Fascinating Portland - Day 1

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Portland, Oregon is a haven for outdoor lovers like me. Blessed with Endless Scenery all within an hour or two's drive of Portland this short trip last week was a whole lot of fun.

I took a flight out of Des Moines, Ia at 6.15 PM and landed in Portland, Or sometime close to 11 PM..I had a layover at Denver, Co where i had enough time to recharge my laptop and I-Pod. I was watching a movie on my laptop on the flight from Denever to Portland, when the Pilot called out on the PA and told us to look out for Mt Hood on the left and Mt Adams and Mt Rainier on the right. Now this being my first trip to the NorthWest, I hardly expected snow on the mountains. Since i had a window seat in the left part of the plane, i was looking out for Mt Hood and when i eventually saw it, I was just spellbound. In that darkness, was this huge Mountain staring right at me. The upper portions were all snow clad and it made an everlasting impression on me that night.

Landing at Portland International, I rented out a car and headed out to Beaverton where my friend stayed. This was the first time i was meeting him in a couple of years, so the mood was visibly upbeat. Eventually after a 30 minute drive taking in the sights of Portland Downtown, I reached his place. There was a warm hug waiting and we settled down and spent the night away chatting and catching up on stories.

The next morning, we had made reservations to go white water rafting on the White Salmon River. So off we headed to the place. Boy, was that drive enjoyable. The place was abt an hr away from Portland, but the scenery was simply amazing. The Columbia river gave us company throughout the journey. If the river itself was amazing, the other side was stacked with Mountains and some visually stunning waterfalls. Taking in all these sites, we crossed the border line of Washington and drove into Washington.

Once we crossed into Washington we were taken away from the river, but what followed was equally breathtaking.We had to drive abt 10 miles on the local roads, but on the Horizon, you could see this huge White Mount Adams. It was truly a refreshing drive and we finally made it to the rafting place. Now, we were told that there would be a class 5 rapid on the river and we could opt to bypass that part alone. However, we decided to do it and had one big fall. The class 5 rapid was a 12 foot drop and at that speed, it was gut wrenching. Incredibly, the raft did not upturn and only a couple of us fell overboard. It was great fun and with the help of our guide, we returned to our rafts.The swim in those quick currents however had us gasping for air and we found the rafting pretty tough for a few minutes after that. Eventually we did get our breath back and the rowing got much better.

The rafting was followed by a grill-out on the river side which hardly filled the stomach but acted as hunger stoppers nevertheless. It was mid-evening already and we made the decision to start driving back home. On the way, even though we were a bit tired,we decided to stop at a couple of waterfalls and take some pictures. The decision immediately was right one coz the serene beauty immediately lifted our moods. The falls, Multnovah falls, was a beauty to say the least. There was an option to trek up the hill and view the falls upclose ,which we immediately undertook. This was a handy hr's trek with some stunning views of the falls and all of us happily chatted away to the top. Overall a hugely beautiful place again.

With all the memories, we finally decided to get back home and hit the bed. After all we had to get ready for what Day2 had in offer for us...

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Photos

Multnovah Falls
Multnovah from the base

Multnovah Falls upclose 2
Multnovah from the bridge

Multnovah Falls upclose
Multnovah from the bridge