Multnomah Falls

I think this might be my favourite day of the trip - we left Sunriver where the temperature was predicted to be 40 degrees today and drove north across the high desert. We passed some spectacular scenery, very reminiscent of Utah, then came to the forests around Mount Hood - see extra for some volcano silliness.

I didn’t expect the Columbia Gorge to be so jaw dropping but you come across it so suddenly after all those miles of trees and desert - it is enormous.

We are staying near the Bridge of the Gods ( see other extra) which you might recognise from the film Wild. We didn’t walk across it because it’s a metal grille and there’s no sidewalk.

Last year this whole area was devastated by a wildfire caused by a 15 year old throwing a firework into a gully. He was found personally liable to pay back $36 million in damages; it was a miracle nobody was killed.

The area around Multnomah Falls was damaged and the bridge has only recently reopened; the trail to the top of the falls, and all the surrounding state park area is still closed,

We will visit the falls again tomorrow as we head out of Oregon and to see Mount St Helens ( weather permitting). It’s darned hot here, we have a balcony overlooking the balcony and it’s like a sauna out there! So pretty though.