Holiday Hiking

The weekend of Easter, my original plan was to go with my step-dad, Butch, up to hike some trails around Mt. St. Helens. However, he hurt his back and couldn't go. I was pretty bummed. My saint of a mother, pretty unwillingly agreed to do a smaller hike with me instead! And let me preface this with the fact that my mothers idea of hiking is driving the scenic route and driving through the woods. She kills me :)

So we headed out to the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. I figured a nice little 1-2 mile hike would be perfect for my mom, thus we started at Horsetail Falls and hiked up to Ponytail Falls and a little beyond that.

My mom also thought it would be a perfect opportunity to finally find a good place for my grandmother's ashes (she died when I was just a couple years old). They have been hanging out in a teapot for the last 20 years, so Easter weekend was as good of time as any!  On our way back down, we hung out behind Ponytail Falls until there were not as many people around. While no one was looking, I hoisted the entire teapot with my grandmother's ashes into Ponytail Falls! I hope that wasn't illegal or anything! But who wouldn't want their resting place in a beautiful waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge? Right?

• Date of hike: April 19th, 2014
• Distance: 2 miles

• Elevation gain: 360 feet

• Difficulty: Easy
• Miles thus far: 41/100 miles this year

Me in front of Ponytail Falls

The trail winds behind the falls... also the location I threw my grandmothers ashes into the falls

My mama and I at the bottom of the trail at Horsetail Falls

Ponytail Falls

There were some incredible views of the Columbia River Gorge

I can't wait to do more hiking in this area! Happy Hiking!