2016-08-28 - Jack and Amys Oregon Vacation - Day 1

Jack and Amy's 2016 Oregon Vacation

Day 1
 Columbia River Gorge and Downtown Portland

Sunday, August 28th, 2016
Multnomah Falls, Dutchman Falls, Weisendanger Falls, Fairy Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Powell's World of Books, 
Fat Heads Brewery, Portland Rose Garden at Washington Park, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Pittock Mansion,
 Latourell Falls, Vista House at Crown Point

 Jack and Amy at the Upper Drop of Multnomah Falls

For this years big vacation Amy and I decided on Oregon.
Why Oregon?
Here are a few of the reasons:

• Waterfalls Galore
• 10,000+ feet Glacier Capped Mountains
• Beaches unlike anything you will find on East Coast
• One of the deepest and prettiest lakes on the planet
• More Craft Breweries than any other place in the world
• Neither Amy or I have ever been to the Pacific Northwest

Technically Saturday was Day 1 of our trip, but after a day of travel, by the time we landed, retrieved our bags, picked up the rental car, and arrived at our first Accommodations in Gresham, NC we were beat!

So we went to bed relatively early in order to get a head start on the first full day of our Oregon Vacation!


Multnomah Falls is one of the most spectacular in the USA.  It is also the most popular tourist attraction in the state or Oregon.  Therefore, if you want to beat the crowds, it is essential to get an early start!  Which is exactly what we did by arriving at the parking area off of I-84 shortly before 8:00am.

 Multnomah Falls

We had the place to ourselves for a little while and I was able to get some rare shots of Multnomah Falls without any people on the bridge!

 Multnomah Falls

Amy and I have different vacation styles!  I like to get in as much hiking and see as many sights as possible, while Amy likes to take time to relax, read, and do a little shopping.  So for the rest of the morning, I decided to do a 6-mile hike while Amy would stay back, read her Kindle, and explore the gift shops at the Multnomah Falls Lodge.


I did a clockwise loop hike starting with the climb up to the top of Multnomah Falls.

The top of Multnomah Falls

I continued on upstream past Dutchman Falls

Dutchman Falls

Then on to Weisendanger Falls

 Weisendanger Falls

The next few miles were uneventful, but after gaining over 1,500 feet in elevation it was a welcome relief to be hiking on flat ground!  And there were a few nice views along the way!

view from the trail

Eventually I came to Wahkeena Creek and a few tributaries.  Even though I am color-blind and can't really see greens too well, I was amazed by the greenery in these streams!

 Cascades along Wahkeena Creek

 Cascades along Wahkeena Creek

While nowhere near as tall or as impressive as some of the others, Fairy Falls was one of the prettiest that I saw in Oregon!

Fairy Falls on Wahkeena Creek 

The final waterfall of the loop was Wahkeena Falls!  Another beauty!

Wahkeena Falls

By the time I met back up with Amy at the Multnomah Falls Lodge, the place was swarming with Hundreds of people!    We would save further exploration of the Columbia River Gorge for later after the weekend crowds die down!

We decided to head to downtown Portland for the afternoon, making a quick roadside stop along the way.

Amy along the Columbia River

I mentioned earlier that Amy likes to read, so we visited the largest bookstore in the world!

We had lunch and my first flight of the week at Fathead's Brewery

Me enjoying a Flight at Fathead's Brewery

We strolled through the Portland Rose Rose Garden at Washington Park

Amy taking time to stop and smell the roses!

We stopped at another brewery for my second flight of the day

Me enjoying a flight of 10 at the 10 Barrel Brewing Company

We finished up our visit to downtown Portland with a drive (Amy behind the wheel) up to the Pittock Mansion.  I was not overly excited about the Pittock Mansion, but with all the hiking and breweries planned for this trip, it was also essential that we also do some things that Amy wanted to do.  The Pittock Mansion was one of those things!

Fortunately the view was a very pleasant surprise!  The grounds outside the mansion offer up some of the best views of downtown Portland and on a clear day, the view of Mount Hood is spectacular!

