| facebook | 500px | ferpectshotz |
The fourth day of the trip was mainly taken up by travelling across the historic Columbia River scenic byway and visiting all the wonderful waterfalls along the way. And the major hike we did was the Eagle Creek to Punchbowl Falls hike. This is one of the shortest trails along the gorge and is about 5 miles long with pretty steep elevation gains, so little tough for an out of shape guy with a heavy camera bag. I sure am thankful that my wife agreed to carry the tripod.
After you've walked about a mile and a half, watch for an obvious spur trail off to your right. The path drops down to an overlook with a view of the magnificent 100-foot Metlako Falls, which seemingly shoots straight out of a cliffside into a large pool below (Source: www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org).
Once you reach Punchbowl falls there is a steep descent that will take you to a direct view of the Punchbowl falls, and you will have to get wet to get a good shot of the falls. There is also a fallen tree which slightly obstructs the view and to get an unobstructed view one has to swim in near freezing water to get closer to the falls. While we were there one swimmer had done just that and could not return as he had hypothermia and the fire rescue guys had the get him out in floating stretcher, just shows you how quickly the water can dispel body heat even in July. While I was setting up this shot, these two sisters walked into my frame shivering and clinging on to each other. Usually I burst a blood vessel when someone walks into a shot (my wife’s comments) but this time I just chose to be calm and include them in the shot. I like the way it came out hope you all like it.