service Creek and Tumwater Falls is part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

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REVEALING WHAT LIES BEHIND THE SHROUD OF BRIDAL VEIL FALLS

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The Bridal Veil reveiled.

Bridal Veil Falls is one of the more dramatic waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge. The falls was once the site of local industry, but now restored to natural magic. Walking to the falls is short and is an easy add-on to a more extensive day. Or, it is easy to just sit and watch the waters deep inside the forested canyon of Bridal Veil Creek.

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WIND MOUNTAIN, A GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO THE DOG

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Looking across the Columbia River at Wind Mountain from Indian Point on the Oregon side of the Gorge.

Driving to the large trailhead at the bottom of Dog Mountain, Washington Highway 14 drives right around the base of another smaller peak with its own form of drama, Wind Mountain. A beautiful cone-shaped peak, Wind has a brother, Shellrock Mountain, on the opposite side of the Columbia River in Oregon. Both mountains are thought to be from the same volcanic intrusion which needed to be cleaved in half by the Columbia River.  Unlike Shellrock, Wind Mountain has a trail to the top.

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