View of Downtown Portland and Mount Hood from the Pittock Mansion

View of Mount Hood from the Pittock Mansion

Since our accommodations in Gresham, OR were only about 10 minutes from the Columbia River Gorge, we decided to head back there for and after dinner Sunset.  I decided that Vista House on Crown Point would be a good place to view the sunset!

Vista House at Crown Point on the Columbia River Gorge

But first we had time for one more waterfall on the day!  Latourell Falls!

 Latourell Falls

Jack and Amy at Latourell Falls

We worked our way back to Vista House in time for a nice Sunset!  The perfect ending to a great day!

 The Vista House at Sunset

Amy enjoying the Sunset

 Columbia River Gorge Sunset from the Vista House

 Columbia River Gorge Sunset from the Vista House

The complete set of photos from Day 1 is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157673520831115

2016-08-06 Toxaway River Adventure

Team Waterfall Toxaway River Adventure

Andy's Birthday Bash Camping Weekend

Saturday, August 6th, 2016
(and a little bit of Sunday Morning)

Transylvania County, NC

Group Photo at Upper Wintergreen Falls along the Toxaway River

My Team Waterfall friends decided to get together this past weekend to celebrate Andy's Birthday.

Our weekend would start on Saturday with an exploration of the Toxaway River from US64 (just below the Lake Toxaway Dam), all the way down to Wintergreen Falls in Gorges State Park.  We shuttled a couple of cars to our planned end point before beginning our trek.

Here is a list of the cast of characters that would participate in this adventure.

Fungi = Andy Kunkle (Team Waterfall Founder + Hike Leader + Birthday Boy)
Bushwhack Jack (Me)
The Professor (Scott Burns)
The Gnome (John Forbes)
The Rock Sprite (Kitty Myers)
The Salmon (Darrin Hamlin)
The Flying Fish (Robert Sedler)
Kyle Logan
Jennifer Loow-Knepp
Boone and Kona (Andy's Dogs)
Ziggy (Kyle's Dog)

There was no easy warm up for this hike as we immediately started out with the steep scramble down to the base of Toxaway Falls.

 

Toxaway Falls

The Professor sliding down Toxaway Falls

After a short break we continued downstream.  Several of the lower drops of Toxaway Falls also turned out to be great places to slide!

Kyle getting ready to start his slide

Kyle

 Darrin "The Salmon" Hamlin

Continuing on, the river leveled off for a while

The Gnome, the Professor, and Kyle navigate through the Toxaway River

Eventually we arrived at the top of Twin Falls, one of the more photogenic waterfalls along the Toxaway River.

Twin Falls

 The Professor and The Gnome do the Gnome Pose on top of Twin Falls

 Ziggy cooling off at Twin Falls

Most of the group at Twin Falls

L to R:  Jennifer, Bob, Kyle, Andy, Kitty, Darrin, and the Gnome

with Boone and Kona up front

It was here that I realized that I had left my wallet out in plain site on the front passenger seat of my truck.  I knew that I would be worried all day if I didn't go back and get it, especially after hearing reports of recent car break-ins in the area.  And since we were only about a half mile into the hike, I knew I would be able to catch back up.

Beyond Twin Falls is a series of rapids which the Kayakers have given names like Space Mountain, Folding Slide, Sticky Hole Slide, and Minigizer.  Since I was playing catch up, I didn't stop to take any photos of these rapids.

I caught up with the group at "The Energizer" a long and powerful slide that empties out into a great little swimming hole with a nice Sandy Beach.

 The Energizer

Heading down to the Sandy Beach at the base of The Energizer

Darrin looking to slide down  a short section of The Energizer

The next rapid squeezes under some overhanging rocks that would whack the heads of any Kayakers crazy enough to run it.  Which is why they call this next one "Portage"

Andy, Boone, and Kona below "Portage"

Beyond this is a constant series of rapids and waterfalls which the Kayakers call:
Crappy Boulder Series
Big Mank
Feeding Trough
20 foot Falls
and 40/40

I am not sure which is which, so I am not going to attempt to put names to them.  Each provided it's on set of challenges to navigate through and/or around.

