We were originally going to fly back on this day. When we saw that waiting a day would save us a few hundred dollars, we changed our plans so we could visit the Columbia River Gorge. We were happy to save the money, and we really enjoyed the Columbia River Gorge.
We drove out Interstate 80 about 30 miles east. We then returned to Portland via Historic Oregon Route 30. This particular stretch of highway goes through a state park that is filled with many tall waterfalls. It is so popular that you need to book a time to drive this section of road. It cost us $4.00 to get the two different reservations that we needed. It was money well spent.
Our first stop was Multnomah Falls. This is the tallest falls in the group we saw. It requires a separate reservation from all the others to be able to hike the trail. The waterfall has two sections. We could barely fit it all into one photo.
So here is the bottom section of Multnomah.
And, here is the top section.
Our next stop was Horseshoe Falls. You can hike to the top of each of these falls. We chose to see all the falls in one day, so we skipped the hikes to the tops of the falls. They look better from the bottom anyway.
Here is a closer look at Horsetail Falls.
Wahleena Falls was our next stop. From close up, it is difficult to see the entire waterfall.
Even from a little further back, you cannot really get the full picture.
It seems that Bridal Veil Falls is a popular name. Here is the Columbia River Gorge version of Bridal Veil Falls.
We did not get as close to the falls as some people did. There was a group of people diving into the pool at the bottom of the falls from a very large rock.
The last waterfall of the Day was Latourell Falls. It was outside of the area that required a reservation. After seeing the other falls that required a reservation, the $4.00 deal seemed even better. The parking lot for this walk was completely full. We drove about a half mile past the parking lot and had to hike back to the trail to get to the falls.
It was worth the walk. The view was amazing.
One of us decided to get up near to the falls to take a real close up. We learned that our hiking pants are quite waterproof. The close up got the outside of the pants soaked. It was the coldness of the wet outside of the pants that was the only indication of how wet it was. That is why this is such a cool picture.
After the waterfalls, we headed back toward Portland. We were suddenly climbing a mountain. When we got to the top of the mountain, we were at Vista House. It was not on our schedule, but it was an interesting building and had a great view.
You could see several miles of the Columbia River Gorge in both directions.
When we got back to Portland, we got a very clear view of Mount Hood as we drove across a bridge. From here it looks like a rural country location.
While that was a country view (from a major highway), Mount Hood dominates the Portland skyline. Here is a picture of Mount Hood from within the city of Portland.
Back at our hotel we found some beautiful flowers in the garden.
We enjoyed our extra day in Portland. We took a quick drive over to Victoria, Washington for dinner. It was only a few miles away. Then we packed up for our trip home the next day.