Pacific Northwest Trip: The Waterfalls

The last part of our trip to the Pacific Northwest focused on waterfalls. We spent a half a day at Silver Falls State Park located southeast of Salem, Oregon. It's known for its Trail of Ten Falls, a 7.2-mile loop. We opted to do the Winter Falls Loop, a 5-mile hike past seven waterfalls. We started in the South Falls District and traveled clockwise to complete the loop. I would not have known of this park if it were not for my son, who did this hike with his wife and a friend back in 2021. I did not expect all the waterfalls to be so magnificent! However, most of the trail is very rocky and I found myself looking down a lot of the time, worried I would sprain my ankle and need to be life flighted out of there! These are the thoughts of someone getting old, I suppose.

South Falls

If you look closely, you can see the path to walk behind the falls, which of course we did!

Lower South Falls

Lower North Falls

Double Falls

On the trail enjoying the moss-draped scenery.

Winter Falls

The hard part was over. Then it was just a relaxing stroll along the Rim Trail, back to the parking lot.

Another day was spent at the Columbia River Gorge. I had read online that parking was limited (there are 9 stops/trailheads along the scenic Columbia River Highway) so I reserved a spot on the Waterfall Trolley through Gray Line. It picked us up at 9 a.m. at a school just outside the park. The trolley ran in a loop, stopping at each point on the hour. This gave us plenty of time to hike to waterfalls without too much waiting around. And once we saw all the cars circling the lots like vultures, we were thrilled to be trolley riders.

Vista House and Crown Point offer panoramic views of the Columbia River:

And now for my final bucket list item:

Multnomah Falls! I've been seeing photos of it for years and it was my dream to see it in person. It is stunning at 620 feet! We hiked up the path to the bridge and my first thought was, 'This bridge is so much smaller than I imagined it to be.' I was so proud of myself for going up there because I have an irrational fear of heights. We traveled on the path to get to the very top, but I became a little lightheaded from the narrowness of the path and the height, so we turned around.

More waterfalls along the gorge:

Horsetail Falls

Wahkeena Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Latourell Falls

We spent six hours hiking that day and packed plenty of water in our backpack but failed to bring many snacks. And we didn't have much of a breakfast, on the road from Willamette Valley early that morning. We were famished! Once the trolley dropped us off at our car, we were looking on Google maps for a brewery we could have an early dinner on our way to our hotel near the Portland airport. We found one that had a great menu, but when we arrived, a sign on the door said that it was closed for a private event. We found another and drove to it, but it turned out to be in a strip mall with motorcycles out front. We walked in and did a U-turn back out, as it was clearly a local spot. By this point, we were just hangry and my husband saw an Applebee's and pulled in. So much for enjoying some local cuisine! He sent a photo of our table to the family group chat and as expected, the responses were amusing. 'Whaaaatttt?' and ' You never took us to Applebee's on family vacations!' From our son-in-law: 'Eating good in the neighborhood??' (We always refused to take our kids to chains on vacation because we could do that at home).

The next morning, we returned our rental car at 4 a.m. to the Portland Airport (newly renovated and very nice!) The car rental facility is part of to the airport, so extremely convenient. What's not convenient is when you checked in online at 3:30 a.m. and discover once you are getting tags for your luggage that the first leg of your flight has been cancelled. As we arrived so early, we were able to get another flight from Portland to Seattle, but AI had put us on a flight leaving 12 hours later and cancelled our second leg (Seattle to Cleveland). The very helpful Alaska Airline employee was able to get us back on the second flight, but not the original seats (I had booked the exit row seats for more money). As the flight was full, we got stuck in middle seats, and mine was particularly bad, but that will be in an upcoming Wacky Wednesday post. 

Not a great ending to the trip, but overall, we were very happy to have made it. Who hates flying as much as we do? Favorite waterfall you've ever visited?