Friend, Oregon lies east of Mt. Hood where the lower slopes of the Cascade Mountains transition to wheat fields.

At one time it was large enough to support a one-room school which still stands. As you can likely guess, it used to be a “railroad town”.

Now Friend is essentially a ghost town. But, the area remains a truly pleasant place to visit on a stormy spring day.

Then it was off to the White River Falls State Park. This turned out to be another one of Oregon’s seemingly endless secret hideaways.

It’s located just east of Tygh Valley along Highway 216. The White River plunges 90 feet over a basalt shelf. A steep quarter-mile trail leads deep within the canyon to the historic hydroelectric power plant at the base of the falls. Continuing down the trail led to a second waterfalls in the deep canyon.

After exploring the offerings of the Park, I stopped at Sherars Falls on the Deschutes River. For once, no one was fishing in the area including Tribal dipnetters.

Stormy skies at Friend OR

White River Falls

Oregon Sunshine

Dipnet platforms at Sherars Falls

Historic one-room schoolhouse at Friend OR (you get a gold star if you know what the two small buildings on the right are)

White River Canyon

Sherars Falls

Heading east