Angel's Rest - 8/9/11

Back on the trail to Angel's Rest: take I-84 East to exit 22 (Corbett) turn left at the top of the hill onto
the Columbia River Historic Highway and drive through Corbett, past Crown Point down the hill and past Latourell Fall and Bridal Veil Falls.  You may want to stop at Bridal Veil Falls for the excellent bathroom (as well as the short hike to the falls).   The next trailhead parking is for the Angel's Rest trail and there is no bathroom of any kind.

The Angel's Rest trail goes up almost from the start and soon you cross a talus slope (basalt, of course).  I usually hear the calls of pikas here, but I rarely see them.  It sounds like "eeeep!"  Ochotona princeps is a small rodent (related to rabbits but in its own family) that lives in rocky areas of Western North America usually at much higher elevations than here.  They eat green plants and store stockpiles of dried plants in rock crevices. 

Stonecrop is blooming on another talus slope

A glimpse of lower Coopey Falls from the trail.

The trail crosses Coopey Creek, this is the only water available on the trail (Arrow is not thirsty yet). You will want to keep your dog on a leash on this trail - steep slopes all the way up and hazardous cliffs at the top.

There was a fire in the area in 1991 which burned part of the upper trail and surrounding area (over 800 acres in size) and threatened nearby Multnomah Falls lodge.  This Douglas fir was scorched but the thick bark protected the tree and it survived the fire.  Traffic was stopped on I-84 as helicopters flew big buckets of water scooped up from the Columbia River to drop on the burning forest near the lodge (my parents happened to be on the highway at the time and witnessed this).

More of the burned area which has regenerated with lots of Red Alders and understory shrubs.  The dead, standing snags are providing food and nesting habitat for insect-eating birds such as woodpeckers.

Closer to the top, a view of the Columbia River and the burned area

At the top, (2.3 miles from the trailhead) there are piles of rock and shrubby areas.  Arrow and Mr. Thornsby look toward Washington and I-84 below.

Mr. Thornsby looks at snags left from the fire closer to Multnomah Falls. (which we shall be visiting soon)

On the way down, a peek at
Coopey Falls just off the trail.

Cascade Locks - Oregon - Exit 44 on I-84 East

 The site of the locks at Port of Cascade Locks Marine Park.  The locks were completed in 1896 in order to bypass the Cascade Rapids which were a major blockage to river transport.  The completion of Bonneville Dam in 1938 made the locks obsolete, and today they are the site of a boat launch and a popular fishing location.

It looks like he was catching a fish but really the line was snagged

Looking upstream at the footbridge over the lock channel.  The boom town that existed here because of the need for freight portage around the Cascade Rapids (before the locks) was known as Whiskey Flats.

We crossed over to Thunder Island and walked to the downstream end. 

 The Bridge of the Gods (a toll bridge that is a cash cow for Cascade Locks) is named after a supposed Native American legend about the nearby mountains (personified as young men) fighting over a beautiful maiden personified by another mountain.  I am not sure about the origin of this legend - it seems more like a white person's idea of a legend.  But there was a landslide here some 500-1000 years ago which did block the flow of the Columbia River for a time.

 Looking toward Washington

A barn swallow - the sky above and the earth below

                                                              Lots of goslings this year

At Cascade Locks you can buy salmon like this 40 pounder

 Here is another view - this is a big cooler with one big fish.  Too big for us, we decided to buy some fruit instead.

Mr. Thornsby reminds us that life is a bowl of cherries.