 Jennifer, the Salmon, the Professor, and the Gnome

There were plenty of great swimming holes along the way to stop and cool off!  Many deep enough to safely jump into from the boulders alongside the river!

 Kyle

Bob

Continuing on downstream, this is what we saw:

Andy photographing a nice Chute Type waterfall

Andy, and the Gnome on top another nice Chute Type Waterfall

A Nice Sliding Waterfall  (I call this one 2nd Twin Falls)

I believe this is the one the Kaykers call 20-foot Falls

 The Gnome Striking his famous Gnome Pose!

The Salmon and the Gnome working their way down

Upper Wintergreen Falls

Ziggy Cooling Off

There was also an Awesome Slide we came across!  I was too caught up in the enjoyment of sliding that I did not take any photos.  Here is one that Darrin took of me!

Bushwhack Jack Sliding down the Toxaway River (photo by Darrin Hamlin)

Also, check out Darrin's Awesome GoPro Video of Kyle and Darrin's Run down this slide!
https://www.facebook.com/darrin.hamlin.3/videos/1069563413079643/


There are a few more drops downstream including the main drop of Wintergreen Falls, but since we were running out time we elected to skip them and start our climb back out of the gorge.

We were scheduled to meet some other team waterfall members in Highlands at 7:00pm.  It was already past 5:00pm and we had no idea how long the hike/bushwhack out would take.

Still there was a strong urge to continue exploring.  So we took a vote and decided it was best to start the trek out.

The first half of the climb was uneventful with just a few harmless snake sightings:

A Harmless Garter Snake

We passed by a rickety deer stand, triggered someone's trail cam, and then the Yellow Jackets Struck!

They hit Jennifer first, and then several others (including myself).  So we took off in a mad dash swatting our legs as we scrambled away, only to run into an electrified barb wire fence.   I tried to dive under, but I grazed a bit of the wire giving me a quick burst of electric shock.

We regrouped and continued on.

For the next hour or so, Andy would check his GPS and give us an update of "Only a Half Mile to Go" about every 10 minutes.  Eventually we did arrive exactly where we planned and piled into the two shuttle vehicles to head back to the where the rest of the cars were parked.

Most of the group would continue on into Highlands where we would meet some additional Team Waterfall Members at the Ugly Dog Pub.   We arrived at about 8:00pm (only an hour late).

 Birthday Boy Andy and his wife Christy  (Fungi and Fungirl)

The Badger, who had cancelled out on the weekend plans do to illness recovered enough to make a guest appearance at the Ugly Dog

 The Badger (Thomas) with Stephanie and Kyle at the Ugly Dog Pub
(photo from the Badger Selfie Collection)

I was so hungry that I ordered a Cheeseburger even before I ordered a Beer!  That was a wise decision as I got my food well before anyone else!

By the time everyone else had eaten it was well past dark!  The two-mile backpack up the mountain to our Top Secret Campsite would be aided by headlamps and flashlights!

Darrin, Bob and I were the first to make it to the top and meet up with Dillon, Lauren, and Blizzy, who had arrived at the mountain top several hours earlier!

It was close to midnight by the time every one was set up and settled around a small campfire.  Just big enough to keep the bugs away and provide a little ambiance to go along with DJ Darrin's musical selections!

I elected not to attempt any late night photograph, but check out this shot that Dillon took!

Our Campsite Under the Stars  (Photo by Dillon Senn)

It was an awesome evening around the campfire with great friends.  The only real mishap involved Andy's Birthday Cake and the dogs.

When the battery went dead on Darrin's IPod Speaker at about 3:00am, it was our sign that it was time to hit the tents for the evening.


About four hours later I heard some activity outside my tent.  Dillon and the Gnome were snapping photos of the sunrise.  I grabbed my camera and got up just in time to catch the tail end of this spectacular sunrise!

Sunrise from our Campsite

The perfect end to an awesome adventure!


My Complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157671331216361