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The Columbia River Gorge is a special place. A weaving network of rivers, waterfalls and trails that follow the border of Oregon and Washington, you'd be hard pressed not to find something interesting to see on any given day. Last week I was lucky enough to spend two days in a row exploring the gorge from end to end, with the added bonus of everything still being blanketed by snow from the recent winter storms that have tormented the Portland area.
There are two ways to explore the Oregon side of the Columbia. The interstate takes you through the popular sightseeing areas, and follows the river closely. You can see the Washington side clearly, and there are incredible mountains and cliffs looming on both sides that are really amazing to see covered in fog and snow. The other road, the historic Columbia River Highway, climbs up into the cliffs on the South side of the gorge, taking you closer to the waterfalls and hiking trails that have made the area so popular in the past few years. Both days that I was there we opted to head East on the interstate and then turn around and head back West on the historic highway after we had exhausted all of the spots we wanted to visit by the river.
On Wednesday, Jordyn and I decided to finally bite the bullet and go see Rowena crest in person for the first time. We weren't disappointed. This is probably one of the most photographed places in Oregon, and yet you rarely get to see photos of it in the Winter. Far at the East end of the gorge, this place definitely takes some work to get to. The drive was long, but we didn't have any trouble with ice or snow on the road, and were lucky enough to have the entire thing to ourselves.
Jordyn just took a job with Nike after we graduated last summer, so it's been a weird few weeks for us. We basically have been taking turns visiting each other during the week while I'm stuck in Corvallis, so we have to make the most of our time together. Hopefully soon we'll get to spend more time together again, but in the meantime we're getting pretty good at staying productive and maximizing our days off with each other. We stopped at a few other spots on the way home, grabbed some Wendy's (guilty pleasure) and spent the rest of our afternoon together catching up on Netflix and hanging out with her family in Estacada.
The next day Jordyn had to go back to work, so Sean and I returned to the gorge for a more intensive hike and the intent to go a little deeper into the trails of the gorge to gather some good video footage for a project he's working on. We picked Elowah Falls as our main excursion, mainly because Sean had been previously and was looking to get some similar shots to the ones he got in the Summer, with the snow adding a dramatic touch. The trail to the falls proved to be a lot more than we bargained for.
The falls are less than a mile from the trailhead. It took us over an hour to get there. I can see how it would be a pleasant hike in the summer when the footing is stable, but getting there in the snow and ice was much slower going. Punctuated with elevation changes and steep switchbacks, the hike required us to use our tripods to stabilize each step, and at times it felt like we would never make it to the waterfall. With a drop of nearly a hundred feet into the river below just a bad step away, we had to be cautious and make sure that we didn't rush ourselves. However, upon arriving, we were met with an incredible view of the falls, the bridge below, and had the entire thing to ourselves for a couple hours, save for two other hikers who stopped briefly on their way back to their car.
Leaving Elowah we were exhausted. Hiking in the snow takes so much more effort than usual, and we had spent a lot more time there than we anticipated. We made a few stops at other waterfalls off of the historic highway on the way back to Portland, but didn't stay long at any of them. We were tired, hungry, and ready to head home before it got too late. Luckily it wasn't long before Jordyn was finished with work, so we met her for dinner in Beaverton before making our way home. Another successful day, another reminder to buy some damn gloves (still haven't.)
