There is something special about forests, I think, where a hush falls over everything and the world feels different somehow. Of course, I’ve never been to a forest that has a waterfall, so that may be a completely different experience. The last photo with the fall color is fantastic.
The Ramona Falls trailhead is about an hour and twenty minute drive from PDX (unless you take a wrong turn like I did!). There are several campgrounds in the last 5 miles or so but because I went in October there was hardly any cars or people. It was also lightly raining. The falls are on the west slope of Mt Hood and I’ve heard the weather can be vey unpredictable. The trail is mostly an out and back with a loop option for part of the hike (I guess this trail is popular on horseback and the loop has “gates” to prevent riders from taking the loop section, I’m not sure if this works or why they did it). I saw exactly two cars at the trailhead parking lot and two hikers the entire hike. Although the surface is often soft dirt, needles, and is very quiet, I did not see any animals and heard very few birds, it was one of the quietest hikes I have ever been on.
A couple hundred yards from the trailhead is this massive rock, looking very out of place. This is certainly a very unusual crack as well.
On The Road – feloniousferb – Ramona Falls, OregonPost + Comments (19)