Historic Columbia River Highway, Part 4 19 September 2011

The next stop on our "Tour de l'eau" was Wahkeenah Falls. From the parking lot you could espy them among dense green forest, but to get a closer look you had to follow a short uphill trail. My sister was in no mood for "climbing" but I was. So we decided to separate here. She went on by car and I followed the trail to Wakeenah Falls. This trail proceeded to Multnomah Falls, where I should meet my sister again. It was a pleasure to be out of the car for a while. I took a deep breath of clear air heavy with forest smells and followed the path.

The Wahkeena Falls are about 73 m high (242 foot). Wikipedia has enlightened me that the name is a mispelling of a word of Pacific Northwest native origin. The correct spelling is Yakama and translated in English this means "most beautiful". That is definitely true for all the waterfalls we saw along the Historic Columbia River Highway.

From Wahkeena Falls it was a 0.6 miles to Multnomah Falls. The path was on the border of a cliff above the highway. I met a southern German couple with whom I exchanged travel experiences. The trail ended on a huge car park that was crowded with cars and motor bikes.