Follow along on a photo journey through the Columbia River Gorge.

View Columbia River Gorge – April 2012 in a larger map

Follow along on a photographic journey through the Columbia River Gorge as we hike to plummeting waterfalls along the Gorge’s “wet side” near Portland, Oregon, as well as tour through blooming orchards and desert wildflowers on the “dry side” near Hood River and The Dalles.

I’ll do my best to make daily photo-illustrated posts, which will also be plotted on the map above.

Let’s go make some pictures!

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Bridal Veil Creek, Bridal Veil Falls State Park, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

The last stop on my Columbia River Gorge tour was a quick morning hike to Bridal Veil Falls in Bridal Veil State Park.  Another cloudy day provided ideal conditions for photographing the creek and forest.

Thank you for joining me on my tour of the Columbia River Gorge.  Please feel free to leave a comment.

Footbridge over Bridal Veil Creek

Bridal Veil Creek

Goodbye for now good old Historic Columbia River Highway

Morning breaks over the Columbia River along the Mosier Twin Tunnels Trail, Mosier, Oregon

Finding the orchards in Hood River well past their prime bloom, I went for a morning walk on the Mosier Twin Tunnels Trail, starting at the Mosier end.  This is one of a few old sections of Historic Columbia River Highway that are converted to trails for joggers, hikers and bikers.

The cliffhanging trail is guard-railed by the Historic Highway’s classic stone arches and white wood rails.  The views out over the Columbia River are sweeping.  The balsamroot are in prime bloom along the trail, and a bicyclist told me that he saw a peregrine falcon up on the cliffs just above the east tunnel entrance.

The twin tunnels, restored for passage in 1996, run along inside the face of a cliff.  Windows are cut out through the cliff’s face to provide views out over the Columbia River.

Next time I’m here with my family, we must take our bicycles for this and some of the other converted sections of old Columbia River Highway.

East entrance of the Mosier Twin Tunnels

Interior of the Mosier Twin Tunnels

Arrowleaf balsamroot

Oneonta Creek flowing through Oneonta Gorge, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Buoyed by yesterday’s walk in Eagle Creek, I decided to tackle Oneonta Gorge today.

The river was cold, but not unbearable.  I waded up into the entrance of the Gorge in water up to mid-thigh, again using my tripod and a ski pole for balance.  Then I had to climb over a slippery log jam that completely choked the gorge.  The photo above was taken from atop the up-stream end of the log jam.

The gorge is about 20 feet wide and 100+ feet deep. From here, the route involves jumping off the log jam into water that looks at least waist deep, followed by a half mile of more wading in water ranging from ankle to chest deep.  Being alone and on not exactly a warm day, I elected to call it quits here.

I also drove up to Vista House on Crown Point and hit some of the other waterfalls along the Historic Columbia River Highway, including Latourell, Shepperd’s Dell and Multnomah Falls.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Interior of Vista House on Crown Point, Historic Columbia River Highway, Oregon

Arched stone wall covered in moss along Shepperd's Dell Trail, Oregon

Lichen and moss-covered balusters on bridge over Shepperd's Dell, Oregon

Latourell Falls, Oregon

Punchbowl Falls, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Another rainy day … perfect for photographing waterfalls, streams and wildflowers again.  Today’s adventure:  hiking up Eagle Creek to shoot Punchbowl Falls, a classic Pacific Northwest shot.

Extra tennis shoes and hiking socks my backpack, I headed up the trail 1.9 miles to a rocky beach just downstream of Punchbowl Falls.  You can’t actual see the waterfall from here yet as the view is blocked by a huge rock buttress.  You actually have to wade out into the river to see it around the corner of the buttress.

Being that Eagle Creek is running high due to spring snow-melt and heavy rain, I zipped off the legs of my convertible hiking pants and started to wade out using a ski pole and my tripod for support against the current.  I ended up at about mid-thigh, my hiking shorts about an inch above the waterline.

I must say that the water was cold, but not shockingly cold.  It wasn’t till I was back on shore toweling off my legs that I noticed why.  My skin was actually numb.  I couldn’t feel the towel on my legs as I was drying them off!

What silly things we photographers do for a shot.

In the end, only a few of the photos I took were sharp.  This is likely caused by vortex-induced vibration from the river’s current flowing over the tripod legs.  I guess I should have turn on image stabilization.

