The adventures of Cissy and Sarah continue! This time we invited our two friends Mike and Ethan to share the experience. Easter break provided the perfect opportunity to sneak away from school for four days and traipse around the woods of Northwestern Oregon and Washington.
Our plan didn’t get much farther than a plane ticket to Portland ($215) and a car rental, but with four easygoing personalities and a map, we were well prepared. Car rental is the way to go to make the most use of your time and get to the little known places. We started with a four door car but thankfully got upgraded to a minivan for free ($200 for four days rental). I recommend this option since when you consider four big backpacks, food, wood and being comfortable – a car would have killed us.
Our first stop was, of course, the nearest pub. After all, it was afternoon where we had come from, even if it was only 10 am in Portland. We sampled Bridgeport IPA and were quite pleased with the beverage options in Oregon. You would think getting four people to agree on food for four days would be tough but 25 cans of tuna later we were headed for our first hike through the wilderness.
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Wahkeena Falls
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Our first stop was supposed to be a modest warm up hike at Multnomah Falls, Oregon’s tallest waterfall and the most visited tourist site. Our hiking book made it sound too easy so we opted to start at Wahkeena Falls and hike over the ridge and down by Multnomah. After about thirty minutes of steep uphill walking we were introduced to one of Oregon’s trademarksÂ….the switchback. The switchback is a wonderful piece of trail design that makes you feel like you are walking for miles when you only elevate ten feet per turn.
The weather was cloudy and damp with misty rain at times making me wish I had grabbed my fleece for the descent. This hike turned out to be my favorite of the whole trip because of the brilliant green moss covered rocks, rushing streams with hundreds of tiny waterfalls and the refreshing smell of a forest full of life. Two things to remember about this trail:
1) Bring your own map because the markers are extremely confusing (see website)
2) Stretch profusely when you get back to the car or you’ll not walk again!
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Multnomah Falls
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There are hundreds of campgrounds to choose from in Oregon and most cost about $15 per night and are part of the “on your honor” system of payment. We spent the first night at Beacon Rock State Park. Alcohol is allowed on most campgrounds and we found them all to be pretty clean. Hot showers usually cost 25 cents to a dollar.
The next morning, we climbed up Beacon Rock (a record 47 switchbacks!) which is where one of the famous Lewis and Clark photos was taken. I definitely recommend this as it provided us with a sensational view of the Columbia River and surrounding mountains. The rock climbing here has been closed to protect the wildlife and judging by the beer bottles on the trail, I guess they needed it. Not to mention the fact that the rock itself is fairly unstable as Cissy can attest to when she drew the first blood of the trip trying to find a place to climb.
We continued on with the intention of seeing Mt. St Helens but a wrong turn forced us to camp for the night and catch the visitor’s center in the morning. Seaquest State Park is located right across from the Mt. St. Helens Visitor’s Center and has heated bathrooms! The weather was not on our side though and despite camping right next to Mt. St. Helens we never got a look at her until we were flying home. The visitor center is worth a look ($3) and features a cool movie and interactive displays. There are three visitor centers as you drive up the mountain but beware of information overload. After all, there’s only so many ways to describe an eruption. At the very least you’ll come away with some cool trivia that may help you on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” someday. Did you know that the ash from the last eruption traveled around the world in 2 weeks?
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Ecola State Park
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We then headed out to the coast and had lunch at Fort Stevens State Park out on the peninsula. Continuing down Highway 101 we next stopped at Ecola State Park which is just before Cannon Beach. Highway 101 does not provide many views of the rocky coast as it appears on the map but stopping at Ecola will provide you with a beautiful view of the rocky coast.
If you are feeling adventurous I recommend following the somewhat hidden trail down to Crescent Beach. Cissy found some places to practice rock climbing down there and there’s a neat little waterfall. Ecola has some great trails but no overnight camping so make sure you get there early in the day.
We found a great place to camp that night about a half an hour down Hwy. 101 at Nehalem Bay Campgrounds. You can camp just one dune away from the Pacific. Ethan and Cissy couldn’t resist the temptation of swimming in the Pacific despite the forty degree water. Encouraged by Ethan’s proclamation that there was free hot water in the showers, they stripped down and ran into the ocean. Unfortunately for Cissy, the hot water in the women’s bathroom was out of order. We splurged on a real meal that night at the Nehalam Bay Seafood Restaurant. It was the best meal I have had in a long time and worth a visit if you are in the area.
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View from Neahkahnie Mountain
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The next morning we woke up early and hiked up Neahkahnie Mountain for a fabulous view of the coastline. Three miles round trip will take you to the 1600 foot peak of Neahkahnie Mountain with multiple breathtaking views on the way up.
Our next stop was Mt. Hood State Park where we were on a quest for the Bagby Hot Springs. Cissy had found this place on the internet which boasted of big hollowed out cedar bathtubs fed by a natural hot spring. After all those switchbacks we were all excited at the prospect of soaking in a hot tub. Finding the place was harder than anticipated (apparently you are supposed to follow the spray painted fingers on the road) and, despite the threat of running out of gas and shattered glass in every parking space, we pressed on.
The general recommendation is to go during the day and not to leave anything valuable in your car. It’s a three mile round trip hike to the hot springs and you will likely have to wait for an open space once you get there (especially on weekends). There are five private rooms (with lots of peep holes) that each contain an eight foot long cedar tub. If you don’t want to wait, you can jump in one of the three communal tubs outside as long as you are comfortable chatting with naked strangers.
The four of us managed to squeeze into a private room tub (we didn’t want to be seen in our bathing suits!) and sitting Indian-style we just fit. The prize goes to Ethan who volunteered to keep getting cold water from the well outside to regulate the water temperature and didn’t mind one bit walking around in his skivvies. Despite all this, Bagby is a must see stop!
After four days of hiking and no showers and cold nights, this was the perfect end of our trip.
