Elowah Falls Hike

The ribbon of Elowah Falls drops from a basalt cliff into a creek far below.  Fire and neglect have resulted in rough Columbia Gorge trails built by the CCC in the 1930s. The trail disappears below and is now impossible to navigate. We turn around. A spur leads to switchbacks of a different trail, alongside beautifully stacked stones, overgrown and crumbling. Now on the ledge high above the Columbia, the trail is fenced in by broken pipe, some loose, some firm,  holding us back from a thousand-foot tumble. A swallow darts, a hummingbird buzzes, a vulture turns in the wind above the broad Columbia. A towhee, sharp in his tuxedo, eyes us as we amble past. A blue butterfly on the earth of the trail, penstemon, stonecrop, ocean spray, and goat’s beard. This is where hope rises. Maybe they will go on, after all the destruction we humans have wrought. 

Extra: my hiking buddy, Carolyn.