Hike To The Secret Waterfall And The Not-So-Secret-Waterfall

 A few days ago I had the chance to go to the Columbia River Gorge again, this time with Courtney and her old friend Rebeca, and see some sites I'd never seen before. First was a hidden 80-foot waterfall that required scrambling up the the river to get to. Well worth it!

A view from the trail while it was still a trail

Getting ready to cross the river

A segment of the beautiful river

A little rest as they admire an albino moth

Intrepid explorers!

Another shot from the trail

We had all this to ourselves

Picnic by the falls. We stayed there for about an hour and no one disturbed our peace.

The lush environment of our hidden waterfall

Rebecca, Courtney, and I

This is probably my favorite shot of the day.

Strategizing on the way back

Accomplishment

Fording the river again

Mountain goats

Next was the famous Oneonta Falls, only accessible in the summer because the Oneonta Gorge is so narrow that you have to ford the river to get through and see the 100-foot waterfall. The water was still quite cold, though barely swimmable, and I managed to backstroke into the white of the falls and look up. It was terrifying, like the water was going to pound me to the rocks below until I drowned. I took some shots with Courtney's waterproof camera and bolted out of there.

Oneonta Falls

Looking up into the falls

Courtney is cold.

Courtney is still cold.

Approaching

Backstroking