Eagle Creek Trail cut into cliff, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Chocolate Lily

Stream Violet

Rockslide Larkspur

Shooting Star

Eagle Creek and mossy maple trunks, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Wahkeena Falls and footbridge, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Finally, a day of sweet spring rain … exactly what I came down to the Gorge for.  Time to photograph the waterfalls, creeks and forest wildflowers along the “wet side” of the Columbia River Gorge near Portland, Oregon.

The photo above is Wahkeena Falls, a short hike up from the Historic Columbia River Highway.  This Highway, the scenic overlooks and several trails to majestic waterfalls were all built between 1913 and 1922, inspired by the heyday of road touring by Model T.

The last photo in today’s series is of the entrance to Oneonta Gorge.  I’m hankering to hike up this Gorge, but this means climbing over a log jam and wading in really cold water, mostly calf deep, but up to my waist in spots.  Still working on my courage.

White Trillium

Bleeding Heart

Bleeding Heart

Fern frond

Oneonta Creek flowing out of entrance to Oneonta Canyon,Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Wahkeena Creek, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Sun rises over wildflowers on the Rowena Plateau, Tom McCall Preserve, Rowena, Oregon

I spend this morning’s sunrise up on the Rowena Plateau, part of The Nature Conservancy’s Tom McCall Nature Preserve just west of The Dalles, Oregon.  Rowena Plateau offers wildflowers and great views out over the Columbia River from basalt cliff tops.

I’m there about 30 minutes prior to sunrise to scout out photo ops.  The sun is rising over the Columbia Hills in the photograph above.

It was gusting to about 30 miles per hour, which always tries my patients when trying to photograph wildflowers.

After sunrise, I was hoping to photograph blooming orchards in Hood River with Mount Hood in the background.  Unfortunately, Hood River was pretty much clouded in, making for dull light.

Then, I headed across the Columbia River and drove a loop route on the Washington side running east along the Columbia River from White Salmon to Lyle, up the Klickitat River on Highway 142 to Glenwood, and then BZ Corner Road and Highway 141 back to White Salmon.  Great scenery much of the way, including Outlet Falls shown below.

Scenic Highway 30 takes a hairpin curve descending from the Rowena Plateau,Rowena, Oregon

Home and red barn in flowering orchard, Hood River, Oregon

Outlet Creek plummets over Outlet Falls, Glenwood, Washington

Balsamroot and lupine blooming in spring, Columbia Hills State Park, Klickitat County, Washington

The Dalles Mountain Road is in great shape for wildflowers.  Balsamroot and lupine are all in peak bloom.

The Road is a favorite April destination, providing “big sky” views across the Columbia River towards Mount Hood.  And, important for us photographers, the wildflowers and views are all protected and made accessible as a State Park.

Also sprouting up are dozens of wind turbines up on Haystack Butte and the surrounding mountaintops.

Balsamroot and wind turbines, Haystack Butte, Columbia Hills, Klickitat County, Washington

Horsetail Creek plummets over Ponytail Falls and moss covered boulders, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon

Today’s hot weather is rapidly melting spring mountain snow pack.  All of the creeks and waterfalls along the scenic Historic Columbia River Highway are at full throttle.

Ponytail Falls is one of my favorite short hikes in the area, as the trail goes through a deep alcove behind the falls.  The thundering falls is amplified as it echoes throughout the wet alcove.  It feels like the ground below your feet is being shaken by the pounding falls, making you wonder about the soundness of the tons of basalt above your head.

Ponytail also makes a great photo stop on a sunny evening.  The falls is located deep within a shady canyon, providing uniform light for the camera.  Spray from the falls ensures that everything that can support moss does support moss.  The cliffs, boulders and trees are covered.  Moss is even growing on moss.

I wrap up my photo shoot as the sun sets over the Columbia River and head back to camp at Ainsworth State Park.

Dawn breaks over a field of red tulips, Mount Vernon, Skagit Valley, Washington

After a cooler than normal spring, the Skagit Valley tulip fields are finally in full bloom.  Now is the time to head up to the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival taking place in Mount Vernon, Washington.  This Pacific Northwest premier event draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to see millions of tulips, a good reason to show up early on weekend mornings while traffic is still light.

Here are a few shots taken early this morning.