Week 30 - Eagle Creek/Columbia - July 27 - July 31, 2022

Eagle Creek!!!!  A quintessential hike that every hiker should do at least one in their life.  I know for sure that I have done it four times.  Once on 25 June 1986 with Ray, Jessica, Ivan, Bev, Travis, Greg and Sandy Wall....Warren stayed with Grandma Gray (Lorraine).  The second was with Kyna and scouts, the third was with Ryan and Natalie and Evan, And this time with Olga and Camille.  The temperature was HOT...really HOT....in the 98-100.  We got a late start and nearly melted before we got to a campsite.

Maybe as impressive as the trail itself is the story of how it was built. It was begun in 1915 as part of the work on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The East Side Progressive Businessman's Club of Portland was behind some of the funding, with the total construction cost put at $18,600. In many sections, workers used dynamite to blast the trail out of cliff faces. The Forest Service's first full-service campground was established where the fish hatchery now is, and soon thousands of people could enjoy areas that were impossible to traverse otherwise. The original trail has remained nearly unchanged to this day although some work to widen the route was accomplished by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935.

A classic photo of the trail, carved into the side of a cliff, the cable attached to the cliff, the steep drop off, and the sun shinning hotly on the trail.

Punch Bowl Falls - I suggested we look at it on the way back (but we never did because...read this...

At the junction with the Lower Punch Bowl Trail #440B, you can go right to switchback down into the gorge, getting views below of little Lower Punch Bowl Falls above a logjam. The spur trail takes you down about 300 feet in a quarter of a mile. When you get to the creek, you'll notice a massive amount of debris across the water and a fresh scar on the cliffs opposite. This landslide occurred near the beginning of 2018 and initially blocked the creek. While hikers used to be able to work their way up the wide open, cobbled shoreline to a view of Punch Bowl Falls about a hundred yards upstream, this is now a rocky scramble. In the summer months, the shore at Lower Punch Bowl Falls can be a crowded area, but given the right weekday in the off-season, this is an enchanted, quaint setting as you contemplate the forces of nature.

So now I know why I couldn't find the trail to Punch Bowl Falls.

We continued up the the river and at High Bridge a phot took. Olga doesn't look too happy because she had just leaned up against the post which wasn't securely fastened in the ground and nearly toppled....she wouldn't have fallen into the river, but nevertheless, it was an intimidating incident.

The High Bridge - at about mile 4.

And the chasm below it.

I had intended to camp at Tenas Camp, but could never find the side trail - - probably because it was covered up by new growth occurring after the big fire in 2017.  Fortunately Camille had see two blotches of color in the trees.  Turned out they were hammocks from a couple who were camping a bit off the trail.  We stopped there, found a crummy place to plop down and a barely flat place for out tent.  We didn't care - it was hot and we were beat.

Typical burned forest photo

Typical tired backpacker

Tuesday morning we headed upstream with the goal of reaching Tunnel Falls by lunchtime. Crossed 4 1/2 Mile Bridge just a bit beyond our campsite

All along the trail there were gorgeous waterfalls - so many......that I didn't take photos of all. 

Okay - here is one....a "lesser falls"

 I was saving my film for Tunnel Falls.  Enjoy them all.

Entrance to the tunnel is the dark spot.

The other entrance and the other dark spot.

You can barely see Olga at the entrance to the tunnel  Her arms raised in Victory!

We were talking to a hiker who we met coming downstream.  He said, "Are you going to Criss Cross Falls?"  What??? I'd never heard of it, but after he showed us photos we decided the additional quarter of a mile was worth it.  Forward!!

And there it was - as good as the hiker guy had said it would be.

And beyond were pools suitable for swimming by energetic young people.

We ended up at a pretty flat place and had lunch and dabbled our feet in the water.

We headed back to our campsite, ate dinner, and were in our bags by late dusk....so we cold get up early and hike out before the temps got in the upper 90's again.

We ended our excursion with an ice cream run to East Wind Drive-in in Cascade Locks.

The week ended with our ward campout at Oxbow Park,  Considering everything (the upper 99's heat), it was a success.  And unofficial head count from mental pictures of three people was at a bout 45 people.  I counted ten tents and ten cars parked overnight.  

Lots of games for kids

Whitney and Holland with water guns and no tears.

New people.  

And Dan

Another good week! 

 Next week - The Obsidian!

 Week 29 - Oregon City - July 18 - July 24, 2022

What a great week!!!!  We didn't do anything away from home....kinda slow,  nice and relaxing. It was weird because both Bev and family and Warren and family were in Utah doing stuff, Tyler and Magnus were at FSY, and Jessica kept her kids busy doing stuff.

We repaired my tent upon which the tree had fallen.  It was relatively complicated because of the size of the fabric and because the silicone sealant had to dry for 24 hours.  We used the kitchen and whole living room to spread stuff out.

Val Glenn came over to help Dad replace the windows on the south side of the basement.  The sill boards were just totally rotten - should never have put wood windows on the south side of a house at the bottom of a wall. 

I painted the three 12-ft  pieces of plastic "board" so it'd be ready for when Val returns.

The hay field was cut this week - so glad we don't worry anymore about selling it or stacking it in the barn.  

For a long time I've wanted to do something with the Thai temple bells we brought back from Thailand....just 51 years ago.  And....the Swiss cow bells we collected on one of our concert tours to Europe.

And, here they are in all of their ringing glory.

Bev's birthday was Sunday, July 24.  Hard to believe that it's been 44 years!  She was at Bear Lake in Utah, so we sang to her over facetime.

 Week 28 - Eagle Creek-Shelby Tyler, Magnus - July 11-July 17, 2022

We started out the week by helping Dolores move to Oregon City. She'd been talking for years about moving to OC, and she finally did it.  On Monday we boxed and moved all of those boxes.  There were still pieces of furniture and other misc. things, but the bulk was done.

This is the week I took Magnus, Tyler, and Shelby on their birthday backpacking trip.  I took them up the Salmon River - not too original - but it is close, and I did want to try the Rolling Riffle Campground and then go further up the trail and visit Goat Creek Camp.

This is the only sign that marks the campground.  Camp to the right.....toilet to the left....as if anyone is going to climb up the slope, cross the trail, and go in the woods.

Sadly I didn't take any photo of the campsite from the trail.  If I had, the photo would have shown a large area big enough for...maybe...eight tents.

There was a spot on the shore with easy access to the water....it was quite shallow and there was no current or rapids to worry about.  The boys had fun on the rocks...and then playing "push the other into the water".  

We walked up to the magic bridge...the boys did not notice the wooden play structure made of fallen logs - like Jude and Eric had - and Shelby didn't want to explore the Portal to Peril like Ruby and Abby did.

The second day was for exploring the trail beyond rolling Rifle Campground.  Unfortunately, it wasn't too interesting.  The trail veered away from the river so it could no longer be seen, the trees were no longer huge old growth specimens, and the trail was steep....like really steep.  We went as far as the View Point where we ate lunch.

It was another mile to Goat Creek Camp...and....we...decided to just go back and skip the uphill.  Back at camp we cooled off, decided to skip the second night, and headed back to the car.

Surprisingly, we ended up getting Dairy Queen in Sandy and ate at the neat park.