Hiking up Multnomah Falls and on to Larch Mtn (almost)

Patrick and I decided to take advantage of the first good weather we have had in weeks last weekend.  We have had heavy rain in the valley and snow in the mountains for weeks now.  Finally a break in the weather gave us a mostly sunny weekend with temps in the lower 50's.  This is perfect for going on a hike.  When I asked Patrick if he would like to go on a hike, he immediately said "Yes, can we go back to Multnomah Falls?"  With that we had a destination selected.  We had gone there last year on a hike with our cub scout group, but this time we would expand on that outing.  Patrick's job at that point was to make a list of everything he should take with him on a hike.  We reviewed & revised the list and packed our packs for our outing the next day.





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Arriving at the base of the falls we could see it flowing fuller than I have ever seen it before.  The soil was saturated from all the rain and the warmer weather was melting the snow pack to provide a rush of fresh cold water.

We started up the trail at 10am.  Still early enough that there were not a lot of people at the falls yet. The paved trail is generally easy to go up as it climbs ~700' up the side of the Columbia Gorge for ~1.2 miles.  We made it to the top of the water fall in about an hour.  This was just the start of our hike.  After a quick lunch break we stepped off the paved trail and onto the dirt and rock trail which follows the Multnomah Creek back into the Mt. Hood National Forest.  Our intended goal was the top of Larch Mountain (or as far as we could go and still have enough gas to get back).  Patrick wanted to hike until we hit snow.

A full Multnomah Creek rushing along.

As we hiked along Multnomah Creek, I was impressed with the flow.  This creek was doing a good job of trying to become a small river.  As we hiked along we could see why there was so much water flowing into the creek.  There was water just flowing out of the ground everywhere.  There were several small creeks running right through the trail.

First water crossing

Another water crossing

We were having a great time hiking along the trail.  I knew that we were not going fast enough to make it to the top of Larch Mountain, but I thought that we might make it to the snow line, until we encountered a major creek cutting through the trail.

Creek cutting off the other side of the trail.

We spent several minutes trying to figure out a way across.  The water was about 18" deep in places and the exposed rocks were all at odd angles.  Patrick was ready to charge the water and cross even if he ended up soaked in the process.  We were close to the time we needed to turn around to make it back home and I was not excited about trying to hike the rest of the way back with water in my boots if I slipped on a rock.  As if to prove my point two other hikers arrived at the creek crossing and went for the other side.  Both of them ended up slipping on the rocks and into the water.  With that I declared that this was our turning around point much to Patrick's disappointment.

On the way back we continued our almost constant conversation on anything and everything.  By the time we  made it back to the base of Multnomah Falls we had covered ~6 miles and had a total elevation gain of 1500'.  That's when Patrick announced that he was tired.  The Jeep was 200 yards away.  Perfect timing.