We started at Horsetail Falls trailhead and hiked past Ponytail Falls, Oneonta, Middle Oneonta, and Upper Oneonta Falls to Triple Falls. Nearly all of the standing trees had been burnt in the 2017 fire, resulting in clear views all the way up and down Oneonta Gorge. This was the first time I had ever seen all three of the Oneonta Falls, which can be seen from one spot on the trail (see photo).
We next drove a few miles east on the Historic Columbia River Hwy to the Elowah Falls trailhead at Yeon State Park. We had several views of Elowah Falls, but the trail to the plunge pool was closed due to a rockslide. We continued up the trail that was blasted out of the rock amphitheater carved by McCord Creek to Upper McCord Creek Falls. A highlight along this trail was the many wildflowers, including the seldom seen white shooting star (see photo).
We continued east a few more miles to the Wahclella Falls trailhead. We hiked up the narrow Tanner Creek Gorge, passing the splashes of Munra Falls, to the base of Wahclella Falls, which seems to corkscrew out of a narrow crack in the rock. Waterfall hikers were Katy Dockter, Deeshi Donnelly (2nd qualifying hike), and leader Roz Shirack (see photo at Wahclella Falls).
ODOT’s new timed-entry permit for the Historic Columbia River Hwy worked fine. It was easy to get the permit on-line (plenty available for this Thursday hike). It was checked by a person where we entered the Historic Hwy at I-84 exit 35.