Waterfalls, mountains, dams

Yesterday I drove on two Oregon scenic byways. I guess this is an official designation of sorts. This post will have a lot of pictures. First up was the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway. There were some nice overlooks of Mt. Hood:




However, after that, the road became annoying. One of the themes of my trip is "more snow than usual this winter" and many of the side roads were not accessible, and I started freaking out when I realized I was driving through a snow zone where it was required to carry chains or traction tires. I'm fine with driving in snow--I did it a lot in Michigan this past winter--but not on windy mountain roads at high altitudes. Fortunately there was not much snow on the roadway, but it made me nervous as I ascended to Government Camp and Mt. Hood. I did not linger and arrived in Troutdale Oregon as soon as I could. Troutdale was kind of cute and the visitor center gave me a great map of waterfalls along the Historic Columbia River Highway. Taking this highway ended up being a great decision. I saw seven waterfalls and took one really great hike.

One the way to the waterfalls, there were a couple of lovely overlooks at Chanticleer Point and Crown Point, where a building called Vista House was constructed as a rest stop years ago:





The first waterfall was Latourell Falls:



After a hike of maybe over a mile, and I was wondering if it was going to be worth it, I stumbled upon Upper Latourell Falls, so it was totally worth it:





Next up was a brief stop at Sheppard's Dell Falls:



Then, maybe my favorite and I lingered here a while, Bridal Veil Falls (a couple of shorter hikes here)





One of the hikes took me by camas, a kind of "increasingly rare" plant that used to be a food source for Indian tribes of the northwest:



And one hike took me by some nice views of the Columbia River:



I like this shot, because it combines the railroad, the highway, and the river--all of the main transportation routes of the area:



Next, Wahkeena Falls:



And then, the largest of these falls and I think the second largest waterfall in height in the United States, Multnomah Falls. Very impressive. Also, I should point out that on this stretch of my trip there actually were other people. While being the only person at a museum or natural landmark is nice, I have to admit it was good to see other people at this point!







It was sort of windy, but mostly I was coated in spray from the waterfall in these goofy pics:






Then one last waterfall, Horsetail Falls:



I kept driving east and arrived at Bonneville Dam. I already discussed the sea lion/salmon/human/technology clash in broad strokes. The dam has a huge visitor center, including an underwater viewing area where you can see the salmon and other fish making their way through the fish ladders, meant to help them through the dam, though some end up in the turbines and I assume die a bloody death. There were a few fish in the ladders today, but nothing amazing--still very cool. The ladders look like this from the top:




And the dam; I did see a boat navigating the locks:



For some reason I'm intrigued by the sea lion controversy. It has so many different angles and viewpoints, and everyone with interests--including the "salmon-gobbling mammals"--has a legitimate claim. It is the kind of messy issue that requires everyone to make trade offs. Too bad someone had to resort to violence against the sea lions.

After this, I decided to head back towards Portland. It may be my imagination, but most people in Oregon seem to drive the speed limit or close to it. Also, for a big city, there did not seem to be much traffic. An abandoned building was on fire which made for a dramatic entrance to the city, but otherwise traffic was moving. And I'm thrilled with the public transportation, which means NO driving for a couple of days while I explore the city. Having driving about 2500 miles in the last week, that's going to be great. I'm here until Friday when I leave for the coast, specifically Newport for the night.

I actually slept in for the first time on the trip (until 8:15). There are a couple of museums I want to see, but mostly I'm going to be walking around and hopefully take a tour of the Shanghai Tunnels. I called about it and could not understand a word the sleepy person on the other end of the line had to say, but I heard something about showing up fifteen minutes early, so we shall see.

See all pictures here: