Here's something funny: in both my Oregon hiking guidebook and on every website I perused, Tamanawas Falls on the northeast side of Mt. Hood was listed as "easy." I...would disagree with this. But perhaps when you are comparing trails to others in the vicinity that regularly crest mountain ridges at thousands of feet in the air and stuff, "easy" becomes a relative term.
I mean, there were many easy and pleasant parts of it. For instance, a few feet away from where you park your car off of US 35 in Mt. Hood National Forest, you get to traverse a high bridge over the East Fork of the Hood River, swiftly running glacial waters colored a very pale and cold-looking silt-tumbled grey. I love a good bridge! I have probably mentioned this fact before in this severely neglected blog, but it's worth repeating. Who doesn't love a good bridge! And there's even another great one on this trail to come!
In fact, I should state right off that even beyond the bridges, this is an utterly fantastic and enjoyable trail, and I loved it. There were just some less "easy" parts of it. After you cross the bridge, you follow the East Fork as it, in turn, follows the highway. Even after you eventually take a turn deeper into the woods, you can still hear the traffic along the highway for a while, which doesn't particularly bother me, but I know for some real escaping-into-nature-is-my-jam folk, it might. But don't worry, it'll disappear soon.
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| They are also real into Robin Hood around these parts, which can never be a bad thing. |
I mean, there were many easy and pleasant parts of it. For instance, a few feet away from where you park your car off of US 35 in Mt. Hood National Forest, you get to traverse a high bridge over the East Fork of the Hood River, swiftly running glacial waters colored a very pale and cold-looking silt-tumbled grey. I love a good bridge! I have probably mentioned this fact before in this severely neglected blog, but it's worth repeating. Who doesn't love a good bridge! And there's even another great one on this trail to come!
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| New addition to hike photos: dog! |
In fact, I should state right off that even beyond the bridges, this is an utterly fantastic and enjoyable trail, and I loved it. There were just some less "easy" parts of it. After you cross the bridge, you follow the East Fork as it, in turn, follows the highway. Even after you eventually take a turn deeper into the woods, you can still hear the traffic along the highway for a while, which doesn't particularly bother me, but I know for some real escaping-into-nature-is-my-jam folk, it might. But don't worry, it'll disappear soon.
Being as late August and September are some of the driest times of the year to visit Mt. Hood--we went to make the most of an Indian summer heat wave--the beginning of the trail here was very sandy, and there were portions both here and later on that included extremely steep drop offs. As in, trip or make a wrong step a foot or two in a bad direction, and bye bye it is for you. I've obviously walked on trails like this before, but there were parts that seemed particularly harrowing, which I probably only felt more acutely because of the very big and strong dog now traveling with us.
You soon reach the second lovely bridge, which is smaller but feels sturdier than the first one.
Past this bridge is where things really begin to get lovely. From here on out the trail closely hugs Cold Spring Creek, which is pretty much magnificent. The further along you walk, the more it goes from calm and pretty to white water-y and a little intimidating. The trail continues to climb slowly in elevation, and while a lot of times you're climbing over rocks, there are also these pockets where all of a sudden you're enclosed in soft green and it feels like magic. I always feel like I'm walking into the Secret Garden or some type of Disney movie in these magic spots on hikes, which are also always hard to accurately capture in pictures.
There are multiple spaces where the riverbank flattens out, practically begging you to rest and bring a picnic there, and there are some mini waterfalls along the way that are just real great.
We passed a few older couples on their way back from the falls, as this is a there-and-back hike, who were overjoyed with the final payoff and really built the whole thing up for us, as excited tourists who don't spend enough time in the woods really like to share their happiness here in the Northwest. The second couple said, "The falls are great...if you make it." IF YOU MAKE IT. We were already getting a little tired at this point, since we are weaklings, and now we trudged forward with the knowledge that we might not even make it! Awesome!
We also passed one woman walking by herself with some serious walking sticks who didn't say a thing to us. We assumed she probably belonged to the only car in the parking lot that actually displayed the Forest Pass like you were supposed to, as opposed to the rest of us slackers.
