The Adventures of...: Days 130, 131

Day 130, 29 miles, endpoint partway down Eagle Creek Trail

We started the day off with a short side trip to Ramona Falls. I live fairly close to here and have always wanted to check out this waterfall, but have never gotten around to it. I'm glad to finally have seen it, although we are spoiled with waterfalls in the northwest and it looked like any other big waterfall out there. Pretty, but nothing amazing.

We continued to wrap around Mt. Hood, heading to the north side of the mountain. Along the way we had great views as the mountain slowly started to shrink in size. Soon, it was completely in our rear view mirror, and the next mountain, Mt. St. Helens, with its flat top, was visible ahead.

Besides the mountain views, one of Josh's favorite things about today was the amount of huckleberries littering the trail. For once I was hiking faster than him because he was stopping every few minutes to pick more of the small berries off the bushes and eat them as he walked. Soon, his lips, teeth, and fingers were blue.

The highlight of the day came nearly 20 miles into the day when we walked onto a windy, open ridge. We had views of Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens, two Washington peaks we will be walking by very soon.

After passing a spring, we left the PCT for a generally accepted detour along the more scenic Eagle Creek Trail. We planned to go about another two miles before cammping, completing about 24 easy miles and calling it a day. Unfortunately, along the Eagle Creek Trail, we were stuck on a steep ridge trail with no options for camping.

Before we knew it, it was dark. We continued along the rocky trail, our headlamps guiding the way. My headlamp is a lightweight light appropriate for seeing around camp in the dark, but not good for hiking down a steep, rocky trail in the dark. I felt like I could barely see two steps ahead. I was also sad that we were walking along one of the most beautiful sections of Oregon in the dark. Tunnel Falls is a famous waterfall, where you walk behind the falls along an actual tunnel. We went throughTunnel Falls in the dark.

I was tired and envious of every tent we saw. All I wanted was to stop moving and lay down in my own tent. But there was no space in the limited geography. We went about seven more miles than planned before finding an empty patch of ground we could camp on near the creek.

Tomorrow we will finish our hike (in daylight hours) down the Eagle Creek Trail into the town of Cascade Locks. We are almost done with Oregon and on to Washington!

No views last night but we had complete solitude.

These stickers were posted on some of the trail head maps.

Ramona Falls details

Hood from the north, the best view we think.

St Helens coming into full view.

This ridge walk was spectacular... and with easy access from Portland we will surely be back.

Mt Adams coming into full view!

Gorge trails... now we are close to home!

We've been here before... but in daylight.

Day 131, 8 miles, endpoint PCT mile 2155/Cascade Locks, OR

Josh and I finished out our hike in beautiful daylight this morning. We went past our remaining waterfall, Punchbowl Falls, and enjoyed both the falls and the people jumping off the steep cliffs into the swimming holes around the falls.

After Punchbowl we continued our downhill towards sea level and ran into Michelle, an ultra runner from Washington we have mutual running friends with. She had gone on a long hike to Mt. Hood and decided to simply run back to her car in Cascade Locks--a good way to get back to your car after a trip!

We walked with Michelle the three remaining miles along a bike path and a busy highway until we we were in the small river community of Cascade Locks. The wind was blowing (typical for the Columbia Gorge) and the sun was shining. The water looked cold and swift; Washington was just on the other side.

Josh's brother Jeff met us at our hotel and we went out to dinner at the local joint the Char Burger. We met up with some other hikers, including Mongoose, who we shared a room with in Ashland, at the local brewery, Thunder Island.

We have a few more things to get done, including our blog updates, while we have the hotel. Tomorrow we will meet my parents for breakfast, then it's off to Washington for adventures in our third and last state!