FALL VACATION 2011 - Wednesday, 9/28/11 - Hike to Fairy Falls

We wake up about  9:00.  Stayed up too late working on photographs and reading my new Kindle book “An Unreasonable Woman:  A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, And The Fight for Seadrift, Texas”.  One reviewer called it, “an uncomfortable read”, and I have to agree with him.  For me, it’s uncomfortable because we are confronted with the fact that as much as we might like to say there’s nothing we can do, we can’t fight City Hall, it’s in someone else’s hands, Diane Wilson shows us that we are just making excuses.  There is a lot we can do.  Maybe that’s the uncomfortable part. 

But, back to our trip.  We leave the RV around 12:30 and head to Stevenson for lunch.  We have had our eyes on a little bar and grill on the river called “CXXX”.  They have a great deck right on the river and although it’s windy today, the deck fortunately is enclosed.   We order a cheeseburger and fries to share.  Only problem is we forget to tell her we want it on the jalapeno cheese bun and it arrives on a plain old ordinary sesame seed bun. 

We sit on the patio and enjoy watching the sailboarders.  This is the sailboarding capital of the world, right here on the Columbia River.  The wind is whipping up the river today, lots of white caps.  The sailboarders are zooming hither and tither. 

After lunch we head back to Highway 30 and all the waterfalls.  We stop at Wahkeena Falls to hike the trail to the lookout and maybe farther to the upper waterfalls.  The wind is still blowing, but as we walk the trail it lessens.  Our first stop is a waterfall about a quarter of a mile up the trail:

We follow the switchbacks until we reach an overlook.  From here we can see the beautiful river below.  A tugboat is pushing a barge downriver. 

We look at our trail map.  We decide to hike further to a spot called “Fairy Falls”.  That sounds interesting.  The map indicates it is only 0.3 miles further.  That’s not so far.  No problem.  But, of course, it’s all uphill.  The trail follows the Wahkeena Creek.  Fred and I are amazed at how clear and fresh the water looks.  It’s crystal clear and the whitest white we have ever seen in a creek.

The sun is getting low and we are concerned about the time.  We still have not reached Fairy Falls.  Fred suggests we trek one more switchback and if we don’t see it, then we will head back down the trail.  I agree.  We walk further.  We walk around a bend and I see the falls.  “Fred, I see it.  It’s fantastic,” I exclaim.  We both get choked up.  My eyes moisten.  This waterfall is magical. 

We take several photos of it.  Then we stand, hand in hand, breathing in the fresh scent of the forest and the crystal water.  This is one gorgeous waterfall.

Time is getting late and we head back down the mountain.  Our legs are getting tired and we realize how little exercise we have gotten lately.  But before you know it we are at the base of the mountain and there is our VW in the parking lot.
 

We are pooped.  We drive back to our campground.  We decide tonight is definitely a soup night.  No campfire.  Fred downloads photos and I blog.

Lights out 10:00.