Recently we visited Portland Oregon for an extended weekend. The primary purpose was to escape the Austin heat. Although Portland was experiencing an unusual heat wave, we were able to find cooler temperatures on the Oregon Coast and in the Columbia River Gorge.

We spent a day driving over to and down the Oregon coast, starting at Cannon Beach. The highlight for me was driving through the forest in the Cascade Mountains on our way to the coast. Wow!

The two days that we spent in the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood areas were in search of cooler temperatures and waterfalls. We visited the Latourell Falls (249 ft.), Bridal Veil Falls (120 ft. in two sections), Multnomah Falls (611 ft. in two sections), and the Falls Creek Falls on the Washington side of the Columbia River. We hiked about twenty “mountain miles” to see the four falls. The three falls on the Oregon side of the river were fairly busy with lots of people. The Falls Creek Falls was more secluded only seeing about twenty people on the trail. Starting out at the trail head it was around 60 degrees and cooler at the falls. Ahhhh! Check out the short video of the Falls Creek Falls.

Hope you enjoy the Oregon images!