WHEN TREES ATTACK

A couple of weeks ago, a job assignment sent me to Seattle for the first time since the fall of 2009. I always look forward to these trips for a number of reasons. First, Seattle is a vibrant, fascinating city. Second, the city is surrounded by some of the finest hiking on the planet. Most importantly, good friends of ours, Brian, Jill, and their daughters, Kaitlyn and Izzy, live nearby. I usually manage to visit them when I’m in the area.

This occasion was a little different. Brian and Jill had just moved into a new house two weeks earlier. Unfortunately, the house is a bit of a fixer-upper. Aside from unpacking, they had a lot of repairs to make and cleaning to do. It was probably the worst conceivable time to have a guest. Despite this, they eagerly invited me to stay for the weekend.

The reason they had moved is an interesting story. They moved from Boulder, CO, to Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle, five years ago. Instead of selling their house in Boulder, they kept it and rented it out. They moved into a rental on Bainbridge Island – a small house tucked deep in a lovely forest of massive trees. Those trees were certainly one of the main attractions to the property. Well, they were up until last November.

Late that month a monster storm with devastating winds passed through the area. Brian, Jill, and the girls were fast asleep when one of those giant trees fell. It landed on the house, coming down right through the corner of the master bedroom. Luckily, it was the corner opposite from their bed. Believe it or not, they actually had re-arranged the furniture in their bedroom just a few days earlier. Prior to that, their bed had been directly below where that tree had come down. If there is a moral to this story, it is this: re-arrange your furniture. Today.

Luckily nobody was hurt. Believe it or not, the family lived in what was left of the house, without power, for another week or so. However, the damage was extensive, and they eventually had to move to a temporary rental nearby. Most of their belongings went into storage, and that situation persisted until early April. Then, they finally found an affordable house on the island for sale. As previously mentioned, the house is a bit of a fixer-upper, but Brian and Jill are handy people.

I flew into Seattle on Tuesday morning. The second flight, from Detroit to Seattle, was miserable. I had a 5 year old directly behind me, and he spent most of the flight alternating between kicking the back of my seat and emitting high-pitched shrieks. The only saving grace was that it was a sunny day in Seattle, and we were treated to spectacular views of Mount Rainier and the snowy Cascades on the way in.

By the time I arrived, it had already been a long day. I’d gotten up at 4am for my 6am flight. By the time I got my rental car, I’d already been going ten hours, and it was still before noon local time. The job was a bit challenging, too, mostly because I was only given 2 ½ days to get through 4 days worth of work. Somehow I managed though, and I wrapped everything up by 5:30 on Thursday.

Brian had to work on Friday, and the girls had school. So, I decided to spend the day hiking. The Pacific Northwest has fantastic hiking opportunities; however, the higher elevation areas are generally only accessible from late summer through early fall due to a long-lasting snowpack. This winter has been particularly severe, and some areas may not be passable at all in 2011. For this trip, the higher elevations were completely out of the question. As a result, I decided to do a waterfall hike.

The Washington Cascades have lots of waterfalls, but I decided to drive down to the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon border. The waterfalls there are world-class, and I had only visited the area once before, in 2006. I was looking forward to returning to check out some of the waterfalls I’d missed on that trip.

The Columbia River Gorge is just east of Portland, Oregon. Under normal conditions it takes about 3 hours to get there from Seattle. Unfortunately, I didn’t encounter normal conditions at 6pm. I hit the first serious traffic jam north of Tacoma. It persisted all the way through town. Just when things looked like they were clearing up I hit another. This was getting old, and I was hungry. Luckily, the sign for the next exit advertised a Red Robin. That actually sounded pretty good. I got off, only to find that the restaurant was 2 miles away. I got lost, twice, on the way there, and when I finally found the restaurant, it started to pour. I dashed across the parking lot, only to find a huge line of people waiting for tables. I actually found a seat in the bar area, but after 10 minutes I still hadn’t see a waitress. I eventually gave up on the Red Robin and found a Yum Yum Teriyaki nearby. Teriyaki places are everywhere in the Seattle area, and this one was cheap and good. Apparently that is what I should’ve done from the beginning.

