The Friends of the Columbia Gorge have announced a new hiking challenge for 2014. Check out the website at http://gorgefriends.org/article.php?list=type&type=94.
The annual challenges are always fun, educational and encourage hiking in some of the most spectacular scenery in the West.
This year the challenge is Histories & Mysteries. I encourage you to sign up for the challenge if you live in the area.
To whet your appetite for the Gorge, here is a description of a hike last year:
Early summer and 125-foot Wahclella Falls was our destination of the day.
Delightful green colors of new foliage.
Wonderful fresh smells along the damp trail.
Saxifrage and other wildflowers adding swaths of color to the cliffs.
A double plunging waterfall.
The water forcing its way out of a small slot in the rocks, blasting out into a pool below.
Nature at its best.
Wahclella Falls
Sitka Valerian
Just registered to do this with my kids!
You’ll have fun. I just got the first one under my belt, the Lyle Convict Road feature. While hiking to the Cherry Orchard, I spotted a small herd of deer and seven different varieties of wildflowers in bloom. Wait about three weeks and the colorful wildflowers will cover the southern-facing slopes.