Oregon Zoo and Rose Garden

It was our last day in Oregon and I was a little sad that our vacation was coming to an end. But we had one more day of fun ahead of us. After the horrible drive through Portland yesterday, we did not want to get back in the car, so the hotel shuttle took us to the Cascades metro stop. There were some issues with the fare machines, so a nice transit security officer told us to ride the train to the Gateway transit center and purchase our fares there. So we did that and after purchasing our fares, we chatted with him waiting for the next train to arrive. We mentioned we were heading to the zoo and he told us that they had a baby elephant on exhibit, so I was real excited about that. We followed the red line to Washington Park, which is right outside the zoo. We started off in the Great Northwest section, seeing mountain goats, black bears, cougars, bald eagles, and other critters native to the Pacific Northwest region.

Sandy was concerned on this trip that we might run into a bear.

Well, we didn’t see any bears on all our hiking adventures, but we did get to see quite a few at zoo.

And from here, we could get good close-up pictures without the risks of coming across a bear in the wild. Next, we went to the Pacific Shores area and saw the sea lions, otters, penguins, and polar bears.

With the cool weather, the polar bears were particularly active. One bear was playing with a big plastic barrel.

He was trying to bite it, but couldn’t get it because it was round. So he pushed on it with his front paws to make a wrinkle that he could bite and show that barrel who’s the boss. The tigers and leopards were sleeping and we couldn’t see them well, so we headed to the Lorikeet Landing exhibit.

I really enjoyed this exhibit. It’s an enclosed area where the birds are free to fly around, although they were spending most of their time eating cantaloupe and other melons.

I never realized how beautiful these birds are, with the most fantastic rainbow colors.

Then we headed to the Africa area, seeing monkeys, bats, flamingos, crocodiles, giraffes, and hippos.

We walked through the Vollum Aviary to see more beautiful exotic birds and then went through the Predators of the Serengeti exhibit.

Here we saw some lions, cheetahs, and cervals.

Then we headed to the Asian Elephants exhibit. This exhibit was under construction and they are building more habitat for the elephants. I was happy to hear this as it seemed like they didn’t have enough space.

But they did have the most adorable little baby elephant. He was frolicking about pestering the adults with the biggest grin on his face. We finished up by heading through the Fragile Forests exhibit, seeing the orangutans, chimpanzees, mandrills, and howler monkeys.

As we were leaving the zoo, it started to sprinkle a bit, but never really started to rain. We wanted to head over to the International Rose Test Garden and waited for the bus. After it didn’t come for a while, I checked the sign and apparently it doesn’t run on weekdays after Labor Day. So we made the mile or so hike through Washington Park to the garden.

What a beautiful garden!

With literally thousands of rose bushes in nearly every color of the rainbow, it was truly spectacular.

Even in the light drizzle, we spent a while walking up and down the rows, checking out all the beautiful roses.

When we finished, we headed back to the metro stop and boarded the red line train back towards the airport. A very nice lady was sitting across from us on the train and we had a nice time chatting with her on the ride back. We got off at the Cascade station and had dinner, before calling the hotel to shuttle us back. Tonight, Sandy and I both took advantage of the hot tub to relax before having to fly back home.

Waterfalls and Sea Stacks

Thursday morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. One nice amenity in this hotel is their rooftop garden. Had we gotten in before sunset last night, it would have been a great spot to watch the sun go down. But we missed the sunset, so before checking out, we headed up there and got some nice pictures of Astoria and the river from the roof. After that, we checked out and moved our car to a public parking lot and explored Astoria a bit by foot. First, we walked down to the river and took a stroll along the riverwalk. We headed down as far as the Columbia River Maritime Museum before heading back. Sandy wanted to get some shopping in, so we stopped at a few of the antique stores and picked up a small Egyptian plaque to hang on the wall when we got home. Might as well take advantage of Oregon's sales tax-free shopping. A cruise ship was in port, so everything was very busy in Astoria. We also walked by the Flavel House Museum and got some pictures from the outside, although we didn’t have time to go in, as well as the adjacent court house. When Sandy was done shopping, we stopped by a Safeway grocery store to get some sandwiches for lunch and fill up gas in the car when we heard some very loud barking. But it wasn’t someone’s dog, it was sea lions! We headed over to the Port of Astoria parking lot and went to the shore to see the sea lions lying out on a dock. There was one dock that we could walk out on to get a little closer, but unfortunately, we were still a good distance away. Although we couldn’t see them well, we could certainly hear them. I used a 200-mm lens to get some decent shots of them and then we got ready to leave Astoria. After all the waterfall madness yesterday in the Columbia River Gorge, I felt compelled to check online if there were any waterfalls near Astoria. And sure enough, I found directions to Youngs River Falls, conveniently located between Astoria and Cannon Beach. From Astoria, we took Business 101 south across the bridge over Youngs River and then turned left onto Youngs River Road. After about 7.5 miles, we turned onto Youngs River Falls Road, immediately after a rock quarry, and parked at the end of this road. We hiked down to the falls, which are a very pretty 50-foot drop over a big rock wall.

