The Gorge

After our delicious Swedish brunch on Sunday, David offered to drive us to what in my mind was described as "some falls" east of Portland along the Columbia river gorge. As it turned out, the Gorge, its waterfalls and vistas combined with their proximity to Portland may be one of the most wonderful surprises of Oregon.



Our first stop was the much celebrated Multnomah falls, the "second tallest continually flowing waterfall in the U.S." at roughly 620ft, spread out between the two drops.

The viewing space

The friends at the falls

A little further up the historic Route 30 is Horsetail Falls, named after the shape the falls make as it pours over the rocks. A short hike to the one of the many drops revealed this thundering cave and many gorgeous views of the gorge.

It was a little scary under there with the noise of the water rushing overhead

A happy break on our hike

The view from the trail of the Columbia

Back in the car and heading towards Portland was Crown Point Vista, a not so subtle reminder of how the notion of a rest stop has changed in the past 100 years.

An imposing edifice perched on the cliff top, reached only by a seriously steep, windy road (In our experience, matched only by some of the crazy roads encountered in NZ)

A lovely touch

Looking east

West toward Portland

You may recognize the picture that is now the title of our blog as the view eastward over the Gorge. VERY PICTURESQUE.

With the great friends, excellent food and good times in the city, we were a little sad to leave Portland, but excited for our next stop: the Olympic Peninsula.