Ruckel Falls

This was one of the places I really wanted to get to in the Columbia River Gorge, although I knew it would be quite a challenge. I've read that weeks can go by at this place without it ever seeing any people. Don't know the truth in that, but there isn't really a trail to these falls and it feels quite remote. Pretty much all I had were some GPS coordinates and a vague description of the place where to start the steep hike down the canyon. Or slide down, rather. And did I say it was steep? Suffering from some fear of heights, this was definitely not a good place to be.

It was a rainy, dreadful, grey Monday morning and everything was slippery and muddy. And to add to the joy, the place is covered in poison oak too. This waterfall was a true paradise at the end of the hike and we spent a lot of time here, dreading the time we had to go back up. But that turned out to be far less worse than going down. We returned to our tent at Eagle Creek completely soaked and covered in mud, but it was worth every single minute :).