I made it back to the freeway and found that traffic had dispersed. Most of the rest of the drive was smooth. I did stop at a Wal Mart near Longview to pick up an umbrella. The forecast called for light rain on Friday, but I thought I might still manage some photos with the aid of an umbrella. You might think that umbrellas would be easy to find in a Wal Mart in the Pacific Northwest, but I had no idea where to start. The greeter was actually helpful and pointed me in the right direction. There was a small selection of them just beyond a huge display of sunglasses. Ironic, huh?

I found an umbrella that looked even cheaper than its price tag and got back on the road. I drove down through Vancouver, WA and around the northeast side of Portland. Then I headed east on I-84 for a few miles to a Motel 6, where I’d made reservations a few hours earlier. I checked in and went to bed early, as I planned an early start the next morning. The hotel was adequate at best, but I still managed to sleep reasonably well aside from the rumbling from the occasional passing freight train. The train tracks were so close to my room that it actually felt like those trains were in bed with me. At least, I think they were all freight trains. Later I heard that the Portland area did experience a minor earthquake that night.

I got up at 6 on Friday, well before the sun. I checked out and got some free coffee in the lobby, which was slightly less nasty than I expected it to be. Then I headed east on 84 for a few miles before taking exit 22 for the scenic route. This road took me up along the rim of the gorge, which was choked with fog in the early morning light. After a few miles I dropped back down, before arriving at my first destination, Latourell Falls.

It was still before 7 when I parked at the trailhead. I ate a bagel quickly before walking the short trail towards the base of the falls. Latourell Falls is a monster. It drops 224’, and it has a lot of power in addition to height. Getting to the actual base was impossible due to the immense spray. I found a good vantage point a bit farther up the trail. A few minutes later I reached an even better spot at the upper overlook. From there I followed the trail to Upper Laoutrell Falls. The hike is fairly short (less than a mile each way), but the trail does climb a fair bit along the way. It’s a nice walk, with additional views of the main falls. The trail also features some massive trees, and the trilliums were blooming in abundance along the path.

The fog had begun to lift, but light rain was falling. I had dressed in full Gore Tex, and carried the umbrella to shelter my camera from the elements. This seemed to work fairly well, particularly early in the day when the rain was light.

The Upper Falls is a bit smaller (120’), but still quite impressive. It’s actually possible to walk behind this waterfall, but there was entirely too much spray to attempt that on this occasion. I spent a few minutes there before hurrying back to the car. I still had a big agenda for the day, as I wanted to hit as many waterfalls as possible before heading back north.

My next stop was at Sheppards Dell Falls (220’). This one is partially visible from the road. A short, paved trail leads down to an overlook of the creek at the brink of the lower part of the falls. There isn’t much to see from here though. The main part of the falls is upstream, but around a corner. It may have been possible to get there, but it would’ve required a dangerous traverse along a goat path above the raging creek. I couldn’t even get a very good view down at the lower part of the falls, as the overlook was actually underwater.

From there I drove a short distance to Bridal Veil Falls State Park. I hiked a fairly short trail down to Bridal Veil Falls (118’), which was also quite impressive. There is an upper waterfall on this same creek, but I’d read that it requires a difficult, off-trail hike to reach. Since I was solo and the weather was marginal, I decided to skip that one this time.

From there I continued on towards world-famous Multnomah Falls (600’). I passed several other high waterfalls on smaller streams along the way. My next stop was at Wahkeena Falls (242’). There were actually some tourists here checking out this waterfall, despite the marginal conditions. I’d only seen a few people at my previous stops, and wasn’t expecting to see many more during my main hike of the day. With that thought in mind, I gathered my gear and headed up the paved trail for a closer look at the falls.

