And that photo was just from a rest stop. The real destination was Multinomah Falls just a bit further down the road.
The main waterfall of Multinomah falls is a deservedly popular tourist destination, but we weren’t going to start our hike there. Richard and Shelly are avid hikers, and they knew an alternate route that would take us through the back of the park and end at the top of the waterfall. It was perfect. We were able to have a surprisingly quiet hike through one of the most visited parks in the region.
We happened to time our visit with the tail end of thimbleberry season. These berries are a big deal, and we were apparently pretty lucky to see so many of them growing everywhere. We stopped to pick another snack every couple hundred feet or so.
And even though we could have easily subsisted on thimbleberries alone, we did actually pack a lunch. We found a great little spot to stop and eat along the trail.
As we were packing everything back up, we noticed another hiker up in the canopy. Look closely.
We didn’t stick around long enough to see how it ended, but we didn’t hear any helicopters flying overhead that afternoon.
As we made our way further down the trail, the pitch got steeper, and we started to see more and more people. That meant that we were pretty close to the main waterfall. But if there was any doubt…
Susan doesn’t seem like much of a hiker.
We kept on climbing. Before long, we could hear the rushing noise of a big waterfall. Almost there.
When we got to the top, there was a small wooden platform that hung out over the top. Not for the weak of knees.
If you look closely, you can see a small bridge about half way to the parking lot. That’s how we were making our way back down.
And this is from the bottom looking back up. You can see the same bridge.
It was an incredible hike through a beautiful park, and it was exactly what we needed. It probably only worked off half of a Triple Chocolate Penetration with Coco Puffs, but it was a good start.
