23Oct2020
Woke up before the sun again to go on a 5 mile hike and try and race the light. It was cold and the trail was super muddy on the way out to Mirror Lake at the base of Mt. Hood. Was not expecting the elevation change, and the struggle of carrying the camera gear up switch backs (this was the moment that I realized that I need to start doing cardio everyday). My dad and I made it up to the lake and were provided a halo over Mt. Hood as the award.
After grabbing a quick bite and coffee, we headed through Portland toward the Columbia River to get some more waterfall opportunities. Drove out to Multnomah Falls, and can see why it is a tourist attraction. Easy woke up view to a breathtaking waterfall. Grabbed an enormous cookie and took in the view.
From here, drove west to try and get to Bridal Veil Falls, but turns out the highway does not have an exit for these falls. Had to do an exit and turn back around to make our way over to Bridal Viel (note we prolly could have driven on the side streets from Multnomah to Bridal Viel, but being unfamiliar with the area we had a little detour). Took the hike down to the falls, and was able to get some pictures of my dad in the foreground of an awesome view. At the trail head, there is a lookout over the Columbia River, here you can see the cargo trains traveling from Portland inland.
Drove in to Portland to pick up some VooDoo Doughnuts and tried to stop at Powell’s Bookstore (unfortunately it was closed due to the COVID). Thought of ending the day here, but decided to keep heading west, and made our way to Astoria (border of Oregon and Washington). Since we were this far North and happened to be on the coastline, we decided to head to capture some lighthouse imagery. We went went in to Washington to Cape Disappointment for a little rainfall, and a couple of lighthouses. Headed back to Astoria to rest up for the next day of adventuring.
Total daily mileage - 231