Before jumping into the beauty along the Oregon and Washington border, I should first cover how I got there. I left a wonderful stay at Glacier National Park to travel through mountain passes and spectacular countryside with a stop in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I enjoyed walking around town, climbing Tubbs Hill in the park, and watching everyone enjoy the water on a beautiful day. Stayed at Tamarack RV Park which had a great location, tons of trees and shade, and new and nice facilities. Idaho was the final state in the continental US that I had never been to.
Two years prior I visited the Portland area but opted for a wine tour of the Willamette Valley versus visiting the waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge. I’m so happy that I returned for this hike. Driving on the Historic Columbia River Highway, the oldest scenic byway in the US, you see spectacular waterfall after waterfall starting with Horsetail Falls. It was then onto the famous Multnomah Falls, where I enjoyed a 45 minute wait in the parking lot waiting for a spot to open up. If you don’t want to spend your time this way, there is a much large parking lot off of I-84. In order to manage crowd sizes they did move to a reservation system starting the day that I arrived, I got my reservation on recreation.gov with no issues. I continued on the loop hike that climbs to the top of the falls and passes Dutchman Falls, Wiesendanger Falls, Ecola Falls, and Fairy Falls, to end up at Wahkeena Falls and then a quick walk up the road back to the parking lot. Fairy Falls was my favorite as there were so many streams and waterfalls surrounding it. Absolutely magical day.
With a strong desire to escape the heat wave in the Portland area, I spent the following day in higher elevations in Mt Hood National Forest. Went on a morning hike to Tamanawas Falls. Luckily it was not a crowded day and I mostly enjoyed the enchanted forest hike to myself. Despite all the waterfalls of the previous day I still found this one to be amazing and sat and watched it for awhile. It is a 3.4 mile out and back hike that is rated moderate.
Finished the day watching the snowboarders up on Mt Hood and toured the Timberline Lodge which was the hotel used for the exterior shots for The Shining (the book itself was inspired by The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park).
Wanting to stay off the beaten path, I opted for Peach Beach RV Park, an adorable peach orchard on the river near Goldendale, Washington. I ate peaches every day till I was sick of them. It was a scary drive coming in as there are major winds on the river, making it one of the more famous spots for windsurfing. Luckily Wolfie and I made the journey and enjoyed the wind in order to keep us cool during the day. This also marked the spot on my journey where I had reached the most NW point in the route and I would be pointed to Texas from this point forward. Up the hill from the RV park was a Stonehenge replica built by Sam Hill as a memorial (my second Stonehenge replica of this trip). One evening I drove into The Dalles for dinner and a women who was also dining alone asked if she could join me and we had the best conversation and she convinced me to make sure I also toured the Maryhill Museum which was worth seeing, especially for the view. It was then on to the Maryhill Winery to continue to enjoy the view as well as some wonderful wine to close out my trip to the area.
