Highways and High Ways

Leaving Portland was easier than finding our way in. Getting from Portland to the Historic Columbia River Highway was then not supposed to be a problem. "It's easy," Daniel tells me. "We just take Exit 17 into Troutdale and follow the signs to the Highway." We take the said exit and he then proceeds to drive past all the said signs, in the wrong direction, even though I'm pointing them all out.

The Highway itself was extraordinary - it's an old road which winds alongside the river and takes you past multiple waterfalls. I was a bit waterfall-ed out by this point, to be honest, but these were pretty good. Unfortunately, being a Sunday, every other person in the area thought they were good. The best was the two-tiered Multnomah Falls, which has a total height of 189 meters. You can imagine the power with which the water falls, but the streams below are so still and clear that you can see the salmon just hanging out.

Multnomah Falls (upper tier)

Salmon

We took a detour off the Highway to visit Sherrard Viewpoint, from which you could supposedly see five mountains. Of course, we didn't consider that the lookout itself was probably in the mountains (Larch Mountain, to be exact). We may or may not have ignored the snow and ice signs on the way up, but with about four miles to go more and more white stuff began appearing around the road...

Snow...

Snowy...

Snowier...

Snowmageddon...

As the road became whiter so did our knuckles. In hindsight we probably shouldn't have been up there, but oh my god are we glad we were. It was a small hike from the car park to the viewpoint, and we were slipping all over the place in the ice and snow. We passed two people coming back down as well as a hiker who left as we arrived. Then it was just us and the trees, on top of the world.

Top of the world, or at least the 4056 feet below it...

As far as the eye could see...

Nothing moved other than the odd branch shaking off a snowy burden and readjusting itself. The resulting rustle was the only sound. When still and quiet the atmosphere was so palpable it was as if you could hear the mist, smell the snow and view the silence. We could see Mounts St. Helens, Rainier and Adams. Unfortunately, Jefferson and Hood, in the other direction, were obscured by cloud. We finished our travels for the day by driving the Mount Hood scenic route, but the cloud never lifted and we didn't actually see the mountain. Another time.