Waterfalls, Waterfalls, Waterfalls

Saturday, August 6, 2005
Today was Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway day. VacationGirl was hoping for some WOW pictures but none developed - good ones yes, but wow ones no!

The Scenic highway starts out in Troutdale, Washington. Talk about a happy accident. VacationGirl randomly picked Troutdale/Greshman from the map only to find out after arriving that it was the beginning of the historic highway route. Luck was with her!

They hit the road early today - that was good because there was a full day ahead but bad because the fog hadn't burned off yet. The pictures that she had hoped would be WOW pictures were instead FOG pictures! But a Couch family vacation would not be complete without at least 1 fog picture. This one was taken from Vista House - high upon a ridge overlooking the Columbia River.

From there, the narrow highway wound its way down hairpin curves until it came to Waterfall Country. That's not what they call it in Oregon but there's one every mile. And because of all the grief that VacationGirl caught several days ago when she didn't want to go to some of the Crater Lake falls, everyone one of these would be viewed, climbed, and photographed! Yep - every angonizing step of the way.

Actually, she has to admit that the falls were all really great - each one was different and most were viewable without too much effort. They didn't get to see Bridal View because the trail was closed but they got all of the other! First on the list was Latourell Falls:

Next was Shepperd's Dell:

After that was Wakeena Falls - and yes, VacationGirl and family trudged all the way to the top! Very steep climb - very sore legs - but very worth it for the view.

Next on the trail came Multnomah Falls. It is the tallest waterfall on the route but unfortunately, we got to it right at noon when the sun was directly overhead. Between the sun and the mist from the waterfall spray at the bottom, pictures didn't turn out so great!

Last (at least for VacationGirl and family) came Horsetail Falls:

It's official - VacationGirl and wonderful family have seen enough waterfalls to last them for years and years. Please, if anyone hears her start talking about future plans that involve waterfalls, gently remind her to shut up!

Next on the scenic drive was the Bonneville Dam and fish hatchery. Can't say that fish hatcheries were a big attraction - something that just couldn't be missed but it actually turned out to be pretty neat. Some of the sturgeon there were absolutely huge - the one in this picture is actually pretty small compared to some of the bigger, more camera shy ones that we saw.

We also saw some "fish ladders" where the fish can get through the dam in special areas designed just for them - and for people to 'count' them so they know how many come through each year. We didn't really get to see any fish in the fish ladders - this isn't spawning season but it's still interesting to see the pictures (which were taken with the 35mm camera - not the digital - sorry!)

We drove on down the route to Hood River - apparently, it's the unofficial windsurfing capital of the world. With the gorge shaped as it is, it becomes a huge wind tunnel so wind surfers love it. We saw tons of them on the water. Pretty neat! (again, on the 35mm camera - carrying two and remembering to use them both is more than VacationGirl can mentally handle on day 7 of her vacation so give me a break!)

OK - it's about 3:00 pm - it's taken since 8:00 this morning to go roughly 60 miles and we're tired. So we turn the car around and head back west on I-84 to I-205 to I-5 that takes us out of Oregon and into Washington.

Tomorrow will be all about Mt. St. Helen's. There was a small 3.5 earth quake the day we got here under the mountain but apparently not enough to worry anyone. So, tomorrow we hope to get some good shots from the Johnston Viewing Center and hope to not get completely covered with ash.

See ya tomorrow!