Eagle Creek — Friday, Jul. 3, 2015

Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - OR

This trail is so amazingly beautiful. We got an early start on Friday morning avoiding most of the crowds at punch bowl falls. They really started pouring in as we were continuing on. IT WAS HOT. This trail was pretty cool. The tree cover and the gentle breeze through the river valley were so nice on a 90+ degree day....We had originally planned to hike all the way to Wahtum lake but the beauty of the falls and the desire to stay in the tree cover and enjoy some swimming won over. We camped just past 7.5 mile camp and hung out in the river and did some swimming just past twister falls in the small swimming holes there. Plenty of places to camp all along the trail. The next day we opted for a day of swimming and moved camp closer to the river, hanging our hammock over the water from a log. We hiked up to some other falls. (not sure which one) and we had it all to ourselves...we did some swimming and diving. The water was quite warm. The bugs weren't too bad...there were mostly horse flies and bug spray didn't seem to help to much they seemed to be immune. On Sunday we headed back and didn't see many people for most of the trip until we got to punchbowl falls...it was actually unbelievable how many folks were heading up seemingly unprepared in street clothes, carrying babies, and lacking water on what was bound to be a day nearing 100 degrees. We even saw a stroller ditched halfway up the trail. A STROLLER. I mean just sayin...this trail ain't paved and it sure ain't meant for strollers. Also people...bring water. Anyway it was a beautiful hike and I would absolutely explore this area further. If you want to swim and enjoy the water and many swimming holes...this is the place. The high points along the cliffs are exciting and dangerous and the trail is flat and long and easy.

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