Columbia River Gorge

18.9.

The Panther Creek Falls are really worth a visit! For the first time on our trip, we are dressed in full rain gear. Afterwards, we drive to Hood River for lunch. The Chinese restaurant doesn't have wifi, but it has delicious food. So we have to rely on a visit to a beer bar for internet use, what bad luck. ;) The Columbia River cuts through hundreds of meters of lava rock here and is partially indistinguishable from a lake in width. As mentioned before, the area is known for its countless number of waterfalls. We want to visit 5 of them, but we are stopped by many "Trail closed" signs: four years ago, a huge forest fire raged here and burned through large parts of this beautiful area. Almost all the trees are black and dead, which makes the formerly extremely mossy and green area seem unreal. So we don't get beyond three short hikes. We spend the night at the KOA Campground in Cascade Locks, not without paying a visit to the two local breweries.