While we were taking pictures, we heard some splashing around in the water just downstream of the falls. It was pretty big and I thought maybe it was a beaver or otter, but it turned out to be salmon spawning.

That was really exciting; I had never seen them before. So we climbed out on the rocks into the very shallow water and watched in awe as these huge fish navigated upstream in such shallow water. Looking around, we saw a couple dead salmon and some eggs in the water, which looked like small orange balls.

A local man we were talking to told us that when he was a kid, he would come out here and hunt for salmon with a pitchfork. After watching the salmon for a while, we headed back to the car and made our way to Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock. We parked at Tolovana Beach State Recreation Area, which provides free access to the beach and is only a mile or so from Haystack Rock. After changing into shorts and flip-flops and applying sunscreen, we started walking down the beach towards the rock.

The walk was close to a mile, but Haystack Rock is so big, it seems a lot closer than it is. We stopped about halfway down the beach to eat lunch and then continued on.

We were very lucky that the tide was going out when we were there. The Pacific water is very cold and we never got more than calf-deep. But since the tide was going out, we were able to get all the way up to the rock, as far as we were allowed to go.

I was hoping to see some puffins, but a ranger told me that they had migrated and wouldn’t be back until the spring.

We did see some cormorants and many gulls nesting along the high walls of the sea stack.

But the most exciting things here were the colorful ochre starfish and giant green anemones that live in the tidal pools around Haystack Rock.

These were some of the most beautiful starfish I have ever seen.

They are huge and beautiful in shades of purple, orange, and red.

We also saw several kelp crabs, hermit crabs, and some small fish.

We spent quite a bit of time exploring through all the tidal pools and taking lots of pictures. After a while, however, my feet were starting to get numb from the frigid water, so we hiked back to the parking lot. It was time to head to our last destination – Portland. It should have been about a 2-hour drive taking US-26 east towards the city and most of the drive was pleasant. But when we actually got to the city limits, the traffic was terrible. It took us over an hour just to get across Portland to our hotel – Staybridge Suites by the airport. We finally got there just after sunset and were ready to be done driving. We parked the car, checked into the hotel, and walked across the street to a little Chinese place. After dinner, Sandy took a bath and I took advantage of the hot tub before heading to bed.

Columbia River Gorge

In the morning, we had breakfast at the Cascade Dining Room. It was not complimentary, we had to pay, but it was probably one of the best breakfast buffets I’ve ever had. The make-your-own Belgian waffles with all sorts of fruity toppings and whipped cream were amazing. I had one and it was so good, I had to go back for another. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the Columbia River Gorge. Leaving the hotel, we saw a couple of very nice roadside waterfalls on Timberline Drive before reaching US-26. I’m sure the recent rain made these more impressive than usual. From US-26, we took OR-35 north towards Hood River. Although it had still been raining when we left the lodge, the weather was nice once we got down a bit in elevation. Near Hood River, we actually had much better views of Mount Hood and we could also see Mount Adams across the river in Washington State. In Hood River, we got on I-84 west took exit 37 to get on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Our first stop was John B. Yeon State Scenic Corridor at the east end of the gorge. Here was the trailhead for our first waterfall – Elowah Falls. The trail to the falls is just under a mile through a beautiful forest.

The vegetation was so dense, it seemed like hiking through a rainforest, albeit with pleasant temperatures and humidity. The trail gradually rises up to a ridge, and then descends via switchbacks down to McCord Creek near the base of the waterfall.

Sandy saw a couple smaller cascades and asked if this was a “baby waterfall”. I didn’t think so and we continued on the waterfall. At over 200 feet, it is anything but a baby. The water flows over beautiful cliffs colored a bridge-yellow green from lichen and down a narrow freefall of 213 feet, with a nice foot bridge crossing over the base.

We stopped for a while and took some pictures, but couldn’t spend too much time as there were many more to go. McCord Falls, just upstream of Elowah, is also here, but it would be another couple of miles to view the falls, so we had to pass on this one.  Leaving John B. Yeon and heading west on the highway, we entered Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and soon were at the stop for our next waterfalls. We parked at the lot for Horsetail Falls, which can easily be seen from the road.

This 200-foot waterfall is absolutely beautiful, but the area can get crowded due its ease of viewing. It is immediately clear where the waterfall got its name as the water takes the shape of horse’s tail is plunges down the cliff. While most people are content to stop and see Horsetail, I knew there were more waterfalls in the area, so we hiked up the Horsetail Falls Trail (438) a short ways up to Gorge Trail (400). It was a little steep getting up there, but the scenery was amazing. We found a tree with a giant hole in the base, big enough for Sandy to crawl into. And occasional breaks in the foliage allowed wonderful views of the Columbia River Gorge from the trail.

