Bridge of the Gods to Pool of the Winds

I know I've hopped back and forth between my day spent hiking with Linda and my other adventures while in Washington and Oregon, but bear with me!  This post is the last stop (unfortunately!) describing my day with her.

We crossed from Portland into Oregon over the Bridge of the Gods.  Those who have read Cheryl Strayed's book "Wild" or seen the movie will recognize this from that story.  The bridge is where she concluded her hiking adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail after 94 days and 1,100 miles.

There is a toll to cross the bridge, and now I am in debt to Linda for her gas, her time, and her toll money because I had no cash on hand!  I told her to come on over to Wisconsin someday and I'll take her to all the hotspots in Door County or wherever she wants to go.  Maybe we could tackle some of those sections of the IAT in the far north that I haven't scoped out yet?

She took me up the Hamilton Mountain Trailhead to Rodney Falls.  It's a nice, wide trail and we even got teased with a little bit of sun - one of the advantages of hiking before the trees leaf out.

Eagle eye that I am, I spotted some lichen.  This one was probably a variety of dog lichen, with super cool rhizines on the underside.

Check out the great views of Bonneville Dam and Hamilton Mountain we got to enjoy on our climb!

It's only a little over a mile to Rodney Falls, but after lots of "up" throughout the day my Flatlander legs were starting to give out and my knees were starting to stiffen up.  But so worth it!

See the little flash of rainbow in the above picture?  Stay on the safe side of the railing and you can go out along the cliff face for a closer look.

Pam gets the Rainbow Shot! Thanks, Linda!

Here the water from Hardy Creek tumbles into a slot where the water plunges and throws up wind and spray.  We lucked out with just enough sun to create a little rainbow!

What I saw inside the Pool of the Winds tunnel

Trying to get a decent photo was tricky with all that moisture being thrown at me.  I took about 6 shots, wiping the lens after each attempt.  This was my best result, I'm pretty happy with it!

Linda's turn!

Of course the water continues its plunge downward, and we had to get shots from multiple locations and angles.

From there you can take a wooden bridge across the middle of the falls and continue on the hike, but my legs were in no condition for that and we were losing day.  So, back to the car where Linda ferried me to the park and ride to retrieve my vehicle.  My reunion with such a great hiking friend was much too brief, perhaps our paths will cross again for more than just a quick day together in the future.

Keep your eyes on Linda's Blog in the weeks to come because she is currently hiking with other bloggers out in Arizona!  She's not posting about it yet, she tends to be behind in getting stuff up just like I am.  I've got a few more to post about my tip to the Pacific Northwest and then it's onward and southward.  Most likely I am leaving the end of this week for a trip with Wayne down to Georgia where I hope to add 2 more State Capitol tours to my list and round up to an even dozen!