Gorgeous Falls in the Gorge

All summer I've been wanting to head into the Columbia River Gorge to go on some hikes and of course bring my camera for some photos along the way. I finally packed up my gear and headed into the gorge for the afternoon. The plan was to head to Horsetail and Ponytail falls. Taking the exit along Oregon Historic Highway 30, I didn't quite follow the directions and ended up heading west along it instead of east... Oops. Heading a few miles, I finally realized that we were heading the wrong way. We stopped at the Vista House, which I had never been to. I had seen it from I-84 before, but had never been to the top of it. The house was designed with 360 degree views in mind, featuring a balcony around the entire house. The views from the house and balcony allowed for you to be able to see the entire Columbia River Gorge.

After making an unintended stop at the Vista House, we finally were back on our way to where we were supposed to be. Since I hadn't been to the falls before, I parked a little before the trailhead for Horsetail falls and we began our hike at the Oneonta Falls trailhead. That was okay though because it meant we got to see one more falls! The hike itself was not bad at all for being 93 degrees out. It was nice and cool for the most part around the trails and the falls.

I just wish I could have gotten a better viewpoint and there was even lighting!

This was the first falls that we came to on the hike. There was an option to go to Triple Falls, but we decided to stay the course and continue on the Horsetail Falls Trail.  I decided to go venture a little further upstream and came to a really peaceful pond where there was a small falls that was right before the larger one. 

On our way back along this trail, people were swimming in the water and there was even a group of guys jumping off of the rocks next to the falls into the water.

Ponytail Falls was our next stop and it was worth it! The trail wraps around the back of the falls and cuts into the rocks right behind the falls. This was my favorite falls of the day. If the water was a little warmer, I would have definitely gotten into the water for a swim. 

Ponytail Falls, also known as the upper half of Horsetail Falls, which is located further down in elevation. 

I think that the second shot of Ponytail Falls was my favorite of the day. It does look just like a ponytail with how the water seemingly shoots out of the rocks.

We continued the hike past Ponytail falls, but soon realized that we would be a little far away from the car if we hiked to the bottom of the trail to the falls. We headed back along the path and headed to the car. I didn't realize how close we had parked the car to Horsetail Falls. Getting into the car, I thought that we had missed it, but soon we found Horsetail Falls. I couldn't resist the opportunity to get out and photograph it. It wasn't quite as pretty as the other falls, but it was still cool to be around it, 

Horsetail Falls

Since Multnomah Falls was along the way back home, I decided to stop-- if we could find parking that is. I was able to find a couple spots and pulled in. 

Multnomah Falls Lodge

Multnomah Falls