On our drive north from Mount Hood, we stopped to check out two waterfalls – Punchbowl Falls on the Hood River and Emerald Falls on the Columbia River. Why? Because we like waterfalls. It’s as simple as that.
We parked the car not far from the big highway (OR 35) at Punchbowl Falls Park, near the junction of the East and West Forks of the Hood River, and got out for a short dayhike. We were down below 1000 feet elevation, and it was a bit warm in the sun, so we were glad it was just a short hike with little change in elevation.
As we approached the deep trench where the West Fork flowed, we could see that it was formed from eroded basalt columns, much like the waterfalls below the Devil’s Postpile and similar waterfalls up here in Oregon.
It looked to us, as we hiked along the trail on the eastern rim, that someone had built a concrete salmon ladder on the far side of the falls. It would have been tough for any fish to swim upstream in that big flow of water. Maybe the ladder did the trick. We couldn’t tell from way up above whether there were any salmon swimming around in the deep pool below the falls, but we doubted it as it wasn’t the right time of year. So we simply took a bunch of photos and videos. It was quite a picturesque spot down there in the gorge.
A short walk further downstream led us to Dead Point Falls, which was a waterfall originating on a much smaller side stream than Punchbowl Falls, which was the entire river. Still, we could hear the water cascading down, and there were a few spots with decent visibility through the trees to see most of the waterfall. Not bad, we thought.
After that, it was time to drive north to the Columbia River. We headed west on I-84 until we reached the exit for Wyeth State Park. There was a campground there, and also a short hiking trail that headed south into a side canyon of the main Columbia River Valley.
We parked the car and headed up the trail. We weren’t really sure what we’d find, as we only knew about the waterfall thanks to an entry on the Google Maps app. But we didn’t care; we mostly just wanted to stretch our legs during a long drive. If a waterfall appeared we’d be extra-happy. And it did! Was it big? No, not really. It was just a mountain stream plunging downhill into the big river, like a drop in a very large bucket. But we liked it just the same.
Anyway, after that it was time to leave Oregon. We were finished with the Oregon Cascades Volcanoes for now. Next stop: White Pass in Washington. That’s where we intended to camp that night. But first we had to cross the mighty Columbia River.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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