Happy New Year! Cory and I hit our 100 hikes goal for 2021 and have already started our yearly hiking goal with a hike on January 1st at Multnomah Falls! Multnomah (for those that don’t know) is the most-visited site in Oregon, which means as locals we don’t go all that much as it’s too crowded. We do, however, love to do the Wahkeena-Multnomah Falls loop hike on January 1st each year. This year we slightly broke tradition by just hiking up to the top of Multnomah and back as we started later in the day.
The reason this became tradition was that the usual weather kept crowds away. January is usually cold and very wet so we would often have the trails to ourselves. Memorably 2020 was extremely rainy and it alternated with sleet several times during the hike-I think we were the only ones out!
Saturday we headed out to the Gorge for our hike and were prepared for a cold icy time, but not for the crowds we saw. We had our facemasks as we always bring them when we leave the house, but never expected so many people trying (badly) to get to the falls on the ice without any traction devices. That was a real shocker. I saw at least 3 people in sandals (in 29 degree weather) and countless others in tennis shoes and rubber boots and they were all sliding and falling and clinging to each other as they tried to make it up to Benson Bridge, and many tried to go past and up to the top!
If you haven’t been here let me give you a brief (ish) description.
The hike is 2.4 miles round-trip to the top and back. That’s 1.2 miles up on 11 switchbacks going up the side of a cliff with the highway and Columbia River below. The trail is in pretty good condition- but it has jagged edges, no railing (for the most part), and suffered a fire recently so erosion is a MAJOR concern so trail-cutting is a big no-no (which we saw going on and called out.. it causes more erosion which =landslides &trail closures). You gain 870 feet in elevation on this hike so it’s a workout and the trail is all at an incline. All of this with exception of some rather small patches was covered in ice and was a news story a few days before where a lady slipped off a trail and slid 30 feet to where she was holding on to a tree root from a 300 ft cliff.. Scary. It doesn’t have to be though. Cory and I use spikes when we hike in ice and we even jog in them along the icy trails. We bought ours a few years ago for $25 on Amazon and they are literal life-savers.
Back to the story. Saturday before we even made it out of the parking lot we saw a lady fall in her UGG boots- ice was visible as far as you could see and of course the nearer to the falls and the higher up you go the thicker the ice became. This lady was the first of many- meaning nearly everyone save just a couple we saw other than ourselves- who had no traction at all. We did see a handful of people with yaktraks but those seem worse than nothing as we saw many sliding in them but they had been given confidence by thinking these devices would help them. These really aren’t grippy enough with as hard as ice is. Instead I highly recommend spikes. Whenever we have worn them we have not slid at all-not an inch. The only thing I feared at Multnomah was a human domino situation where a bunch of people crashed into me as there were so many falling all over. Cory and I jogged through and past trying to keep clear of the crowd (we are pretty conscious of our fear of COVID and I am of someone falling on me as falls take me a while to recover) and it felt a bit like we had superpowers. A bit of added security was having our poles as they make you very stable. I only really felt like they were needed when people were around as if they did crash on me I would be less likely to fall.
Tourist destinations attract people who are there for the sight no matter what, and often safety is never questioned. I think the amount of people going to a place gives false security that nothing really bad could happen. Places like the Columbia River Gorge are wild though and the weather and terrain can be a dangerous combo, especially if you aren’t prepared or giving it serious consideration. I wanted to write this post as a reminder going into this new year for all of you who promised yourselves new adventures to do so safely and to be cognizant of your surroundings. Falling on your bum on the ice doesn’t seem terrible, but falling off a cliff does.
Top of the falls is beautiful.
This was on the way to the falls, you could see snow up high and icicles all along the way.
As I was writing this my phone set off an alert- I-84 is closed for a long way due to snow and people ignoring it are getting seriously stuck. There is also an avalanche warning for Mt Hood (a popular skiing destination).
If you are adventuring in winter remember to be prepared for all possibilities. Where I used to live in Oklahoma they salted the roads and had snow plows even though they rarely got heavy snow (but would get inches of ice). Here we can get feet of snow in much of the state and leaving Portland the possibility increases as we go east. Chains or tire socks are a must as you can’t count on the roads to be cleared. Blankets and water is a good idea. If you are traveling long distance a camp stove can be a good safety measure. Most of all- don’t be afraid to change plans. Wait a storm out at a hotel, stay home an extra day, turn back on a trail, etc. Prepare better for next time and stay safe!