Instead of starting at Horsetail Falls to get to the Triple Falls area, we started at the Oneonta Trailhead and hiked to what is one of our favorite places. The farther you go, the mossier it gets. This was a great place to be on Christmas Eve.

This is our first time hiking the full length of the trail up to Angels Rest. The last time was on New Years Day a few years ago when we ran into icy conditions and had to turn back. There was no ice on the trail this time, and the skies were mostly clear, but the wind was blowing fairly strong. The trail starts just above the Columbia River and slowly climbs through forest, and past a creek and waterfalls, then begins switchbacks up through an area that was heavily burned in 1991. Near the top, there are large rock slides that are unlike the rock at other hikes in this area. Normally, the rock is rounded volcanic basalt, but this rock was more like a limestone. I tried to do a bit of research in my Oregon geology books but couldn’t find info on this specific area. If anyone knows the type of rock at Angels Rest and the large rock slide area below it, please let me know.

This is a feature packed hike for such a short one. A beautiful stream, a couple of small waterfalls, rock grottoes, gigantic moss-covered boulders and one spectacular triple-tiered waterfall.

One of my favorite hikes, especially in the fall when the rains begin. The hike begins at Horsetail Falls, up several switchbacks to the small canyon with Ponytail Falls, then down to Oneonta Gorge. After a junction with the Oneonta trail, it’s about another mile to Triple Falls. Just beyond this is our favorite area alongside Horsetail Creek. There were lots of mushrooms along the trail today. A lesson in safety: just seconds before we were at Ponytail Falls, a boulder flew down a ravine, hitting the trail in front of us.

While spending a weekend in Cannon Beach, I took a long beach walk from Tolovana Park south to the end of the beach.

A super foggy and cold weekend of camping at Cape Lookout. Stunning nonetheless.

I didn’t think that many people knew about this hike, but it was fairly crowded, so the word must be out. The Falls Creek Falls waterfall off of Falls Creek is quite spectacular, so it’s no wonder. There are three tiers to the waterfall and the top two can be seen from the trail before you reach the falls, then the bottom two are in full view at the base of the falls. Turning the hike into a loop by hiking to the upper trail has the added benefit of far fewer people and a great view of the canyon.