March 9th. A beautiful sunny Saturday. 
8 of us + a dog hiked Multnomah-Wahkeena loop with a spur to Devil's Rest. ~6 miles total, 2000' elevation gain. Direction: I84 exit 31. Big parking lot. Walk under hwy to Multnomah Falls lodge - a historical hotel. There's also a visitor center and a big public restroom. 6 of us stopped at McMenamin for drinks afterwards, where I tried a Ruby (doesn't taste like beer at all). I preferred not have stopped. However, without a car, I'm at the mercy of my driver. Rebecca and Semeer from Intel took me back.
Zigzag up and down steep slopes. Going anti-clockwise. Wahkeena Falls at 0.6 mile, Lemmon's Viewpoint (overlooking Columbia River) at 1 mile, Fairy Falls at 1.3 miles, Wahkeena Spring at 1.7, Junction to Devil's Rest trail at ~2 mile. Too bad that we stopped at a flat spot for lunch and didn't find a good view here. Along the way there were glimpse of Silver Star through trees. Coming down along Multnomah Creek is very scenic,
especially between Ecola Falls and Weisendanger Falls, ~1.5 miles from the lodge. Lots of small cascades, mossy rocks, overhang rock. Then you hit the asphalt and crowd.The lower half of this loop is paved, with hordes of people, some in flip flops. Serious traffic jam around Benson Bridge. Should be better on a weekday. But still worth the trip. A very good and short workout so close to the city.
