Today’s fort is the fourth to go by this name. The first fort was a fur-trading post opened by the North West Company. The post was built at the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia Rivers. Established in 1818, the post ran until abandoned and burnt down during the 1855 Yakima War. A steamboat landing settlement sprang up a few years later. The remains now all under the waters backed up from the McNary Dam some miles further down the Columbia.
The lyrics for the opening of Belinda Carlisle’s “Circle in the Sand” hit song from the late 1980’s are apropos for a public art event that takes part regularly between the summer tides on the beaches in Bandon, Oregon – “Circles in the Sand”.
“Sundown all around
Walking through the summer’s end
Waves crash, baby, don’t look back
I won’t walk away again”
Hidden away in the Coast Mountains of Coos County is a small state Park preserving two of Oregon’s more spectacular waterfall treasures – Golden and Silver Falls. The two falls are among the highest and most dramatic found west of the Cascades. Hiding at the end of a long road which gets narrower and wilder as you travel back into the mountains, the park is one of Oregon’s lonelier state parks. Drive to the road’s end and magic begins.
Continue readingIndian Point is a basaltic spire jutting out from the main cliffs of the Nick Eaton Ridge. The Point is just east of the Oregon town of Cascade Locks. To get here, you have to hike, gaining almost 3,000 feet in just under four miles. Your rewarded with one of the best views of the Columbia River from on high on the Oregon side. A local newspaper outdoor writer rated it as the Seventh best viewpoint to hike to in the State. The view of the eastern end of the Gorge is magnificent and well worth the efforts taken to reach the point. It ranks in among the best views of the Gorge with Dog Mountain, Wind Mountain, Hamilton Mountain and Table mountain all being on the Washington side.
Continue reading
Wahclella Falls, like its close neighbor, Elowah Falls, is overlooked by many visitors to the Columbia River Gorge. That is not to say the waterfall does not have visitors. It does, just not as many as you might find a little further west in “Waterfall Alley”. On this stretch of the old US Highway 30, you find the Big Five – Lautorell, Bridal Veil, Wahkeena, Multnomah and Horse Tail. There are several other waterfalls to be discovered by short hikes off the highway.
“Magic” defined as “a quality that makes something seem removed from everyday life, especially in a way that gives delight.” The waterfalls encountered here along Tanner Creek easily satisfy the definition. Even after the horrible 2017 wildfire roared through here, magic certainly remains.
Continue readingMany waterfalls await discovery in Oregon. Some of the best are found in the Columbia River Gorge. Some are out there obvious to all while some like to hide away from prominent view. Multnomah Falls is the tallest and one of the most majestic. A large car park built in between the lanes of the freeway tries to accommodate the many who come for a visit. It is a standard by which others are measured. The Northwest Waterfall Survey rates Multnomah at 89.92 points. The falls are enchanting, but some of the magic wears off with the crowds you endure to witness. McChord Creek calls.
Driving up the Gorge on a Thursday in April, the car park at Multnomah Falls was, as normal, completely full. Five miles further east on the freeway, I-84, there were two cars parked at the Yeon State Park lot just off the freeway. Granted, two of the three trails leading out from here were closed – one from a fire in 2017 and another from a recent landslide this winter – but the one trail still open was pure enchantment.
Continue reading
After covering waterfalls I enjoy in Southwestern Washington and the Coast Range of northwestern Oregon, we move east of the Willamette Valley to mostly waterfalls in the northern Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Again, no way these lists are anything close to comprehensive and others may have other favorites. There is a two hour limit from Portland to help limit the number of waterfalling excursions. Also recent wildfires limit access to many waterfalls. Abiqua and Butte Falls in the foothills above Scotts Mill are prime examples. One waterfall making the list here – Shellburg – is also presently inaccessible. I included it only because I visited the falls just before the fires and wanted to show some of its former magic.
So, off to the northern Cascades – the name somehow appropriate – of Oregon to visit our first waterfalls. Links take you to the Northwest Waterfall Survey pages which give the waterfalls ratings 0-100. The highest rated waterfall in Oregon is Multnomah Falls with a rating of 89.92, so you have something to compare other waterfalls here to.
Many of these Northern Oregon waterfalls lie in the western foothills of the Cascades, best visited in winter or spring when they flow at their best.
Continue reading
A new year, a new season to get out once again and explore. While the Covid pandemic lurches on, people have begun to venture out again to discover what lies beyond their living room. Vaccinations are reaching into ever greater numbers of folk. Hamilton Mountain was calling to me.
This hike was special to me on several counts. First, having hiked many of the trails in the Columbia River Gorge, I never walked this path. Second, a new mountain corgi to introduce to the mountain terrain. Third, Hamilton Mountain was the first moderately serious hike I attempted after suffering ruptures of both anterior medial collateral ligaments in a knee already arthritic from years of heavy use following an ancient football injury. So, knee brace in place, with trekking poles in hand along with one leashed mountain corgi, it was time to climb high once more.
Continue reading
Of the many military posts erected by the US Army during the 19th century, few remain as well preserved as the collection of buildings found here in the middle of the Yakama Nation at Fort Simcoe. The post was only manned for three years before the fort was abandoned; the men sent north to Fort Colville.
Brevet Captain George McClellan’s party, in 1853, found traces of gold along the upper reaches of the Naches or Yakima Rivers. They searched for a railroad route over the Cascades, something McClellan continually stressed when meeting with Natives from the local Yakama tribes.
Continue reading
The last post covered waterfalls I enjoy in southwestern Washington, mostly outside of the Columbia River Gorge, so now we move south of the River to waterfalls in the Coast Range of northwestern Oregon. Again, no way these lists are anything close to comprehensive and others may have other favorites. Plus, we have the two hour limit from Portland to help limit the waterfalling excursions. So, off we go to the Coast Range of Oregon to visit our first waterfalls. Links take you to the Northwest Waterfall Survey pages which give the waterfalls ratings 0-100. The highest rated waterfall in Oregon is Multnomah Falls with a rating of 89.92, so you have something to compare other waterfalls here to.
Continue reading