Leon Turnbull Photography

Upper Bridal Veil Falls. This was one of the main waterfalls on my “to do” list for the Columbia River Gorge. I had heard the horror stories: epic steepness, major bushwhacking with no trails, extreme muddiness. But the rewards: stunningly beautiful waterfall off the beaten path in the remote Gorge, where few tourists have been before. Greg Lief, a friend of mine had informed me that so many people had been here in the past couple years, that there was now a pretty good beaten down trail leading down to the waterfall. There are plenty of crazy waterfall hunters in the Portland area, and it seems they had blazed a new trail where none had been before. I think Greg was one of the very first to go down to Upper Bridal Veil and when he went, he was doing extreme bushwhacking. But now, it was easy. What would I find when I went?

I drove in the early morning hours with my little Honda Civic up the steep mountainside. I was wishing I had my 4 wheel drive due to the steepness, but the grade was easy enough for little cars. At the trailhead (which is not really a trailhead since there is no trail), I found a small turnout on the side of the road, next to a very steep drop-off. The first thing I wondered was how I would ever turn my car around on this narrow, steep road. Well, no need to worry about that until after the hike, I figured. Now, where in the heck is that supposed newly blazed trail?

It was still dark and I wanted to wait a bit until it started getting lighter. While waiting, I walked up and down the road, looking for the “trail”. Indeed, I did find a path where people had obviously been down. This must be it. Once it got lighter, I started heading down. It was still fairly dark within the forest, which made the “trail” all that more difficult to follow. Nonetheless, I persevered, and as I came upon the edge of the cliff, I had found a pretty good “trail” after all. It was easy to see where the waterfall actually was, as it could be easily heard, and even glimpsed at through the trees. But the epic steepness of the cliff near the waterfall is something to wonder at. Anyone thinking he or she could descend near the waterfall would be in serious need of a brain transplant. The proper route is a bit further downstream, where it was steep, but where there was no cliff to fall off. The trail was indeed steep but it really wasn’t so bad. Nonetheless, it was a good thing to hang onto the sturdy ferns aligning the “trail”. I slipped and fell once, getting rather dirty in the process. I also managed to rip my hiking shorts. Doggone it, but fortunately, I had another pair back at the hotel. In short order, I descended down to the creek and got my first good view of the waterfall. It is certainly a stunningly awesome waterfall, dropping 80 ft. over a ledge.

To get up closer to it requires more effort. The only way to do this is to wade up the creek. This would be pretty much impossible in the spring and early summer. At this time of year, though, it is easy to do. I put on my water shoes and easily crossed the creek to get in position to take this photo. I had a very fun morning outing at Upper Bridal Veil Falls, and it was certainly worth the effort and ripped shorts.

Oh one more thing. If you go here in the near future, and you happen to find a silver Mickey Mouse keychain thing laying on the ground near the trailhead, my wife would be very grateful if you contacted me. And it would help get me out of the doghouse as well. Haha.