Things only really felt bleak when all of a sudden the trail became a path through a mountain of boulders.
I had read that you had to do a scramble over rocks if you really wanted to get to the falls, and considering we couldn't even see the falls yet, I thought this was the start of the scramble, and these were some seriously big rocks, and we are not scrambling people. Alas! This was just part of the trail, and not a bad one at that, apart from the REALLY SCARY BEES AND BUGS that were delighting in the open sunny air. BEWARE THE REALLY SCARY BEES AND BUGS.
After a bit more walking, you finally see the falls, which drop an impressive 100 feet. And they are, indeed, great. They appear somewhat suddenly, and the height really does take your breath away for a second.
The trail continues to narrow the closer you get until it just sort of disintegrates, and this is where the actual scrambling part happens, where you can apparently walk behind the falls and it is splendid. Which, you know, we didn't do, because we are not scramblers.
Instead we stood as close as we felt comfortable and let the enormous shifting spray from the falls tinkle over our sweaty faces. On top of this, out of nowhere, there were a million butterflies dancing around our heads, no joke, because the Northwest is just a stupidly beautiful place. Although to be honest, I couldn't always tell whether those tiny wings flapping past my ear were butterflies or the aforementioned scary huge bees, so I was a little more anxious about the whole situation. But for normal people, it would've been fantastic.
Then we turned around and went back.
This was the only serious outside-of-Portland hike we've done this year, and only the third I've done in the Mt. Hood area in all the years we've now been here (the others being the popular Mirror Lake and the crazy amazing Lost Lake). I feel like I always say the same things when we actually get out on a hike together: why don't we do this more; we need to do this more. The fact is that we did do this more when we first lived here, when I wanted to explore every acre of this new land. I still want to explore every acre, but completely unsurprisingly, real life settles in more and more, and there seems to be less and less time and energy for things like exploring. I originally was planning on making some renewed hiking promise to myself after this wonderful day last week that we drove to Mt. Hood, but a few days later, I think what I want to say is just how glad I am that we get to have any of these wonderful days at all.
Lesson learned: Buy a forest pass, dummy.
Highlight: Seeing our dog, who has arthritis, jumping up rocks like a champ. Also, seeing fantastic views of Mt. Adams on the way back to Portland through Hood River, which we only realized afterwards was actually the faster route.
Info: Coming from Portland on 26, pass Government Camp to turn onto 35 North. Travel until you see signs for Sherman Campground. The easily visible trail marker will be on your left right after. From Hood River, travel 25 miles south on 35. Northwest Forest Pass required. While other Forest Pass hikes I've done have included honor-system pay stations at the trailhead, this one did not, so if you are a truly responsible citizen, you should stop at a ranger or information station to get one. (We did not get a ticket.) There was a porta-potty in the parking lot, but a safer bet would be the public rest stop at Government Camp. Hikers and dogs only
Post-hike chow-down: Government Camp is the closest town, where we have stopped at the Mt. Hood Brewery before, although there are surely other options in this little alpine hamlet as well. We did not really have a post-hike chow-down this time, but on the way out of Portland, we did have a pre-hike breakfast of boba tea and a breakfast baguette at Best Baguette, which was the perfect fuel, and where we also learned that one breakfast baguette is most definitely enough for two people.
You soon reach the second lovely bridge, which is smaller but feels sturdier than the first one.
Past this bridge is where things really begin to get lovely. From here on out the trail closely hugs Cold Spring Creek, which is pretty much magnificent. The further along you walk, the more it goes from calm and pretty to white water-y and a little intimidating. The trail continues to climb slowly in elevation, and while a lot of times you're climbing over rocks, there are also these pockets where all of a sudden you're enclosed in soft green and it feels like magic. I always feel like I'm walking into the Secret Garden or some type of Disney movie in these magic spots on hikes, which are also always hard to accurately capture in pictures.
There are multiple spaces where the riverbank flattens out, practically begging you to rest and bring a picnic there, and there are some mini waterfalls along the way that are just real great.
