Multnomah Falls Hike

On the Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving, we drove through the Gorge and met some friends at Multnomah Falls.  These friends, Jay and Julia, live in the Tri-Cities area of Washington which is actually about 3 hours east (and a bit north) of where we live. We drove west to meet them because they were returning from their own Thanksgiving travels to family in the Portland area.  Multnomah Falls seemed like the perfect rendezvous for a little Northwest outdoorsy late-fall fun with 10 kids!  (Jay and Julia have 6 kids.)

So, see that waterfall?  We hiked to the top of it.  Yes, we went from the spot where the photo was taken, up a gently sloping path to that bridge you see.  Then we proceeded through another miles or so of steep switchbacks until we reached a small platform where we could look directly over that waterfall, the 4th-tallest in the nation, mind you.  It's 620 feet tall and is super-impressive.  We could feel the spray on the bridge and in the first stretch of path beyond it.  On a chilly November day we were happy to clear the spray zone and got nice and warm ascending the rest of the trail.

Here's a shot of many of those ten kids tucked into a tiny cavity along the trail.  (In fact, I think one kid that didn't belong to either of our families even made it into this shot--that boy in the green coat; fortunately Maggie blocked his face, ha ha.)  The kids did really well on the hike and we only lost one of them (not ours).  She sped down the path ahead of us without telling anyone, causing a bit of a scare as Julia went back up and the rest of us hurried down until we found her.  Phew.

 

The entire trail is paved and we thought a stroller would be the best option for Holly, figuring she (or we) would find the backpack intolerable.  Well, she wasn't too fond of the stroller, so Damon and I took turns keeping Holly from falling off the path and pushing an empty (well, jacket-filled) stroller. 

We also enjoyed chatting with Julia and Jay.  We sure like their family and wish they lived closer.  Again, it was another case of our girls feeling like they were playing with cousins.

After the hike we caravanned to Hood River where we stopped for dinner at Andrew's Pizzeria before sending our friends on the rest of their drive back home.  We only wished the visit could have been longer.