After a ¼ mile I reached a bridge spanning the creek near the base of the falls. The view from there is fascinating, but the vantage point is difficult for photography due to the height of the falls, the abundant spray, and the severe viewing angle. I didn’t linger long. Instead I continued climbing out of the gorge on switchbacks. I stopped briefly at an overlook of the Columbia River, but I didn’t linger thanks to the conditions. The pavement ends here, and I enjoyed walking on rocks and dirt for most of the remainder of the hike.

Eventually I returned to Wahkeena Creek just upstream from the falls. The hike upstream was fascinating. At one point I passed through a narrow little canyon, where there was barely enough room for the creek and the trail. Tributaries cascaded down over remarkable (if unnamed) waterfalls all along this stretch. I was also treated to more massive, mossy, firs and cedars. This stretch of trail was so beautiful I had a tough time simply keeping myself moving forward.

I reached Fairy Falls (20’) a bit later. Fairy Falls was the smallest named waterfall of the day, but it may have been the prettiest. It is certainly photogenic, and I spent some time trying to capture it despite the persistent rain. I also had a quick lunch there, but I didn’t linger long. It was wet and cold, and I was afraid that moss would start growing on me if I didn’t keep moving.

My original plan had been to hike up to Wahkeena Springs and then take the Larch Mountain Trail over to Multnomah Creek. Instead, I took a bit of short cut high up on the rim of the gorge. This part of the hike was lovely, thanks to the dark, fog-shrouded forest around me. The only drawback was the steady hum of traffic on the freeway directly below.

I actually passed a few people along here, including what must’ve been a father and 2 daughters, all dressed in jeans and cotton sweatshirts. I shuddered at the sight of them. Temperatures were in the low 40’s at best (I swear I saw snowflakes at times) and the rain was gradually picking up. I was damp and chilly, and I had come prepared. Most of the other folks I saw looked miserable. Believe it or not, I actually saw two guys wearing shorts near the end of my hike.

I descended to Multnomah Creek, which looked more like a raging river than a mountain stream. I followed it downstream as it roared over an endless series of violent cascades. Before long I reached the next significant waterfall. Ecola Falls (55’) may be the most beautiful waterfall in the area. Unfortunately, there isn’t a good view of it from the trail. I thought about descending a steep, slippery goat path to access the base. However, I could see that the spray was overwhelming down there. Photography would be impossible. Under the circumstances, it didn’t look like going down there would be worth the trouble.

Fortunately there was another waterfall just ahead. I arrived just downstream from the base of Weisdanger Falls (50’) a few minutes later. This is an impressive waterfall, too, and it is easy to view from the trail. The best part of this one might be the impressive overhang the trail passes under just downstream. The overhang, named Dutchman’s Tunnel, actually sheltered me from the rain, which was now officially annoying.

From there I passed more cascades down to the junction with the paved tourist trail coming up from the Multnomah Falls lodge. There were a lot of folks here, which was a bit disorienting after a quiet day walking in the rain. I made the quick side trip to the brink of the falls, where I had a limited view of Multnomah Creek leaping off a cliff, 600’ above the lodge and parking area below.

I started down a few minutes later. I was hoping to get views of the Multnomah Falls on the way, but all of them were at least partially obscured by trees. Despite the obstacles, I noticed another 600’ high waterfall on a much smaller stream right next to the main feature. This waterfall may be seasonal, as I hadn’t ever heard about it before.

I descended to the rock bridge spanning the creek at the base of the main drop. The bridge is just above the lowest part of the waterfall, and it’s a popular place for tourists to hang out. I didn’t see much hope for photography there, so I continued to cross another bridge, which offered a distant view of Shady Creek Falls (200’). I then reached the lower overlook. That area doesn’t benefit from tree cover, and photography was even more difficult due to the rain. Still, it was worth a shot.

Then I passed the lodge, walked through the parking lot, and picked up the ½ mile trail back to Wahkeena Falls. This trail runs parallel to the road, but it was certainly nicer than walking along the shoulder. In fact, I passed one more, unnamed waterfall along here. I returned to the car at 3pm and headed back towards Seattle. I had originally planned to do another 5 mile round-trip hike to Horsetail Falls, Ponytail Falls, Middle Oneota Falls, and Triple Falls, but I’ll have to save that one for next time. I wanted to get to Brian and Jill’s by a reasonable hour so we could spend some time together.

