In the mid-Columbia River Gorge, a creek (and later its falls) was originally named “Starveout Creek” due to a wreck in 1884 where two trains were trapped in a blizzard for two weeks. Nobody died, but it was clearly nip and tuck for awhile. Fast forward to today and the 227-foot Starvation Creek Falls drops out of a slot and into a natural bowl, where the creek spills down through a large bed of rocks before cascading past a picnic area and on to the Columbia River.
On the last day of friend Dan’s visit from Las Vegas, we drove to the mid-Gorge on a nice, mostly sunny day. Usually I park at the Starvation Creek Reststop to do the grueling 12-mile, 5,000-foot elevation gain loop hike to Mt. Defiance. But not this day. Instead, we took a leisurely stroll over to the Falls. And, what a nice falls it is. We enjoyed the deep slot canyon area, dazzled by the beauty of the falls for a while, before returning to the car and beginning the next leg of our outing.
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