Random Rambler: June 2011

Day Two: If you missed day one, click here.

After waking up bright and early we quickly head out on the road toward Multnomah Falls, and then McMinnville Beyond that.

A few miles past Baker City you pass the 45th parallel. My nerd brain LOVED this. (DBP Album)

Not much further we stopped at a rest stop that had an old water mill.

Then we passed the freaky pass where the horizon ends, in all directions. (DBP Album) This is exiting the Blue Mountains after Dead Mans Pass.

Random dust devil in the dust storm area (DBP Album)

Another rest area, we had lunch, much to these swallows discontent who had built their nest in the eaves on the picnic booth. Every time one of us got up they all freaked out and flew off, only to come back when we had sat down again for about 45 seconds or so.

First glimpse of mount hood (DBP Album) I actually noticed it just as 84 swings back west, (approximately 170 miles away!) must have been a more clear day than last year.

At this point I feel I must explain the Drive By Photography (DBP) Album. Basically, if I made Landis pull over every time I wanted a picture, we wouldn’t get anywhere. So I settle on doing this. I know 9 out of 10 of them are terrible photos, but if I like what I see, then next time we come though, I do make him stop. It also helps to story board the boring driving part of the trips and gives me some good memories of the beautiful country we live in.

Better shot (DBP Album) This is actually a good example of the 1 out of 10 that actually turns out alright.

Due to a map reading error on my part, and seeing a sign for Old Scenic Byway, I suddenly announce we need to exit for Multnomah Falls... I was very much mistaken and accidently directed us to the Rowena Crest Viewpoint. It is kind of a scary drive, but has a rather pretty view.

wildflowers

Somewhere between Hood River, and the previously mentioned viewpoint (after trip I have determined it to be precisely Hood River) The landscape changes from boring brown and black cliffs, to temperate rain forest. I think This image captures that change pretty well. (DBP Album)

Well I'll be, you can see Mt St. Helens from here! (DBP Album)

We finally arrive to the Multnomah Falls area. This is Horsetail Falls. This is a drive right up to waterfall. No hike required. I already posted several shots of this so I will move on to one I didn’t do last year.

A very short hike (2/10 of a mile) above Horsetail Falls sits Upper Horsetail Falls (or depending on where you look, Pony Tail Falls)

A very, very Pretty Hike, with tall trees, although:

Several parts of the trail I saw this. Kind of unnerving that a boulder this size could suddenly come tumbling towards you!

You can actually hike behind and under this waterfall.

Although, it is rather unnerving. The roar of the waterfall, with, what.. 50 feet of mountain above your head makes it a kind of scary walk.

I am exploring different shots, or not just getting the waterfall, but getting a fully interesting shot by adding some depth. What do you think?

This one purely to show size.

Some of the stream below, going towards Horsetail Falls. Definitely worth the short hike! If you keep going there are 2 more water falls above. The first being an additional 1.1 miles, the second an additional 1.2 miles. Eventually I will see all of the falls in this gorge. This I vow!

Different shot of Horsetail Falls.

Multnomah Falls – or as I like to call it: The Old Faithful of Oregon. It is a very, very pretty waterfall, but it is extremely crowded. This is also a drive right up to waterfall. Maybe a 50 foot walk.

View from the bridge.

Lower falls and the bridge. It is less than a 10th of a mile to the bridge, but it is a frustrating hike as again, Old Faithful of Oregon. Crowded, and people just don’t seem to grasp the rule of hike to the right. But it is worth doing.

We finally made it to Bridal Vail Falls and even though I was dead set and determined to do it this year, I can see why we missed it both times last year. It is rather difficult to spot from the east end. We actually got back on the freeway before I protested, and had to turn around. Even from the west it is hard to find, but we finally did.

The trail if I remember right is only 2/10’s of a mile. and it is pretty.

Wild Bleeding Hearts. It is kind of weird to see a plant that I really enjoy in my garden growing wild.

Bridal Veil Falls – We have a Bridal Veil Falls in Provo that I have yet to visit. I have a feeling that this is probably more impressive.

Very pretty waterfall, and worth the hike down. Something that was frustrating on this trip, a lot of the hikes started at the top, and went down. It is deceptive. It is really easy to go down, but a lot harder to go up, so you have no idea how hard the hike will be until you are stuck in it. Landis's Mom hiked down with us and this was really rough on her.

Red snail. Snails in Utah do not have this coloring so it was cool to us.

Interesting Bug.

I just love how tall the trees are here.

After hiking down Bridal Veil Falls we continued on to our current destination in McMinnville. As we had planned to go around Portland and avoid the terrible traffic we still got stuck in a jam. I looked over and snapped this:

A better shot of Mt. St. Helens. Again a DBP Album shot, but we were still so it turned out alright. This is just before i84 splits into i5 and i205.

We arrived at our hotel, settled in for the night, had dinner at the local “Dees” which was called Shari's, and had just about the same quality food and service. Meh.

Day 3:

Day three was the wedding that brought us out this way. We spent most of the day helping set everything up, then went to the actual wedding which was on a vineyard! It was an absolutely beautiful service. I didn’t know the bride or groom so I felt weird about taking pictures of their wedding.. I know I am weird. But I did manage to get some of the grounds: