Revisting Eagle Creek

I've hiked Eagle Creek trail to Tunnel Falls at least a dozen times.  It's an easily accessible hike on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge and I've had many opportunities to photograph the verdant landscapes and dramatic falls along the path.  This past Sunday, I revisited Eagle Creek with a group from Portland Hiking Meetup and it was my favorite trip yet, especially for photography.  Firstly, I had my DSLR with me on this hike for the first time, so I had a better chance to get good shots, but also, the sights were stunning this time around due to the weather conditions.  Hiking Eagle Creek in Winter means the falls are flowing fully and the creek is swollen and fast.  I've hiked this in Winter before, but on those occasions it was also raining, so photographing was difficult.  No rain fell on us Sunday.  We had perfect Winter conditions for an enjoyable hike and lots of opportunities for photographs!  Here are my favorite shots from the day.  As always, you can double click on the picture to see it full-frame.

Thank you, Shar!

Today we were split over how to spend the day.  My two girls really wanted to go to the Maplewood Picnic and Ice Cream Social to see their friends, and Evan and I wanted to go hiking and have a picnic out by a waterfall or somewhere else less crowded.  I've not gotten much hiking in this Summer because of sports obligations and other logistical issues, so I was really railing against the idea of sitting on my butt out in the hot sun in 90+ degree weather today when I know there are lovely shaded trails near creeks and waterfalls only 45 minutes away, where I can move my body, breathe fresh air and dip myself into a cool mountain stream.   Imagine my happy surprise when I called my daycare provider about a completely seperate issue and she offered to take Stella and Annie to the picnic!  That left Evan and I with a few hours to escape the city!

Since everyone still wanted to have a picnic, we compromised and ate rustic baguettes with blue cheese, brie, berries, grapes and cherries out on our back deck before we went our seperate ways.  It was delightful!  It's such a shady, pleasant spot back there!  Evan and I took the remaining baguette with us on the hike, and Stella and Annie looked forward to Ice Cream at Maplewood.

I had such a nice time with my young son.  I've not spent time with just him in a very long time.  He is always such good company and I like that he really notices beauty around him.  We have that in common.  And while I really enjoy my girls, Evan is also very engaging, but doesn't feel the need to talk constantly.  He does have interesting thoughts to share and is really fun to hang out with.  We had a pleasant drive to Eagle Creek, the hike we chose because we had limited time, but wanted to get out of town.  Evan's never been there.  Because I usually have all three kids with me if I have one, and it's got some really high, narrow places where it would be tough to manage the safety of all three at once, I don't go there with kids, usually.  It's a great hike, though, because it's got an easy grade, and there are spectactular views all the way, so that even though we couldn't make it  all the way to even Punchbowl Falls with our time limits, we enjoyed plenty of beautiful sights and some good exercise.

We also really enjoyed playing in Eagle Creek on our way back to the car, and I took a few photos, too, of my beautiful little boy in this beautiful place.