Vacation 2016 - Arriving at the Gorge

We made our way to the Columbia River Gorge. We made several quick stops before calling it a night. Our first stop was Deschutes River State Recreation Area. I threw together a quick eBird checklist. Then we started waterfall hunting.


We visited the town of Mosier to see Mosier Creek Falls. This was our first trip seeing that particular waterfall. The same could be said for Punchbowl Falls (different from the Eagle Creek waterfall with the same name), Dead Point Creek Falls, and Wah Gwin Gwin Falls.

We made camp at Eagle Creek Campground and walked the Eagle Creek Trail. Due to the nature of this trip, we cut this walk short and turned around at Punchbowl Falls. There were too many people by Punchbowl Falls and Lower Punchbowl Falls to get any good shots with slow shutter speeds. I didn’t feel like I could justify the time to remove my neutral density filter, take shots, and put the filter back on. I already have good pictures of these waterfalls, so I decided not to bother this time.

The upper view of Punchbowl Falls had its own problems. Apparently, vegetation has grown quite a bit since the last time I was there. I couldn’t find an angle without serious obstructions. I hesitantly decided to take a shot from the best angle I could find. Unfortunately, someone was hogging the view. Again, I already have some good pictures. I decided to put away my tripod. That's when the view hog finally moved along. Oh well.

I could have always gone beyond the wires used as a safety barrier for a shot. It seemed like everyone else was viewing that area as an extension of the trail. I wasn’t willing to take the chance. After all, there’s a reason the area was blocked off. It’s not safe.

One thing that I noticed from the upper view was a guy standing directly above the falls. He removed his shirt and moved closer to the edge. I never saw him jump, but he had to have at least considered it. I have to say that I have never seen so much stupidity by Eagle Creek before.

What does all of this mean? While walking on a trail known for its waterfalls, I only got pictures of one. That would be my early shots of Metlako Falls.

There’s one last thing I wanted to mention. I did not count birds at any of the waterfalls. I’m not sure if I have recorded a Steller's Jay on this trip. If not, we can add the one seen by Eagle Creek.