Shortly, we made it to Ponytail Falls, also called Upper Horsetail Falls.

Although this waterfall is much smaller than the one just downstream of it, it’s in a great setting.

The water plunges down from an overhang and the trail leads under the falls through a grotto allowing me to get some pictures looking out from behind the waterfall.

Continuing on for about a mile, we came to an old bridge at Middle Oneonta Falls. This is a smaller waterfall on Oneonta Creek.

We had initially planned on continuing and hiking up to Triple Falls, but we decided to turn back as we just had too many waterfalls to do in one day. On the way back, we saw an enormous slug on the trail. At first I thought that someone failed to clean up after their dog, until I realized it was moving and had antennae. We also stopped again at Ponytail Falls and climbed around on the rocks at the base, trying to find a spot to photograph the entire waterfall, including the upper portion above the cliff, but we couldn’t find one.

Back at the car, I stopped for just a moment to enjoy Horsetail Falls once more and then we continued on, stopping at Oneonta Gorge.

We hiked a little bit into the very narrow gorge and saw some people coming back from the waterfalls that are deeper in.

They were soaked and had to wade chest deep to get to the waterfalls. I thought that given the dry conditions it might be easier to get through the gorge, but no such luck. We weren’t prepared to get that wet, so we just headed back to the car.  Our next stop was Multnomah Falls. With two drops totaling more than 600 feet, this waterfall is amazing.

Perhaps the hardest part of photographing it is getting far enough away to see the entire thing. Unfortunately, with its fame and ease of access, the area around the falls was incredibly crowded. We stopped for pictures at the lower viewing area to see both the lower and upper drops and then while Sandy got something to eat, I ran up to the Benson Bridge and got a few more pictures before continuing on.

Next, we headed to Wahkeena Falls, a Yakima Indian word meaning most beautiful. It was short hike up to the waterfall, which was indeed very beautiful and had a very interesting shape, resembling a necktie.

In all, the waterfall drops quite a big height through a series of cascades and horsetail-drops, but like many of the waterfalls here, it was not possible to get the entire thing in one shot.

We continued on to Bridal Veil Falls State Scenic Viewpoint. A short hike down from the parking area leads to great views of this 120-foot waterfall that is actually just under the Historic Columbia River Highway.

At certain angles, we could see the bridge just over the waterfall, but there is no safe way to see the it from the highway as the road is narrow with no sidewalks. The waterfall has two tiers and the trail ends with a nice wooden overlook.

There is also a short spur that leads to the base of the falls with an enormous rock right at edge of the basin.

When we were done here, we continued on to Shepperd’s Dell State Natural Area. This was probably the least impressive waterfall of the day, but worth the stop. The waterfall itself has a very interesting hourglass shape.

From the parking area, there is a very short trail that provides views of the waterfall. It is more a series of cascades, but viewing them is difficult due to vegetation in the way. Like Bridal Veil Falls, Shepperd’s Dell runs right under the highway, and the bridge over the canyon was very pretty.

This was planned to be our last waterfall of the day and we continued west on the highway as we made our way to Astoria.  But shortly past Shepperd’s Dell, we saw a sign for Guy W. Talbot State Park and from the road we could see a huge waterfall. No way we couldn’t stop at this one, so we parked and made the short hike over to see Latourell Falls.

This huge 250-foot waterfall plunges over beautiful basalt cliffs that have bright patches of yellow lichen adorning the cliff face. And we pretty much had this waterfall to ourselves. At first, we thought we were the only ones here, until we saw a guy in the water under the bridge taking photos. By stopping at this last waterfall, we managed to hit nine in one day! Not bad for a day’s work. We got back in the car just as a tour bus was pulling in and I was glad we had missed the crowd. We went a short ways further and made one more stop, although not for a waterfall. We pulled into Vista House at Crown Point State Scenic Corridor.

From here, we had wonderful views up and down the Columbia River Gorge, particularly by heading up to the balcony on the upper floor of Vista House.

The views from here were fantastic and it was great to see gorge from a good overlook as most of the time we spent here was in dense forest hunting for waterfalls and not seeing much else.

When we were done here, we got back on I-85 towards Portland and took I-205 to I-5 in Washington State. Leaving Oregon, I saw a sign saying “come back soon” and thought to myself, we should be back in less than an hour! In the town of Longview, we crossed back into Oregon and took US-30 to Astoria. We checked into our hotel for the night, Hotel Elliott in downtown Astoria. It was pretty nice place, although we didn’t stay for long. Sandy loved the heated stone floor in the bathroom to keep her feet warm after taking a bath. Once we checked into the hotel, we walked to Plaza Jalisco for Mexican for dinner and then headed back to the hotel and went to sleep.