Rudolph Spur, Nov 28th

This must be one of my favorites and rewarding hikes in the Gorge. Certainly doesn’t have lots of viewpoints but in contrast, it offers great solitude and amazing forest views. The hike follows a trail that was decommissioned long time ago. Most of it is easy to follow although there are some turns that, if you’re not paying attention, are easy to miss. Last time I did this hike we continued on a path and miss one of those turns forcing us to bushwhack our way back to the ridge. This time, being so late in the year (and not having snow on the ground), we got treated with some incredible light in the forest. This time of year, the sun traverses very log in the sky. Through the day and as you climb, sun rays come at a steep angle close to the ground and filters thru the trees. The result is a yellow/orange glow that made the forest look majestic. Having a short day gave us the opportunity to start with crisp morning light and end with an incredible sunset at Bridge of the Gods. I was also lucky to have a great group that included Matt and Erin and my love Val.



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Ruckel Ridge – Ruckel Creek loop, Nov 23rd

Even though half of this loop follows user maintained paths, it’s probably on the top list of those who like elevation gain on a hike. If that’s not enough, this hike has some scrambling sections and some incredible views of the Columbia Gorge. I’ve done this loop several times in the past and always get the same feeling as I’m going up… when is it going to end? This is the same feeling you get when you’re coming back down. The incredible part this time though was not the hike itself but actually being able to do it by the end of November when we’re usually snowshoeing. Normally, by this time of year, these hikes are covered in snow making it very difficult to navigate (I’ve been lost up there in the snow). As you’ll see in the pictures, there’s not even a sign of snow. We started quite early on a quite cold and crisp morning which promised some nice views from the different viewpoints along the way. Being this late in the year also meant that he sun kept all day at a lower angle giving us some nice orange colors on the cliff walls and interesting sun rays slipping thru the trees. From all the times I’ve done this hike, I think this is the first that scenery (and the pictures I was able to take) were more memorable than the huffing a puffing to get there.



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Cape Horn, Nov 10th

A couple of years ago I did this hike with a good friend that works for the WTA when they were building this trail system. Back then, part of the loop was completed using unmarked paths and crossing over Hwy14. It did have a lot of promise as the hike takes you up on a ridge with stunning views of the Columbia River Gorge. The hike itself is not difficult by any means but it’s not for the faint of heart. There are some steep drop offs that can make you dizzy if you stand too close. Doing it again with a small group brought back nice memories and a couple of nice surprises. For starters, the whole loop is very well marked and the trail itself is very well maintained. They also added tunnels under Hwy14 at both points where you needed to cross the highway before making it a lot safer. They also built a viewpoint on the top, located at the end of the Rim Rd. It seems you can drive closer to this viewpoint for a shorter hike but being in the middle of the loop makes it a great stop for a bite to eat with pretty good views of the Gorge. Certainly the WTA did an incredible job on this trail while preserving the interesting parts of it.



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Coyote Wall, Nov 3rd

When you drive east on Hwy84 past Hood River, you can see a huge vertical basalt wall on the other side of the Columbia. That wall is known as Coyote Wall and frequented by mountain bikers. For us hikers, Coyote Wall offers a great destination to either check out the wildflowers in early spring, or to find a dry spot when it’s pouring rain in Portland. I’m not sure if there’s an official trail that defines the loop or not, but finding your way around it fairly easy. Since weather was not looking good and while we still wait for snow, Val and I decided to hit this trail for a change. It was a crisp day with consistent winds blowing from the west which made it a bit nippy but beautiful. Needles to say, we were welcomed with pretty amazing views of the western side of the Gorge and also of our trail ahead as grey clouds moved fast above us. Fearing the rain, we climbed at a steady pace enjoying the colors of the dried vegetation contrasting the dark grey of the sky. Up at the top, we found plenty of wind that prevented us from stopping for a snack so we continued and, instead of the longer loop, we took the connector trail that descends steeply into the valley to connect with the lower trail. We did lose some time on that connector as the leaves almost hid the trail from view but were rewarded with the sight of a deer resting in the woods under a ray of sun. Even though the deer left when we passed the first time, we saw it again, in the same spot, when we went back retracing our steps trying to find the way. It was a shorter hike than what we were expecting, still a great day out there



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Khao Yai National Park, Sep 21st

When Val and I started planning our trip to Thailand, we thought of maybe doing some backpacking in one of the many national parks. After doing some extensive research, we found that it was not that easy. The only way to backpack in Thailand, it appears, has to be with a guide. Part of it has to do with the country’s fauna which includes elephants, tigers, wild dogs, monkeys and or sorts of insects and little creepy crawlers and another because well, there’s not a lot of information. With that in mind, we chose to go to Khao Yai National Park for a couple of days and do some hiking there since it was not too far from Bangkok. Getting there was part of the adventure as we ended up renting a car without realizing that we needed to drive on the right side of the car and the left side of the road. Add to that having to read directions and street signs in Thai, negotiate traffic with Tuc-tucs and pouring rain in the dark. Needless to say, we got to Khao Yai late in the evening after passing the hotel we stayed in about half a dozen times before we actually found it.
The following day, we woke up and headed to the park for some hiking. Our plan was to hit the visitor’s center first to get some info and maps and then pick up a trail and go. We ended up doing three short hikes in the park.

