The Columbia River Gorge in winter is always a gamble. The main highway may be clear, but the roads along the falls see little sunlight and of course have the water from the falls misting over them.
The parking lot at Wahkeena falls had some slush, so I met Kaylea and Angelo at the bottom of the falls, where we quickly learned that it is an ice rink! Once we headed up the trail, it looped away from the water, so the ice wasn’t there. Heading back towards the falls was a different story. There is a small stream that goes over the trail at one point, it was solid ice. Well snow, then ice. With my gracefulness on the ice, I slipped. I didn’t break any of my gear (or myself) and I had a great hike up to the bridge at Wahkeena falls. We did see some more successful hikers that we actually wearing ice cleats. Maybe next time…..
We used just the first bridge for the session as we were worried the ice would get worse up the trail towards the larger falls.
Kaylea and Angelo are an amazing couple, you can really tell that they are going to go very fall as a couple. They also brought along their dogs, YAY! Their wedding will be in the middle of summer at their families land, hopefully, we wont have any ice other than what is in our drinks!
