When you live in the middle of a beauty that people come to see from all corners of the planet, it’s easy sometimes to take it for granted – to get caught up in your own little swirl of life and forget to pack up a rucksack (no, we don’t call them rucksacks, but “pack up a backpack” is clumsy) and drive that extra ten miles out to the places that travelers come thousands of miles to experience.  Easy to forget that you have the opportunity three hundred sixty five days of the whole of a life to explore, without having to fit it all in before the plane takes off for home.  To forget that a friend is responsible for the crew that built many of the trails thousands have walked; that you haven’t walked a third of them; and that there are a dozen waterfalls you’ve never seen, because you never walked in that direction.

Two years ago, I took two days when we got an unusual hard dry freeze that turned our end of the Gorge into twelve miles of fantasy land, to go out and hike and take pictures.  I was working audit at the time and running on no sleep, but it turned my winter into magic.  This past summer, I took half of one day to go explore my backyard, and found Angels Rest.  It was the best day of my summer.

Angels Rest_Wahkeena Falls Trail

Check back often for more… we have three more stacked up in the wings and lots more exploring to come.

Best,
Loree