Starvation Ridge trail and waterfalls

On this anniversary of our nation’s birth, we drove west about 30 miles, farther into the Columbia River gorge. There, tectonic uplift raised the basalt, with the Columbia river grinding its path downward through the uplift. Streams on the now table lands on either side of the river couldn’t grind their way downward as fast, so accumulating surface water cascades in waterfalls down into the gorge. There’s about 75 waterfalls in a 50 mile stretch. We visted three today, starting at Starvation Falls.

The Falls get their name from an 1884 train incident. The train rounded a curve and ran into a 25 foot snow drift. It took about two weeks to dig them out. They all survived! on food found in the train. The women cooked over coal until it ran out, then with wood found by the track. Alas, the sole pig onboard the train was completely committed to the survival of the train passengers. The train now runs along I-84.

We walked a trail which is the old US 30, also seeing Cabin Creek Falls and Hole In The Wall Falls. That’s also the path of the Oregon Trail. Hole In The Wall falls was a diversion of Warren Creek, which used to flood US 30, manmade in 1938. We saw a snake, lovely butterflies and flowers and silly tourists skidding down steep slopes in sneakers.