Hiking season is upon us in the great Northwest, well sort of. Julie, our friend Joe, and I were all anxious to get out into the great outdoors and get our new REI equipment dirty, so we searched many trails online that were good to hike in, camp, and then hike back out. With the northwest having tons of rain and snow this winter, it was a bit early to hike in elevations of more than 3500 ft, so the only low-elevation trail that was near town and interested us all was Eagle Creek Trail. I’ve been on this trail a couple of times in years past, but not as far as we were planning to go this trip.

Eagle Creek Trail is one of the most popular trails in the Columbia River Gorge and, with the nice weekend weather, we had to hit the road early. We all met up and left for the trail around 6:30am. When we arrived at the trail an hour-and-a-half later, the parking lot we wanted to park in was nearly full; there was one more spot available and we took it. We were all pumped up to hit the trail, especially Joe as you can see below.

The trail wandered along the creek, which was so breathtaking. Due to all the snow melt from up above, the creek was roaring. We soon began to climb a bit as the creek slid between the mountains and sooner or later, we were walking on the ledge of the mountains, holding onto ropes for safety. The views were just fantastic. We passed many fellow hikers of all types and ages (I should say more people passed us than we did them); it was just unbelievable how popular this trail was, but we were about to find out why.

Around each corner seemed to be some type of waterfall, whether it was a tiny one going towards the Eagle Creek or a huge one that defined Eagle Creek itself. We just had to stop for a few minutes at each one and stare at its’ form and watch how it flows over and carves out the rock. When we got to Lower Punchbowl fall by hiking down the side of the mountain, there was plenty of ground to explore near the fall. We went as far as we could in the canyon before we would get our feet soaked with water. However, there was a loud noise coming from around the corner that Joe, being a nature photographer, could not pass up seeing. He took off his socks and shoes and began trotting through the water with his camera. I’m sure it got quite cold after a couple of minutes, but he was able to see Upper Punchbowl falls, which Julie and I were able to see down the trail about 10 minutes later.

After the hike down to the falls, we continued on the trail, passing little streams, rich vegetation, and rocks where slides have occurred. A little over six miles into the trail, we saw one of the most awe-inspiring waterfalls Oregon has to offer. It is called Tunnel Falls and behind the waterfall is the tunnel the trail goes through. This was the spot that attracted a fair amount of people to hike this trail. Joe and I spent the next 30 minutes to an hour there taking photos and taking in the sights and sounds of the waterfall that people could interact with.

A couple of miles down the trail, we set up camp near the river and explored the surrounding area. We walked through the rest of the camping area to a pretty neat little waterfall and then back to camp. Much of the next day was hiking back to the trailhead, going back through the tunnel at Tunnel Falls and down the trail to our vehicle. It’s amazing how views of the trail change when you’re going down compared to going up, but they were all so beautiful that I kept snapping away with my camera. Enjoy the photos!!

View the Eagle Creek Trail Gallery

Julie and I really pushed ourselves the night before to make it to Moab, Utah. We drove way into the evening and the last thing we saw before it turned to total darkness was hilly green grassland. When we got to Moab, we quickly got a hotel and crashed. Anxious to see Arches National Park, we got up really early and hit the road. When we went outside to pack the car, we were amazed to see that we were surrounded by red rock in the high desert. How did we get from the green grassland to the high desert? We only drove less than an hour just seeing the road that our headlights lit up.

When we took off for Arches National Park, we were surprised once again to find out that the entrance to Arches was 7 miles down the road. We originally thought we had a 45 min to an hour drive ahead of us, so we were preparing for the drive. When we arrived at the gate, the sun was barely up and hiding behind the looming rain clouds. We drove up the point of entry, flashed our annual pass and were in. The visitor center was closed, so we went deep into the park. Breathtaking views greeted us and we stopped what seemed to be every 2 minutes to do a few mini hikes.

It didn’t take long to realize that this would be our favorite of all the national parks we’ve visited on this trip. When we got to the end of the park road, another decision was put upon us. Just like it was in Mesa Verde, it was somewhat cold and windy. Asking ourselves again if it was safe to do this longer hike, we went for it and thought that we could always turn back if it got any worse. Not too far into the hike, the clouds started to clear up and rays of sunshine started to come though. It was absolutely amazing as we thought it was a sign from up above that this hike was meant for us. Julie and I soon found out why. We hiked between huge slabs of red rock and underneath big arches, gasping at it all. We were also fascinated with the vegetation and the red sand. Climbing up the red rock, we made frequent stops looking ahead and behind us as well as at the valley floor, which was thousands of feet below. Julie and I had asked ourselves several times if this was reality or if we were dreaming. How could something so beautiful and peaceful exist? One of our favorite memories of the trail was walking on top of a huge rock fin that was at least the length of two semi-trucks and, if we fell off it, definite injury would occur, as it was quite a ways down. Once up on the rock, huge gusts of wind came upon us. It felt so exhilarating to be experiencing that moment with other hikers on the rock. What could beat this? We felt like we were in another world. We then got off the rock and off to the end of the trail to see some named arches.

