Waterfall Nirvana

Tuesday May 16, 2017
Once again we awoke to pouring rain so we just lolled about until the rain stopped about 8:30am.
We headed south towards Portland, Oregon and the rain started back as we navigated Portland traffic.  We reached our first destination, the Vista House, about 10:30am and lo and behold the rain gods smiled on us again as the clouds started to clear just as we entered the parking lot.  The Vista House was built in 1916 as information center, viewpoint and rest area for Hwy 30 which was built for tourists to explore the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge.

Vista House

Mistaken for a Squatch I may be.

View of Columbia River from Vista House

View of Columbia River Gorge from Vista House

Within 11 miles of Vista House are 5 large waterfalls near Hwy 30.

The first waterfall was Latourell Falls.

 The second falls is Bridal Veil Falls.

The third falls is Wah-kee-Na Falls.

We thought we were taking a trail to the next falls but ended up climbing 0.8mi up the cliff to a lookout point. Oh well, we needed the exercise and it was a nice view.

Unhappy wife walking back down the mountain.

The next is the most famous, Multnomah Falls.

The roar was deafening and the spray was soaking

 On our way back down the trail from this falls we heard a couple of loud claps of thunder and just as we made it to the gift shop it started to hail and rain.

Boulder fence this is.  Keep out illegal boulders it will, maybe...

 Nancy got a little extra shopping time as we waited for the storm to pass. Even on a cold, wet Tuesday in May this place was covered with people.  I cannot imagine how busy it must be in summer.
The last is Horsetail Falls.

After visiting all the waterfalls we headed east on I-84 and soon caught up to the rain.  After an hour of driving in the rain we got off the interstate at a town called The Dalles to get gas and decided to cross the river back into Washington to drive on a two lane road. Although only 65 miles from Vista House where we started this morning the terrain had totally changed to high desert with few trees.

Also, the weather changed and the sun came out but it was still windy and cold with temps in the 40s all day. Tonight we are in Maryhill State Park beside the Columbia River, a very nice campground but no wifi and cellular service has extremely slow internet so I could post to Facebook or blog.

Columbia River beach in Maryhill State Park

Columbia River. There used to be a waterfall here before the river was dammed.