A walk among waterfalls

The Columbia River Gorge is home to the highest concentration of waterfalls in North America.* It's also a mere 40 minutes from my house, and it seems closer than that. Thomas and I, along with a friend, hiked about 6.4 miles along the Eagle Creek Trail today, past Punchbowl Falls and up to High Bridge. (All while poor Mr. T was getting a root canal.)

I really like Punchbowl Falls.

A quick .3 mile side trail leads down to Lower Punchbowl Falls, and when you hike upstream on a gravel shore for a bit, you reach this:



See that gentleman in the picture? Though I'm fairly certain I've never seen him naked (one's memory isn't infallible, of course), I do know he's suffering from a terrible case of shrinkage, and quite possibly poor judgment. I bring this fact to your attention thanks not to my eyes, but to simple Aristotelian logic: That water's friggin' cold. Upon reaching the stream, I donned the wicked new sandals I'd packed in the day pack, and entered the water. Thankfully, the pain gave way to simple numbness after 30 or so seconds.

It's lovely there.



*I have seen the claim made that the Gorge contains the highest concentration in 1) the Pacific Northwest and 2) the world. I'm unclear what the truth is. But there's a snotload of waterfalls, which is all you really need to know.