Triple Falls the second half of the Billy Goat Hike

Saturday July 21^st, 2012 took Laina and I back up to Horsetail Falls in Oregon for the second half of our hike where we will again feel like billy goats.    We parked at the falls parking lot and decided to walk up the road about a half mile to the Oneota Gorge Trail since we already knew what the Ponytail Falls trail was like and thought that it might be a good way to end our hike. 

 

As we head up the road we walk the people tunnel that is lined in boards it was so pretty to see the handwork in there.

 As we got to the other side the Oneota creek was running out of the Oneota Gorge, it was very pretty and we knew we were again in for a good day and views.

Pretty

Architecture

  Up the trail we go and we climb and climb and climb and evenually we got the Triple Falls trailhead where we again climbed and climbed.  As we got the top and came over the ridge we could see what we were looking for….Triple Falls it was very beautiful and breathe taking.    After a few pictures we continue up the trail to the bridge and rest to have a snack. 

Looking back down the creek from the bridge

As we start our trek back down we looked at the trial that we had just come from and thought wow look what we accomplished….but we had a long way to go so back at it.

Another bridge on the trail and more waterfalls

Oneota Gorge Creek                        

 

 A Very Pretty Rock Wall Covered in moss that had water dripping down the edges like it was a slight rain - so pretty!!

The next trail was a few more switchbacks and climbing as we approached the top we were again where I call the top of the world and we got to enjoy the scenic view of the Columbia River Gorge.  

A barge going up the river!! 

  Me on top of the world again.


The next part of the trail is all downhill where we got back to Ponytail Falls and the creek leading down to Horsetail Falls. 

As we wandered through the end of the woods we noticed things like a cute little snail in the trail and a green and black slug - we chuckled about how now that we are hiking more we are really seeing the details in the woods.  I know that there are not many places in the world as what we have in our backyards it's just too bad it took me so long to start discovering it all.

It was a great outing once again and as we passed the Rock of Ages trail we laughed at where we had conquered just the week before and decided that someday we might try it again!!  We must be hooked on hiking or we might be turning into billy goats.

Rock of Ages - a trail for a Billy Goat

For a few months now I have been hiking the Round Lake and Heritage trails close to my house with my longest time friend Laina Harris and we keep pushing ourselves to do more and more so that someday we could progress to the harder trails around our area. This is something that I have always wanted to do but have never had anyone that really wanted to do it. There are many people that say they want to do things or want to lose weight but when it comes to putting the effort into it they just don’t. One thing Laina and I have said that is if we say it we do it. This will teach us one of two things, either we can do more than we thought we could or we learn to choose our statements more wisely.

This time with my weight loss journey I have my sights set on losing more weight than I ever have before. I do not know my exact weight loss number because it keeps changing (to a lower weight). The more I do the more I realize how much more I really can do.

So as the time went on Laina and I started looking at hiking books and determined that we would tackle the Triple Falls trail, Laina found another shoot off trial that is called the Rock of Ages Arch that she said looked really pretty and that were also going to do it. Me being daring said ok let’s do it. This trail is supposed to be a “scramble” up 400-500 feet in elevation…about a 12 minute climb. I think ok it might take a little longer than that but we have been working hard we can do it.

This hike is also the first time that we will be taking an actual “backpack” with us. Also recently there have been reports of lost hikers so me the over cautious person puts extra snacks and clothing into my backpack and it weighed about 14 pounds.

On Saturday July 14th we drive on up to Horsetail Falls which is at the base of the trail that we are about to embark upon. We take pictures of the falls and trail head sign and then I realize that the memory chip is not in my good camera, so back it goes in the car and I say its ok I will just use my phone camera, however I am very disappointed.

We start up the switchback “maintained” trail that has a bunch of rocks sticking up and is a continual climb. I think this is going to be tough but we keep on heading up the hill….again we are doing it our time and we have all day to get it done.

As we are about to approach Ponytail Falls, the first falls on the trail we see two older gentlemen coming off the side of a hill down a rough looking trail, Laina asks “ is that the Rock of Ages Trail?” They say “yes” and we said “how was it?” They said “Rough but it was worth it”. Then we ask” do you think we can do it?” and they said “It will be tough but if us two old men can do it you can probably do it too”. The last thing they said is “if you find the guys sunglasses while you are up there bring them back down” So up the hill we go, I am in the lead. Very soon into the trail I figured out that this is going to be really hard but instead of thinking about how far we have to go I am just going to focus on getting us to the next “tree” or focus point on the trail. We learned that “scramble” really means is climbing, holding on to tree branches, crawling over rocks, trees and constant challenges. This proved to be a bit of a puzzle of how we were going to conquer this. Sticking to our agreement of if we say it we do it – I wanted to make sure that we got to where we needed to go and got there safe. Laina worried about what if we fall or how are we going to get down – I kept telling her we will just take our time and we would go one step at a time – just to the next tree. As time kept going on I kept thinking we have to almost be there. Going up the trail there were a few groups of hikers that we let go by us as we did not want to hold anyone up. One group was three men, one had a military backpack and they said “you girls are doing well, this is a mountain and we are having a hard time too.” The next group that past us was a young guy and his girlfriend – we asked “have you been on this trail before” he said “yes, lots of times” we asked “how close are we to the top?” he said “about half way, you know this is the start of the hardest trail in the whole gorge”….ugh no wonder I was sweating so much. Laina and I laughed of course why wouldn’t we start on anything easy…ok up the hill we continue. We come to a fork in the trail and I said “which way do you think we go? Oh wait there are the kids we go that way.” As we got to the top of the trail we saw the Rock of Ages Arch it was very pretty but what we saw on the other side was a view so incredible.

The area at the top is about 20 ft square and not a lot of room.

From around a tree come the 3 guys they were headed back down the trail. I turn around they pop down this hole next to this tree, I asked Laina “is that a trail”, she said “NO!”

We sat up at the top and took pictures and had a snack. It felt so good to refuel my body, I don’t think I have ever sweated so much or exerted that much energy in my whole life.

I checked my phone and I had cell service so I called David and left him a message that I was sitting on top of the world, I meant that not only because I literally was sitting on top of the mountain but I emotionally felt like I was on top of the world. This was quite a feat for me and I never in a million years believed I would ever be able to do something like this.

So the trek back down the hill began and as I turned around to head down the path I found the sunglasses and started laughing. I yelled it’s a Geochache.

Going down was easier than going up but still the dirt was not very stable in some areas and we had to use trees and limbs to catch us as we stumble down the mountain.

  As we are almost to the bottom of the trail we see a sign that says not a maintained trail – really!!! Who would have guessed it…lol.

As we got to the bottom we decided that we would take pick pictures at Ponytail Falls and then head home, we said that next week we will come back and finish the Triple Falls trail, since we will would have to walk another 4 miles. We had already been hiking for close to 4 hours and could barely move.

We did not quit we just made a to be continued until next week....

On this journey I learned a lot about myself here are a few of them:

Take all things just one step at a time and break it into pieces

I can do anything I set my mind to

Determination can make you conquer your greatest challenges

Hard work has a great reward.

Sometimes the path less travelled gives you the best view

Completing the goal really does make you feel like you are on top of the world.

As this weight loss journey continues I know that it is going to be hard but I am not a quitter and I am not afraid of the path less travelled….once I get to the goal I will again be on top of the world.