I always feel incredibly lucky I live where I live on days like today.  It was sunny.  I was sick of doing work around the house instead of enjoying my week off, so I decided to go through part of the Columbia River Gorge.  If you are ever in Portland, you have to do this day trip through the Gorge.  It is amazing.

Science teaches us about erosion and glaciers carving out these amazing canyons and gorges.  Each time I see the Columbia River from Vista House (at the top of one of the cliffs), I am simply awe-inspired.  Trying to imagine this area from the eyes of Lewis and Clark or settlers coming west to find a new life.  The “oh, shit” moment they must have had when they got blown all over the place – or tried to figure out how they were going to pass through this terrain.  The gorge is a huge wind tunnel and not easy to navigate because of the danger of slides and rock falls.

The gorge has some amazing waterfalls located off the Historic Columbia River Highway – a narrow, windy highway that was in use up until the 1930s when the I84 Interstate was built.  Today, it serves as a nice access to the viewpoints and waterfalls. 

Like the Latourell waterfall.  A short hike down trails like this one:

Or the Wahkeena Falls

And on the 1/4 mile hike, you can see things like this:

But the grand daddy of all of the falls is Multnomah Falls.  The largest waterfall in the state of Oregon.

It was a perfect day to spend in the Gorge.  Maybe when it gets colder, I’ll redo the trip and show you what the falls look like in the snow and ice.  Amazing!