1/27, Sunday. After picking up my phone from Sarah, Mary and I met at Gateway ~noon to take Columbia Gorge Express, first winter with daily runs. The 12:05pm express is non-stop, Multnomah Falls only. Very convenient. If you want to hike a longer trail, need to take the 9am bus. In 30 minutes we got off at the big parking lot across the highway. The whole site was shrouded in clouds.
Today, we did the easy Multnomah-Wahkeena loop. ~5 miles, 1600'. As usual, quite a lot of people. We were going at an interpretive speed. There's no hurry, the return bus is at 4:47pm. It's good to refresh some plant names from Mary. Apart from burned/down trees, the trail is in decent condition. Some loose rocks, but not bad at all. A lot of minor's lettuce and moss. I sure picked some to eat.
Around 3pm, I realized that we were only half way. It's good to have my phone, otherwise, I wouldn't know where we were. The fog above Columbia River never dissipated. Quite pretty.
The connection trail from Wahkeena to Multnomah is rather narrow. Sometimes you have to wait to let the opposite traffic pass. Got back to the lodge 15 minutes ahead of the bus, so I could use the restroom, and clean my pole.Back in Portland on the same bus with the same driver. Portland was still foggy.
