Ramona Falls in Mount Hood National Forest

At the beginning of this month, J went to Provo for his cousin Colin's wedding. I had the kids with me, so I got substitutes to cover my tours at the museum. Since we didn't have any obligation to be in town, we drove south to Portland to visit Mount Hood, the Enchanted Forest, and the Wa-Fol family. I also loved that we listened to Kenneth Branaugh narrate "The Magician's Nephew" while we drove (I highly recommend it - he does accents for all of the different characters and it really is delightful.)

It was a really lovely weekend trip, and I was especially glad that I took the kids to hike to Ramona Falls. We hiked about 8 miles together, according to the All Trails app that I used. The kids were awesome, and I felt really empowered that I could to a road trip and such a long hike while I was a single parent for the weekend. I do regret giving them so much candy as "power pellet" treats along the way, though - Lucy's stomach bothered her a little bit that evening.

I was most nervous about hiking this trail because you have to cross a river. The logs were positioned in such a way that we were able to cross alright, but I did have to pick up Lucy and help her out for the last couple of steps. I couldn't have done this hike with Violet and the kids, if J wasn't there. See how Lucy earned a lollipop after we crossed the river? She whined the first mile of the hike until this crossing, but she kept going. Then she was quiet for the next twenty minutes while she had the candy in her mouth!

There was hardly any elevation gain on this trail, which is why the kids were able to do it. They were proud of themselves.

This waterfall was so lovely! It reminded me more of a bridal veil than Bridal Veil Falls.

You can go in a loop on this trail, and I much preferred the trail that went along Ramona Creek. The cliffs alongside the trail were stunning: the textures and colors were clearly nuanced. Sam kept saying, "Dad would like to see these rocks!"

Ramona Creek

The part of the trail that goes along the Sandy River is really quite sandy: I regretted wearing Chacos because the amount of dust created extra friction and blistering than normal. I liked this hike so much because the environment is so different between the PNW forest along the creek and the sandy trail along the river, where the trees are more sparse. The upper parts of the trail were speckled with lots of rhododendron bushes, too, and I imagine that this hike is really stunning when the bushes are in bloom. We will have to go back in the spring!