With snow piling up in the mountains, last weekend Serena and I headed out on a little road trip to enjoy the fall colors on the east side of the Cascades and in the Columbia River Gorge. We headed over Snoqualmie Pass and into Yakima Canyon for a pleasant walk along Umtanum Creek, then down to Yakima and up the Tieton River before a little ski side-trip at White Pass. We headed south through Klickitat County to hit the Columbia River, and followed it downstream to the we(s)t side of the Cascades, stopping at a handful of classic waterfalls along the way. It’s always fun to see the character of the landscape change as you cross out of the rain shadow when traveling through the gorge — The Dalles receives an average of less than 14 inches of rain a year, while Cascade Locks receives almost 74 inches of rain, despite being only 35 miles away.
Our road trip was a really nice way to spend a November weekend. Below are a few photos that I took!
A small stand of Aspens in Umtanum Canyon, part of the Yakima River watershed.
Fall colors along the watercourse of Umtanum Creek, with exposed basalt and drier vegetation on the slopes of the canyon above
A post-apocalyptic scene of stumps revealed by the low water levels in Rimrock Lake, a reservoir impounded by Tieton Dam
Western Larches showing their fall colors, with Clear Creek Falls in the background
Fall colors on the shore of Lake Bonneville, a man-made lake created by the impounded Columbia River
One of the hairpin turns on the Rowena Loops along the Historic Columbia River Highway
Cascades along a smaller creek in the Columbia River Gorge
Moss and Maples along a small creek in the Columbia River Gorge
The bigger waterfalls in the gorge get most of the attention, but the smaller waterfalls are pleasant and peaceful
Elowah Falls from above
Elowah Falls and McCord Creek
The upper tier of Multnomah Falls.