Multnomah Falls: Wednesday, May 26th
We did manage to do some school work today and yesterday, I also spent some time planning lessons for the next couple of weeks, to leave for Dave and also what I needed to bring for Caitlin. I am also trying desperately to finish up putting together the portfolios we need to submit to PA as proof of learning for the older two. They have all worked incredibly hard this year and made great progress, we just need to prove it!
After lunch, we went to another section of Lewis and Clark’s trail, along the Columbia. A couple of locals had told us a visit to Multnomah Falls while in the area was worth it, so we headed over there and were so surprised to discover the large parking lot was almost filled to capacity – at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon – who are all these people?! We later read on one of their informational plagues that the falls are the most visited tourist site in Oregon.
These falls are the second highest year-round falls in the US but, as with others, the spring is the best time to see them as the volume of water greatly increases. They were beautiful, with a bridge crossing over between the upper and lower pools. As we had learned at other parks, when water gets into cracks, freezes and creates larger crevices, eventually these can cause sections of rock to come away from the rock face. This happened quite dramatically in September 1995. An enormous chunk of the rock came away and fell into the Upper Pool, the equivalent weight of a school bus filled with cement. This created a 70 foot wave, which washed over the bridge, where unfortunately a wedding party was standing for photographs. Thankfully no-one was killed, but there were some injuries.
After admiring the falls from the bridge, we spent some time in the Visitor Center looking at the exhibits and seeing more pictures of people making their way along the Oregon Trail, by covered wagon and in some cases, on crudely constructed rafts, complete with their wagons. It is fascinating to us how these people rode into unchartered territory in search of a better life. Caitlin has been reading the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ series for the last couple of months, so these types of journeys and pictures are of particular interest to her.
After lunch, we went to another section of Lewis and Clark’s trail, along the Columbia. A couple of locals had told us a visit to Multnomah Falls while in the area was worth it, so we headed over there and were so surprised to discover the large parking lot was almost filled to capacity – at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon – who are all these people?! We later read on one of their informational plagues that the falls are the most visited tourist site in Oregon.
These falls are the second highest year-round falls in the US but, as with others, the spring is the best time to see them as the volume of water greatly increases. They were beautiful, with a bridge crossing over between the upper and lower pools. As we had learned at other parks, when water gets into cracks, freezes and creates larger crevices, eventually these can cause sections of rock to come away from the rock face. This happened quite dramatically in September 1995. An enormous chunk of the rock came away and fell into the Upper Pool, the equivalent weight of a school bus filled with cement. This created a 70 foot wave, which washed over the bridge, where unfortunately a wedding party was standing for photographs. Thankfully no-one was killed, but there were some injuries.
After admiring the falls from the bridge, we spent some time in the Visitor Center looking at the exhibits and seeing more pictures of people making their way along the Oregon Trail, by covered wagon and in some cases, on crudely constructed rafts, complete with their wagons. It is fascinating to us how these people rode into unchartered territory in search of a better life. Caitlin has been reading the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ series for the last couple of months, so these types of journeys and pictures are of particular interest to her.
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