On the way back, Julie and I saw a man up on the same rock fin that was described. We could hear him talking to his partner about how he was going to get across. A few minutes later, we saw him come back down and then we struck up a conversation as he jokingly told us he was afraid of heights. His partner would not let down and gave him inspiration to go back up. We also gave him inspiration and encouragement. We congratulated him for how far he has gone up the trail so far as it was a long way up from the trailhead. That gave him enough energy to head up the trail and see what the high views had to offer; it was definitely worth the climb. We continued hiking back down the trail with smile on our faces.

On the way back to the trailhead, we saw an adorable little girl in a tiger outfit with a lady bug backpack. she really reminded me of Julie’s niece, Erika. The tiger outfit really fit the atmosphere it was in, so I couldn’t help but take a picture. Well that, and Julie begged me. There are pictures of the little red tiger throughout the gallery.

A lot of the photos will show you the views, but it is hard to capture the true height and the depth as well as the feeling that we hiked there, and climbed it.

A cool thing happened when we were almost done with our hike. My camera’s battery went dead. That was one of our first indications for how late it was. We then took a few minutes and noticed we have been on the trails since 8 am and it was now nearly 6 pm. We were so awe-inspired that we lost track of time. We got back to the car and headed the Visitor’s Center to see if it was still open. Amazingly it was open until 6:30. We were just in time to see a film about how Arches Nat’l Park was formed. It was fascinating to learn how the rivers carved the rock and how gravitational pull formed the arches. The film also talked about Arche’s neighbor park, Canyonlands National Park. There’s a theory out there that a meteor might have formed some of the canyons because there’s no other evidence that archeologists have come across for the reasons of why some of the natural structures are the way that they are. It’s definitely on our list of places to visit the next time we’re in the area.

On our way out of the visitor’s center, a major coincidence happened. With all the hikers and motorists we passed in the park, we saw our buddy who we chatted with at the rock fin. It was inspirational to find out that he made it over the high rock and hiked the whole trail when he was afraid of heights. He overcame his fears. We talked more and formally introduced ourselves to Danny and his partner, Ben. We exchanged our contacts and will hopefully keep in touch. We then exited the last national park of our vacation and headed north to potato country.

View the Arches Nat’l Park Gallery

The next morning, sill dazed from the night before, we hurried over for the meal that the Bed & Breakfast attendant had raved about – asparagus, swiss cheese scramble with hashbrowns and toast. There was also a buffet of fruits and breads, homemade hot chocolate and juice. Man, it was delicious!

David and I toured the town some more, looking for souvenirs for our friends and family, but just didn’t find anything that we really liked. We left empty handed. We were off to our next stop, Mesa Verde. When we got there, it was near freezing and we weren’t sure if it was a good idea to tour the park that was around 8000 feet. We wanted to get down from the mountains before the snow hit. However, we made the risky decision to see the park since we wouldn’t be back for quite some time.

There were a few trails we wanted to do; one was a self-guided tour to The Spruce Tree House, which we did first. Then we took the ranger-guided tour to Cliff Palace. It was fascinating to hear how the Pueblo people used these miraculous places. These buildings are from the 1200’s and most of their damage came from the people who lived there after the Pueblo people had moved on. Another cool thing is that when the park studied the buildings, they found that the mortar the Pueblo people used was made from ash, clay and water. The park made repairs and built trails with cement. However, time passed and they realized that the cement didn’t adhere to the ancient structure. So now, when they do any repairs to the ruins, they use the original recipe of ash, clay and water. I guess time changes, but some things will always stay the same.

In the pictures, you’ll see what you’d think were windows, but were actually doors. The average height of the Pueblo people was 5’5” at the time. The doors were also small because it kept hot air in or out depending on the season. One of the rooms, called the Tower Room, had logs criss-crossing in almost a tic-tac-toe pattern all the way up. Architects still aren’t sure what it was used for, but it was fascinating to look at. David tried many angles to get a good shot, but couldn’t. He then pulled a sort of Hale Mary and held the camera out as far as he could without looking in the viewfinder, pointed it straight up and clicked”¦ ahhh, perfection! It turned out great. As always, I hope you’ll enjoy David’s photographs below and in the gallery.

View the Mesa Verde Gallery