Hike #12 - Cabin Creek Falls, Hole-in-the-Wall Falls, and Starvation Creek Falls

As the year is coming to an end quickly, I still had one more hike I needed to get done to complete my goal for this year, 12 hikes in 12 months. One thing about the winter weather, there is not enough daylight. I had to chose something relatively close since I did not decide to go until after church. Today, I chose Dry Creek Falls up the Gorge. As I was driving out I-84, the weather was lovely but the closer I got to Cascade Locks the more it started to rain. I know that I live in Oregon, and I typically do not mind the rain, but it was downright pouring so I decided to drive 11 miles further East to Starvation Creek Falls, as they are not far from the parking lot. By the time I got there, the rain had stopped so I decided to take a hike.

The 186-foot Starvation Creek Falls earned its name when two trains were trapped near here in an 1884 blizzard. Stranded passengers were offered $3 a day to dig out the track while waiting for skiers to arrive with food from Hood River. The stranded passengers called the area 'Starveout," although no one perished during the incident. The falls are just a short walk from the parking lot, but what fun is that...I needed a hike so decided to walk up the Mount Defiance Trail.




You walk through the parking lot back toward the freeway and follow the noisy shoulder. The trail veers into the woods and soon the first fall encountered along the Mt. Defiance Trail is Cabin Creek Falls. Water trickles 175 to 200 feet from Cabin Creek. The falls drop from a razor thin crack in the adjacent cliff, bouncing once on a small shelf, then dropping to the trail. The falls are situated no more than 50 feet from the trail, and can easily be seen without much effort; however, there are a pair of large rocks, probably 75 feet tall, sitting right in front of the falls, blocking the best perspective, so, seeing the entire falls clearly is a near impossibility. When the surrounding trees are bare, one can see almost the entire falls from the trail, the upper tier more or less alone, and the lower tier by itself, but thanks to that dastardly boulder, never together.

After 0.8 mile I crossed a footbridge below Hole-in-the-Wall Falls, which plummets 100 feet from a tunnel. This oddity was created in 1938 when the Oregon Highway Department, upset that Warren Creek Falls wetted the old Columbia River Highway, diverted the creek through a cliff by blasting a tunnel through the adjacent basaltic cliff. The original Columbia River Highway was constructed paralleling close to Warren Creek's major waterfall, Warren Falls. During high water, the creek would often wash out the road, so, rather than repairing or just moving the road, someone decided to move the waterfall. A tunnel was blasted through the adjacent cliff, through which the creek was diverted, and Hole-in-the-Wall Falls was born. If you look closely, you can see a wooden plank stuck into the cliff above the tunnel opening, signaling the human injunction.

After another 0.1 mile I reached a junction with Starvation Ridge Trail. I decided to turn left for the 'easy' loop. This path climbed to a crossing of Warren Creek and switchbacked up over a grassy ridge to a cliff overlooking the parking area, the Columbia River, and Dog Mountain. After hiking a good deal of the trail, running out of trail, and with no where to cross the creek, I had to double back the way I had come from. And I am SO happy I did because that gave me the opportunity to see this beauty along the way.
Between not giving myself enough time to begin with and having to double back and to get out, I barely made it out in the daylight.

This is my last blog post for 2014...I can hardly believe another year has come to an end. Now, I am trying to think of my next goal/challenge for 2015. After doing 50 things in my 50th year, all else pales, but I am on the edge of my next adventure. Stay tuned...check back right after the first of the year to see what I am up to.

Happy New Year, 2015, to you all. I cannot wait to hear about your challenge for 2015.
.