Hiking with Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad came down to visit this last weekend and we planned on a hike.  The warm weather and beautiful fall colors called for an excellent hike.  Enter Triple Falls.  Triple Falls is one of my favorite hikes in the Columbia River Gorge.  It is 2.5 miles on the Oneonta Creek Trail which begins at the iconic Horsetail Falls on the eastern-end of the scenic falls area.

 

We got a later start than planned but getting on the trail around noon was a benefit as it allowed the fog to burn off.  Even from the start of our hike, the views were incredible. 

 

Within the first mile, we encountered Horsetail's little sister, Ponytail Falls.

Ponytail Falls
(Though you can't see them, Mom and Sandi are
behind the falls, off to the left of the photo)





The cool thing about this fall is that the trail
takes you behind the water

As mentioned before, the fall colors were amazing.

Geared up for a hike!

 

 

Triple Falls!  The four of us stopped for lunch from this vantage point. 

 

I've hiked this trail at least 4 times but I always turn around at this point.  The trail actually extends for another 12+ miles to make a loop back to the highway.  To satisfy (my) curiosity, we crossed the bridge (just beyond the photo) to see what was on the other side.

 

 

Stunning beauty

 

And also fairly wet

 

We turned around after about a 1/2 mile across the bridge.  This made for a ~6-mile hike.

 

Mom, Dad, Sandi, and I celebrating a great autumn hike.

 Final note: to celebrate the hike, Dad made a Primitivo wine called 'Triple Falls Hike' with this photo as the label.  Thanks, Dad!