10 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
We got skunked by Tish Creek earlier in the day, so decided taking a run up the Elevator Shaft might be the best way to kill the afternoon. What a great way to recover from the earlier failure! The Black Friday crowds at Multnomah Falls were epic, but we did the conga up to Benson Bridge and survived. Once past there, we saw hardly anyone, and took great delight in diving off the pavement onto the #400 at the first switchback.
Shortly, we arrived at the two boulder fields on our right, and found the trail leading up the far side of the second one. This was a fun scramble, as always, though the recent rains had left the rocks a whole lot slipperier than usual. After climbing the 1200' of exposed rock, we took the dive off towards the falls and Meadow Ridge to catch a glimpse straight down over 1000' to the MF parking lot. Fun! (But watch your footing out there!)
Back in the forest, we still had another 600' or so to climb (in only 0.3 miles!) up into the Basin. This went pretty quick, and soon we were traversing the rim past Cougar Rock and towards Nesika. As we approached, we could hear the sound of a generator indicating people were there.
Soon as we sat down on the front porch, we were kindly invited in to help them celebrate Thanksgiving with an incredible turkey feast! Oh my gosh... So fun. Such great viddles! Toasty fire in the magnificent fireplace. Coffee so thick it was known as Nesika Mud. Mmmmmm-mmm! Didn't really want to leave.
But around 3:30 we finally did put our packs back on, and headed out into the cold, wet forest again. Took our time meandering down the Ornament Trail, then went off in search of the old Buick. Darkness was now upon us, as we headed back down the High Water Trail. Winter Creek wasn't a rock-hop by any stretch of the imagination, so we just plowed right through knowing we only had a few more miles to go.
Headlamps came out pretty quickly, and it was pitch dark well before we got to the top of Multnomah Falls. Which, nicely enough, meant we didn't have to deal with the tourist hordes the rest of the way down! :-D
All in all, just an incredible day in the woods! (And, probably the first time I've ever come home from a hike heavier than before I left.)
