It was SO great to see my friends Kelsey & Jason while they were vacationing in Portland. They were such good sports and totally up for hiking in the cold, wet, muddy, rain while they were on vacation. I even gave them the option of canceling and they persevered with a great attitude and joyful hearts!  They asked me to pick out a hike in the Colombia River Gorge so, I selected one I had not yet done, but that was right next to the last hike Brian and I completed.

We hiked Horsetail Falls in the Colombia River Gorge/Oneonta Gorge. It was a beautiful and (mostly) easy hike. There was one part that we looked like the “thinking/stumped” emoji face because a HUGE tree had fallen and blocked the trail and the only way through it was under or over. The tree was too large around for us to maneuver over without totally sliding down the side of the cliff so, we opted to shimmy underneath it in the mud.  It ended up not being so bad and we had to hand back packs (and Brady) back and forth – but we made it- just a little muddier.

There’s one part of the hike where we walk behind “Ponytail Falls”. It was pretty neat – you’re in basically a cave formed from volcanic rock while waking BEHIND the waterfall, AND you get a view of the colombia River Gorge from the same spot just beyond the waterfall. Epic.

Jason was also so nice to volunteer to wear/carry Brady for the entire hike. He was super patient while Brady talked his ear off the whole way. Kelsey & Jason even gave Brady an iced elephant cookie at the end during our “picnic” next to the waterfall.   All in all, it was a fun day and SO good for my soul to catch up with Kelsey, my dear college sorority sister, while hiking through the beautiful forest that is Oregon.

Here are some pics and a quick video from our hike.