Leon Turnbull Photography

There were two places I especially wanted to make it to on this trip. I did one: Lower Oneonta Falls in the Columbia River Gorge (the other I will explain on another post). Lower Oneonta Falls is arguably the best of all the waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, perhaps even topping the towering Multnomah Falls. What makes this waterfall so great is the adventure it takes to get to it. The waterfall is tucked back about a half mile inside a deep narrow gorge. The only way to get to this waterfall is to wade up the creek to it, up and over a huge, slippery log jam, then continue up the creek through waist high, cold water. It is pretty much impossible to get there in winter or in the spring when the creek is much higher and colder. Summer is the best time to go here. Unfortunately, it is also the busiest.

I met up with another crazy waterfall hunter and photographer, Ara, who lives in Portland. She led myself and my 6 year old son, Jadon, up the creek without a paddle. My wife stayed back in the car with Nekoda for this hike (too bad for her, but it would’ve been a bit tough taking Nekoda). When I say the water was up to my waist, I am not kidding. That means it was up to my son’s chest! Jadon had an absolute blast wading up to this waterfall. It was a heckuva lot of fun. Unfortunately, though, he got rather cold waiting around while Ara and I took our photos. He was shivering as we waded back to the car, and the return trip was not too fun for him.

There were a surprising number of people in the Columbia River Gorge on the day we were here. We definitely should’ve been here during the middle of the week, instead of on the weekend. However, when we first arrived at Lower Oneonta Falls, we were the only ones there. We managed to get in a couple of photos before the next group arrived. They promptly walked right in front of Ara and I, who were clearly in the middle of trying to take a photo. They had absolutely no regard for us, as they splashed and swam under the waterfall. Talk about irritating! Who is so inconsiderate that they just walk right in front of someone while trying to take a picture? Well, there was not much else we could do but go back at that point. Jadon was rather cold by then anyway, so we hurried back and got him dried and into some warm clothes.