Destination: Starvation

Starvation Creek was the destination for a new Gorge outing. This was somewhere we had never gone. The name comes from 1884, when a train got stuck in the snow for several weeks before getting out. Though no one starved, stories of the incident made the name stick.

Starvation Creek Falls was our first stop. It is a very short walk from the parking lot. It was very cool to see and there were a lot of neat rocks and trees to look at as well. Dana was able to climb to a closer vantage point.

 

 

 

 

Starting down the Starvation Loop Trail leads you to three smaller waterfalls and some great views.

Cabin Creek Falls is first. This one has a neat little cave behind it you can climb up to.

Along the trail we spotted this large mound of dirt and made jokes about the giant ants that would come out and get us. Upon closer inspection we found that it really was a very large anthill. We put a normal sized Magnus in for scale (he was not carried away by the ants):

Hole-in-the-Wall Falls was next. Back when the original highway ran closer to the cliffs Warren Falls would spray out on to the road and cause problems. Engineers had the idea that instead of moving the road they would move the waterfall. So they blasted a new course through the cliff-face, hence the name change. We really liked this waterfall. It was very peaceful there and had a nice area to sit for a while.

This is where the original falls flowed: 

Lancaster Falls was third. Because of how it is situated you can only see the bottom up close. The whole thing is about 231 ft. tall. But is still fun to see.

Now we break for some fun things along the trail:

The return trail took us up on to the tops of some cliffs with some very nice views. Here Magnus contemplates how awesome nature is:

Higher up the trail:

And more views. At one point we could actually see our car. For this photo I told Magnus to smile, instead he made this face.

Starvation Creek is only accessible from one side of the freeway, so you have to head farther down in order to turn back home. So, we went into Hood River and visited Wah Gwin Gwin Falls, which is situated behind the Columbia River Gorge Hotel.

Some dinner ended our day in the Gorge and we got Ruth home in time to get to Mutual.

An Impromptu Gorge Visit

Good weather gave us a great reason to visit the Gorge after work. Without a specific destination we headed to the Oregon side of the river. We took in the view at Women’s Forum and Crown Point. The sky was nice and clear, but we did see a large storm to the north. We were thankful it did not head our way.

Next, we stopped at Latourell Falls. Magnus woke up from his nap and wanted to go see the “fffshh wader.”

A very happy place:

Ruth took this cool picture of the bridge we waited on for some construction.

At Wahkeena Falls, we decided to do the short hike up.

Magnus got to ride most of the way up.

We are thankful for beautiful things to go see.

After the hike, Magnus threw some rocks in the creek, something he enjoys very much.

Tacoma Excursion

Recently we decided to take a little trip to see some new places and meet an old friend who just moved up from Utah. The first place we stopped was the Washington State Capitol.

We happened to come on the same day as the State of the State address, so there were a lot of people there and we even got to see the Governor.

Here is the Rotunda. The chandelier is the largest ever made by Tiffany Studios.

This bust of Washington is a thing to see here. It is very large and Magnus wouldn’t get very close.

Our next stop was Flaming Geyser SP. At one time there was a 15 ft. tall geyser of flame and water (100 years ago), but now it is only about 4-6 in tall, with a trickle of water. We knew this going in, so it was still pretty interesting. To think that a pocket of methane gas more than 1000 ft. down has been burning for more than 100 years. That’s cool. There was also a bubbling pool and some pretty rivers.

Magnus seems a little unsure about the Flaming Geyser.

It was cold, but that made for some neat ice formations:

Before going to see our friend in Gig Harbor, we stopped to see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the new Narrows bridge recently built. You may have heard of the first bridge known as “Gallopin’ Gertie.” Dana likes to photograph bridges and these are very pretty ones. We looked at them from the east side then crossed and went to a small park to see them from the west.

The park had a nice view and a beach to walk around on. And if you were high enough you could see Mt. Rainier in the distance.

We then spent the evening with Prince, our friend from Utah. Thanks for letting us hang out with you.