Panther Creek Falls

On a limited time budget, Dylan and I decided to spend the majority of our weekend driving to Panther Creek Falls. This spot has been reviewed as one of the most unique falls in the country, so we were set to find it. Because google and apple maps failed to find the trail head, we simply headed South towards Portland. We had a vague idea of the location, but only have the patience to plan a few hours in advance. It is very disappointing that sunset is so early, it leaves us with little time to explore trails late into the evening. And with my new purchase of a drone, I'm trying to get outdoors harder than ever. There are many great benefits from working inside of Costco, I get free samples for lunch, cheap gas to commute, and first dibs on their hottest products! The shipment of drones was a one time thing, and I wasn't about to take a pass on that! Unfortunately, our eagerness to explore is counterproductive against our eagerness to procrastinate. We commonly get lost in time when we edit pictures, pack up the necessities for camping, and of course, find something to eat. With an anticipated four hour drive ahead of us, our only choice for lunch was Subway. I'll let you in on a secret, if you want to make Dylan really happy, take him there, he only has good things to say about that place-and I guess I like it too. We were also able to take my dog, Mac, on our adventure with us-that is how you get Mac to fall in love with you, lots of hikes. As we drove along I-5, we jammed out to music, while Mac peacefully slept on our laps. A few hours later, we got closer to entering the city of Portland, but quickly turned East. We planned to stop at Beacon Rock State Park to explore and camp. The road there followed the Columbia River which separated Washington and Oregon. It was a beautiful and curvy drive that only got better with distance. Beacon rock is a very cool staggered structure that is accessible by a man made wrap-around trail. We luckily found a camp site with a view of the river and rock. We immediately wished we had more time to stay in this beautiful area. By the time we had arrived, we were tired from driving and were ready to reboot for the next day. We, including Mac, climbed up into the tent and played with dog toys until we tired the little guy out-which didn't take long. When we woke up, we headed into the nearest town of Stevenson. It was our goal to get a filling breakfast at a local diner. We quickly came across Venus Cafe and ate alongside the local senior citizens. We felt pretty funny being so young, especially when we pulled out the mac book and started to edit pictures. But boy! I got a massive country fried potato bacon veggie scramble with cheese and gravy, yes even Dylan was jealous-breakfast is my favorite meal. At this point, it was time for us to lock down the location of Panther Creek Falls. We began to ask the employees of the cafe but that was a question they had never heard. We started to worry, but after 30 minutes of directions from the chef and a hand drawn map on the back of an order ticket-we were on our way!

We drove into the forest and away from the river, the scenery became very lush and foggy, we were getting excited. As we clocked our mileage towards our final destination, we pulled over to a gravel pit and searched for a trail head. We then came across a tiny sign and a spray painted word of "trail --->" on the road. We couldn't believe we found it! After a few hundred feet, we came across the lookout. It was a beautiful sight but we wanted a different perspective. With no marked trail, we started to scale down the side of the valley. It is a good thing that Mac wears a harness so we can just scoop him down the cliffs. Mac was a little hesitant of our adventure, but once we finally got to the bottom, he couldn't stop sniffing everything and running around. Not to mention, he was covered in mud, just like the two of us. It was a difficult and somewhat dangerous hike, but staying close to the ground and getting a little dirty was the only way to do it. We spent a few hours in the oasis of the valley, it was such a good feeling to be so far from any civilization and to succeed in our mission. We truly drove all that way for one amazing experience.

After our muddy hike, we sat uncomfortably in the car for what seemed like forever; running into Seattle traffic also did not help our progress. Our end goal was Bellingham with a quick stop in Seattle to say hey to my dad and pick up some of Mac's gear to spend some more time with us. We were thoroughly exhausted from our trip, which is unusual because we usually spend half a day of driving on a normal occasion. Our goal is to spend more time down South, and actually go into Oregon. We also have friends and family there that we want to see and explore the beautiful state with! As for the next adventure, there are rumors of snow in the mountains....

#Waterfall #PNW #Nature #Hike #CeleaMcInerny #Celea