Why is it that waterfalls look more beautiful and special when you have to hike several miles up a canyon to see them? Our quest to see 10 waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge took us up three different canyons. We started at Horsetail Falls, which is the only falls visible from the trailhead. (Photo 1)
We hiked up Horsetail Canyon and passed behind smaller Ponytail Falls, then over the ridge into Oneonta Gorge. (Photo 2) As we hiked up Oneonta Gorge we had good views of Upper Oneonta, Middle Oneonta, and Oneonta Falls – all at the same time along one stretch. (Photo 3) Oneonta Gorge was badly burned in the 2017 fire, but it opened up good views of the falls, and the slot canyon from Oneonta Falls down to the Historic Columbia River Highway. (Photo 4) We continued up to Triple Falls, where we had lunch at an overlook to admire the falls. (Photo 5)
We next drove a few miles east to Yeon State Park. We hiked up McCord Creek Canyon to view Elowah Falls, (Photo 6) then continued up the trail that was blasted out of the sheer basalt cliff to Upper McCord Creek Falls. (Photo 7) This trail had the best wildflowers, including the seldom seen white shooting star. (Photos 8 & 9)
We next drove a few more miles east to the Wahclella Falls trailhead. We hiked up narrow Tanner Creek Canyon, passing the splashes of Munra Falls, to the base of Wahclella Falls, which seems to corkscrew out of a narrow crack in the rock. (Photo 10) We watched American Dippers bob on rocks and dive under the white water in search of insects.
Jay brought his homemade Margarita Mix ice cream, so we had an ice cream break each time we returned to the car before moving to the next trailhead.