Kong Kaeo Trail

When we got to the visitors center parking lot, we noticed a hanging bridge over a river right behind the building. We walked to a sign a found out it was an actual trail. Since we still didn’t have any information or maps, we decided to go first to the visitor center. One thing we noticed in the parking lot though was almost everyone was wearing something that looked like a cotton sack over their lower legs. We asked in the visitor center about it and found that those were leech socks… and that we needed them to hike in the park. Luckily they had a little store in the visitor center where we were able to get a pair. Once equipped with the proper gear, we crossed the bridge and started our first official hike in Thailand. The trail was actually a paved path that meandered thru the forest. Certainly vegetation was completely different to what we’re use to here in the states. There were huge trees covering the forest and smaller ones with twisting branches and lianas and all sorts of small palms. About half way around the loop we found an actual trail with a little wooden sign that read Heaw Suwat Waterfall. WE took that trail and things got more interesting. With all the rain from the previous night, the trail was nothing but muddy. As we were walking we started noticing little black things climbing on our shoes and then on the leech socks. A close inspection revealed that yes; the leech socks were working – kind of. We continued for a bit up to appoint where the trail made a sharp turn and went steep down. Thinking about climbing back up and the leeches, we decided to turn around at that time. By then we couldn’t outrun the darn little things. As we hiked back to the paved trail we started hearing monkeys in the distance. I don’t know what was going on but they did have a very heated argument going on. At first it was cool, but after a while it was a bit scarier as we didn’t know how far or close they were.



Once back at the paved trail, we spent a couple of minutes flinging leeches of our socks and battling mosquitoes as the sounds of monkeys died away. As we hiked back, we passed another hanging bridge towards the end of the loop and found a sign pointing to the Gon Gheo waterfall. We followed the path as long as we could and then went back to the parking lot



Nong Phak Chi trail

After walking out of the Kong Kaeo, we washed our shoes and grabbed something to eat across from the visitor center. I won’t go into details but to this day we’re still not sure what we ate. Back at the car and after a bit of back and forth, we decided to drive to the Nong Phak Chi Wildlife Viewing tower parking lot and hike around there. We found that, if you take a tour, they drive you to the tower on a very bumpy dirt road. Since we were not in a tour, we just went around the gate and walked there. At first the trail passes some trees that block the views of some wide open grass fields. At first it looked like the grass was not that tall. Later we found that it was about shoulder high. From the road it was easy to see paths in the fields that we imagine are made by elephants when the go to a nearby salt lick. We got to the viewing tower and climbed up. Even though we didn’t get to see all the wildlife you’re suppose to see from there, that includes elephants, deer, wild dogs, boars, etc. It was pretty cool to get the vistas from that perspective. From up there, we noticed a trail going around the lake and continuing pass the salt lick in to the forest which we decided to explore. Once we left the tower behind, we got back on a muddy trail but without leeches this time. While going around the lake we got the most incredible butterfly display which made this hike worth. First it was a black and white butterfly with a couple of long appendages on the back that made it look like a little person. Then we saw a group on the ground that were black and green with some very vivid and even reflective green spots. These spots were more visible when they flew but even standing on a plant they were pretty impressive. Later we saw a simple black butterfly with very faint shades of blue/grey that made it look like its wings were made of velvet. And lastly, a white butterfly with lines and yellow marks resembling the color of a tiger
After that, we passed the salt lick and continued thru the tall grass fields towards the forest. As we did, the sky started turning grey menacing with showers. We pushed on and got into a very dense forest. We didn’t get all the sounds we got in Kong Kaeo but still it felt like a thousand little colored eyes were looking at us either in surprise or because we looked tasty. We continued for a while as it started to rain up to a point where we thought we were walking in circles. By then it had gotten pretty dark so we decided to turn around and retrace our steps back to the trailhead. As we did, rain subsided but the sky never cleared. Back at the parking lot we took a break and started questioning if we had enough time for another hike.



Haew Narok Waterfall

We got in the car and started driving almost aimlessly but thinking about something we’d been told in the visitor center. It seems that wildlife is more visible at dusk as it sometimes crosses the roads in the park. While driving around we saw a lonely monkey walking on the road. We stopped but didn’t open the windows or got out as we didn’t know how or if the monkey was dangerous. After a while, we continued slowly on the road and saw the rest of the group. There must have been a couple dozen monkeys frolicking around near the road. Then we saw a sign pointing to the Haew Narok Waterfall so we drove in and parked. At first it seemed desolated so we thought the trail was already closed but a ranger told us we had about half an hour and if we were fast, we could go to the waterfall. The part that she failed to tell us was that it’s very easy to get to the waterfall, the hard part coming back. The trail was a paved path thru the forest with some bridges crossing the river in several places. We continued until we saw the water disappear in a hole in the forest as it dropped a couple hundred feet. From that point on, the trail became a winding staircase all the way down to a viewpoint right in front of the waterfall. The waterfall was pretty impressive and reminded me of a waterfall I visited in Canaima, Venezuela when I was a kid. After enjoying the views, we started our way back climbing the winding
staircase. It was a pretty decent workout especially because of the humidity.


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