We passed a few older couples on their way back from the falls, as this is a there-and-back hike, who were overjoyed with the final payoff and really built the whole thing up for us, as excited tourists who don't spend enough time in the woods really like to share their happiness here in the Northwest. The second couple said, "The falls are great...if you make it." IF YOU MAKE IT. We were already getting a little tired at this point, since we are weaklings, and now we trudged forward with the knowledge that we might not even make it! Awesome!
We also passed one woman walking by herself with some serious walking sticks who didn't say a thing to us. We assumed she probably belonged to the only car in the parking lot that actually displayed the Forest Pass like you were supposed to, as opposed to the rest of us slackers.
Things only really felt bleak when all of a sudden the trail became a path through a mountain of boulders.
I had read that you had to do a scramble over rocks if you really wanted to get to the falls, and considering we couldn't even see the falls yet, I thought this was the start of the scramble, and these were some seriously big rocks, and we are not scrambling people. Alas! This was just part of the trail, and not a bad one at that, apart from the REALLY SCARY BEES AND BUGS that were delighting in the open sunny air. BEWARE THE REALLY SCARY BEES AND BUGS.
After a bit more walking, you finally see the falls, which drop an impressive 100 feet. And they are, indeed, great. They appear somewhat suddenly, and the height really does take your breath away for a second.
 |
| Tamanawnanwasnas Falls! |
The trail continues to narrow the closer you get until it just sort of disintegrates, and this is where the actual scrambling part happens, where you can apparently walk behind the falls and it is splendid. Which, you know, we didn't do, because we are not scramblers.
Instead we stood as close as we felt comfortable and let the enormous shifting spray from the falls tinkle over our sweaty faces. On top of this, out of nowhere, there were a million butterflies dancing around our heads, no joke, because the Northwest is just a stupidly beautiful place. Although to be honest, I couldn't always tell whether those tiny wings flapping past my ear were butterflies or the aforementioned scary huge bees, so I was a little more anxious about the whole situation. But for normal people, it would've been fantastic.
 |
| But this really did feel seriously awesome. |
Then we turned around and went back.
 |
| An example of "not necessarily easy." |
This was the only serious outside-of-Portland hike we've done this year, and only the third I've done in the Mt. Hood area in all the years we've now been here (the others being the popular Mirror Lake and the crazy amazing Lost Lake). I feel like I always say the same things when we actually get out on a hike together: why don't we do this more; we need to do this more. The fact is that we did do this more when we first lived here, when I wanted to explore every acre of this new land. I still want to explore every acre, but completely unsurprisingly, real life settles in more and more, and there seems to be less and less time and energy for things like exploring. I originally was planning on making some renewed hiking promise to myself after this wonderful day last week that we drove to Mt. Hood, but a few days later, I think what I want to say is just how glad I am that we get to have any of these wonderful days at all.
Lesson learned: Buy a forest pass, dummy.
Highlight: Seeing our dog, who has arthritis, jumping up rocks like a champ. Also, seeing fantastic views of Mt. Adams on the way back to Portland through Hood River, which we only realized afterwards was actually the faster route.
Info: Coming from Portland on 26, pass Government Camp to turn onto 35 North. Travel until you see signs for Sherman Campground. The easily visible trail marker will be on your left right after. From Hood River, travel 25 miles south on 35. Northwest Forest Pass required. While other Forest Pass hikes I've done have included honor-system pay stations at the trailhead, this one did not, so if you are a truly responsible citizen, you should stop at a ranger or information station to get one. (We did not get a ticket.) There was a porta-potty in the parking lot, but a safer bet would be the public rest stop at Government Camp. Hikers and dogs only
Post-hike chow-down: Government Camp is the closest town, where we have stopped at the Mt. Hood Brewery before, although there are surely other options in this little alpine hamlet as well. We did not really have a post-hike chow-down this time, but on the way out of Portland, we did have a pre-hike breakfast of boba tea and a breakfast baguette at Best Baguette, which was the perfect fuel, and where we also learned that one breakfast baguette is most definitely enough for two people.
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