BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part V: Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood

Friday, September 18th:

Hagrids Hut to the Columbia River Gorge to Mount Hood to In-n-Out to Silver Falls State Park

We had to leave our magical rental this morning. 

I was very sad. Thanks for the amazing stay, Half-Giant Hut!

We headed south on The 5 and after we crossed over the Columbia River we got on The 84 and headed east.

This area is known as the Columbia River Gorge. It was a little overcast that morning, but it made the whole area look like a painting. 

Our first stop was the Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. 

We traveled a few more miles and stopped at the Crown Point State Scenic Corridor and saw the Vista House.

We continued along The 84 and found Multnomah Falls! This waterfall is 620 feet tall and is the tallest waterfall in Oregon! It is very pretty!

We walked up a few switch backs and stood on the bridge to get a couple more pictures.

We continued east on The 84 until we got to Hood River City. Here we got off the freeway and headed south on The 35. We circled around Mount Hood and then ended up at the Timberline Lodge.

[Mount Hood]

[View of Mount Jefferson from Mount Hood]

Mount Hood is the tallest mountain in Oregon at 11,249 feet and the 4th tallest in the Cascades.

We walked over to the Overlook Hotel, excuse me, the Timberline Lodge and kept an eye out for ghost!

[The hotel was used as the exterior shots for the hotel in The Shinning]

We didn't see any ghost, but we did get to hold a real axe! The lady at the check in counter just asked me to not let it leave the 1st floor... okay... do I need to sign a waiver or something?!

"Here's Johnny!"

After exploring the creepy hotel (it was built in the 1930s, so it's a little strange), we headed down the mountain to Salem. And whaddayaknow! There's an In-n-Out right next to our hotel?! Yes please!

We had some extra time before the sun went down so we headed out to Silver Falls State Park. We parked at the North Falls Parking Lot and did the short hike to the Upper North Falls.

The waterfall was very pretty! By the time we got back to the car it was starting to get dark, so we headed back to our hotel in Salem.