TRIPLE FALLS - hike #5

looking out at oneota creek from the bridge

completed: 2/11/11

difficulty: moderately difficult

rating: 4 stars

time: 2 hours

length: 4.5 miles (out and back)

so far, this has been one of my favorite hikes. yes, there are a TON of waterfalls around the columbia river gorge and the portland area in general, but i can't get enough of them. i know kyle prefers the hikes with big-time views, so he liked it, but not as much as me! so just a warning...i took a lot of pictures!

the picture to the right is from the very end of the hike (the trail didn't end, we just decided to turn around! most of the trails in the columbia river gorge area all connect and this one happens to go all the way to larch mountain-a hike we will eventually do once the snow has melted and the trail opens again!). the creek is called the oneonta and is responsible for 4 waterfalls we see on this hike: horsetail falls, ponytail falls, oneota falls, and triple falls.

the hike starts at the parking lot for the popular horsetail falls. you can see horsetail falls right off the historical scenic highway on your way to multnomah falls. the falls pops right out and there is a little brick viewing area of it too. if horsetail falls sounds familiar, its because it has been mentioned a few times (either on here or on facebook, or you may have visisted it with us!). during our move to portland, we took a detour so we could see multnomah falls but we first stopped at horsetail falls with my parents (check out that post here). we took some pictures and even got the cat out for a few pictures here. then while kyle's family was visiting in january we also stopped here. during those first 2 visits i had no idea there was a trailhead there too.or  maybe i did see the sign and trail and just didn't realize what it was, who knows!

kyle and i in august!

january...

                                                    

                                                                     february...before the hike!

so the hike started off with quite a bit of an incline...but once we reached the top of that area it leveled off for a little bit. we got to hike through the forest and it was mostly shaded. not too long after we came to upper horsetail falls, also known as ponytail falls, and that area was EXTREMELY cool. the falls basically shoots out of this basalt rock and the trail goes BEHIND the waterfall! here are a bunch of pictures:

approaching the falls...

closer look at the trail...you can see it really well on the right!

kyle wanting to climb, surprise, surprise...

a look at the trail from underneath the rock!
it was nice and dry underneath this area, but once
we approached the other side it was really wet
and windy!

looking out at the falls from under the rock (the
visible trail is where we were headed...)

i like this picture!
(the visible trails is where we just came from!)

looking back at ponytail falls before we
continued on!

so after ponytail falls we walked through the forest some more. we were up kind of high at this point, so if we walked towards the north (there were a bunch of hiker-made trails here) we could see some cool views of the columbia river gorge. nothing like we did while hiking angel's rest though. but still cool. we checked this out more on our way back.

so about a mile past ponytail falls the trail descends quite steeply. lots of switchbacks that were quite narrow too. at one point while turning to go to the next switchback i had to call kyle back to come look at a cool view; the oneota gorge. a canyon area created by oneota creek but very obviously cut into the rock. 

the view is from up high semi-looking down
into the gorge. i kind of think this looks like
a waterfall. but trust me, it isn't.

so after descending we crossed a cool little bridge and got a look at oneota falls. not that great and really no great pictures of it. after the bridge though, it was basically looking straight up at what we had to climb next! to get to triple falls we had to climb back up the other side of the gorge and of course follow a bunch of switchbacks. it was quite rocky in some places and there were even places where we were basically hiking along a cliff. we could tell we were getting close to triple falls because we could hear lots of water, but we were still pretty high when looking down at the creek. 

we eventually turned a corner and had a gorgeous view of the falls. this picture was taken at a viewing area that happened to be naturally cut into the trail. we just had to descend a little rocky area to get to it off the trail. this is the best view of the falls because the actual trail doesn't have that great of a view because of trees being in the way. jutting out on the falls there is a giant log that kyle and i both walked across so we could get a spectacular view close up! it was only a little scary! thank goodness for my new hiking shoes! and in the background you can see a bridge and that is where we stopped, took a few pictures, and then turned around. the hike back was just as cool! we both thought this would be a good hike to take friends and family on if they ever want to venture out with us. yes it is difficult in areas, but very typical to the hiking around. plus the scenery is wonderful! and here are some more pictures to enjoy! if only we had a better camera...