Oregon: Horsetail Falls & Gorton Creek

We drove further into the Columbia River Gorge and attempted to stop at Multnomah Falls, but it was packed with people so we drove on. The next stop was Horsetail Falls, which was also busy but at least we found a place to park. The falls are 176 feet tall and they produce significant amounts of spray. So much spray that it was almost impossible to get good pictures of the falls without the camera getting completely soaked. So I retreated further back from the falls and got a shot from the bridge, which like most things here was coated with moss.





As we drove further through the Columbua River Gorge we began seeing more evidence of the devastating Eagle Creek Fire, which was caused by a careless teenager playing with fireworks. The fire took three months to contain, and cost nearly $40 million to extinguish. It also completely devastated many places in the gorge, causing irreparable damage. Many areas are still closed to hiking, with no clear timeline as to when people will be allowed back in. It's another reminder of how one foolish decision can have such drastic and negative consequences.

We continued on and drove through the town of Cascade Locks and stopped at the Bridge of the Gods. The bridge opened in 1926 and gets its dramatic name from an old geologic feature on the Columbia River that was also called the Bridge of the Gods. According to legend, a landslide sometime in the 1400s sent massive amounts of debris into the river which caused the formation of a natural dam that was 200 feet high and 3.5 miles long. The river eventually broke through the dam, which resulted in the creation of the Cascades Rapids (which were submerged underwater in 1938 when a modern dam was built nearby).



From there it was a quick drive to Wyeth State Park and to a short hike along the scenic Gorton Creek. After dealing with the crowds on a busy holiday weekend it was a refreshing break to make a hike in a spot where there weren't any other people (besides the nosy Oregon state police officer who gave me a warning for parking in the wrong place).





There were a few places where you could see evidence of the recent fire along the creek, but fortunately it didn't look like there was much damage here. The creek was beautiful, with colorful moss coating the rocks in the creek.





The trail headed up the hill along the creek, and it must look gorgeous here in the Spring.



It was raining when I made it to Emerald Falls, which is about 10 feet tall (It's definitely not the tallest waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge, but it was a pretty little spot).



And one last shot from here, of the creek has it flows by moss-covered rocks below Emerald Falls.