The drive back was pretty smooth. The highlight was seeing several more high waterfalls from I-84 at the west end of the gorge. Some of these weren’t really visible from the scenic highway I had driven in on. They included Mist Falls, Dalton Falls, Coopey Falls, and a few others that are probably seasonal. The only problem with the drive was that I was suffering through a severe coffee craving. I was damp and cold and in need of caffeine. Ironically, I didn’t have any luck spotting a Starbucks from the interstate. Eventually I got off in a small town, where the only Espresso shack was closed. I had to settle for a soda. I reached Olympia 15 minutes later, where there was a Starbucks off every exit.

I took the back way from Olympia to Bainbridge Island to avoid the usual traffic jam in Tacoma. This was a good move. Even though I was on a 2-lane road part of the way and traffic was a little slow, at least it was moving. Plus, the scenery along this part of Puget Sound, even in the rain, was lovely. At least most of it was lovely. The town of Shelton was a bit of a different experience. From the road, I saw what must be the world’s largest sawmill, which apparently takes up most of the town.

I arrived at Brian and Jill’s in time for dinner, which was convenient since Jill had made an outstanding meatloaf. They gave me a complete tour of the new house. It’s still very much a work-in-progress, but I have no doubt it will be beautiful once they are finished. We spent the rest of the evening catching up and playing Settlers of Catan. I was recently introduced to this game, and seem to be getting a little addicted to it. I was more than happy to share my addiction with Brian, Jill, and Kaitlyn. We ended up playing six times that weekend, which is a lot when you consider that each game took around 2 hours.

Originally Brian and I had planned to hike somewhere in the Olympics on Saturday. For the first time all week the weather forecast looked promising. However, Saturday morning quickly ran into Saturday afternoon, and we bailed. Plus, the sunny forecast failed to materialize. There were a few sprinkles during the day, including one round that struck just as we were about to head over to the Grand Forest.

The Grand Forest is an undeveloped public park on Bainbridge Island. The forest is second growth, but after 100 years, it is nearly as impressive as some of the forests in Olympic National Park. It’s a nice place, and it sounds like it is about to get bigger:

http://www.bi-landtrust.org/news.asp?ID=57

We finally did make it over there later that afternoon, just in time for another round of sprinkles. Brian, Kaitlyn, Izzy, and Brian’s beagle, Watson, and I walked most of the trails there. Trillium were blooming everywhere, and I stopped for some photos. Before long I realized I’d been left behind. I spent the next hour or more wandering through the forest, taking photos of the trees, the flowers, and an interesting little bog along the upper loop. I eventually headed back to the car, and arrived at nearly the same time as Brian and the rest of the family.

We headed home, but I was really just getting started. I knew I wouldn’t exercise on Sunday, so I wanted to squeeze in a run before dinner. I considered a few options for my run. I could drive back to the Grand Forest, or Gazzam Lake.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Say that last sentence out loud!

The Grand Forest was a bit muddy though, and I only had one pair of shoes. Gazzam Lake has owls that occasionally attack people:

http://www.owlpages.com/news.php?article=602

So, I decided to run from Brian’s house. It was a nice run, with beautiful forests, farmland, the water front, and relatively light traffic.

That evening we had pizza and played more Catan. I slept reasonably well that night, despite an onslaught of allergies that evolved into the flu and respiratory infection a few days later.

Sunday was actually partly sunny. Unfortunately I had to head for home. I took the 8:45 ferry over to Seattle and drove down to the airport. SeaTac was less of a disaster than normal, and the flight home was smooth despite my unhappy sinuses. The highlight was seeing the top of Mount Rainier peaking out of the clouds shortly after departure. My boss says I may be going back to Seattle in May, and I’m already looking forward to it!

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