Up the mountain

Today we ventured up to Crown Point, "The Vista House", a scenic overlook on the Columbia.  It was completed in 1918 and the road that leads up to it was the first paved road in the state.  It's a majestic view up and down the Columbia and the road actually winds around the house.

Next stop was Latourell Falls, also along the Columbia River Highway. This is a really unique area of Oregon and if you're out this way you want to take an afternoon and visit.

We walked from the parking lot, down the trail and past the falls, following the stream back under the Latourell Creek Bridge. Yvonne didn't realize it but she just missed stepping on a snake. It was black with a green stripe on its back, probably a variety of garter snake. You can get up close and personal on this waterfall; no barriers.  The water is ice cold though, so you won't be wading long. The air around this falls is enough to make you wish you brought along a jacket.

 After that we continued on to Multnomah Falls.  There is a bridge that spans the front of it and many weddings are performed there.  It's .2 mile up to the bridge and 1 mile (a very steep incline, but paved) walk to the top of the falls.  The temperature was in the low 70s so that helped and the waterfall itself provided a lot of cooling. Some wore jackets as they went up.  Yvonne and I went to the top, Jacob stopped at turn 5 of 11.

This photo of us is at the top but you have to look over the railing to see anything at all. There is a fantastic view of the canyon.

 This video is shot with me holding my small camcorder over the rail. I can't quite get it over the edge but there are sometimes when you can see into the valley and how far up the falls are.

 This is the stream with small falls and crystal clear water (snow melt) that is at the top, feeding the falls.

We came back to Portland in the late afternoon, found a Baskin and Robbins and replaced all the calories we lost on the climb.  We stopped off at Fred Meyers (Kroger) and picked up some of my favorite beer, Leinenkugel Honey Weiss.  Now we're getting ready for dinner and a nice rest.