I left Bend today to drive to Portland. I drove parts of two of the Scenic Byways - the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass and the West Cascades. I had beautiful views of the Three Sisters volcanic mountains as I drove along and made my way to Camp Sherman. A small village set away from the main road in the forest was a summer retreat in the homesteader days, when wheat farmers came to fish and escape the heat. The headwaters of the Metolius River which appear out of a lava tube, meadows and a view of Mount Jefferson make this a beautiful place. Back on the Byway the road climbs towards the Santiam Pass which takes its name from the Santiam Indians, with views of Mount Washington and then down to the McKenzie River. From here I took the West Cascades Scenic Byway north towards Estacada. The road now follows the Santiam River through the Willamette National Forest to Detroit Lake popular with anglers. The road now branches off to follow the Breitenbush River along a twisting climb towards Mt Hood National Forest. For the rest of the journey the road follows the Clackamas River along a beautiful level stretch. The river twists and turns and I crossed over it a few times. Along stretches of it I could see people white water rafting and kayaking. At the end of the Byway I made my way to Portland to check into my hotel. Again I had wonderful views of Mount Hood but nowhere to take a decent photo. As I had the rest of the afternoon and evening to fill I drove to the nearby Columbia Gorge to see the waterfalls. As this is the river that starts in the Canadian Rockies it journeys 1200 miles to end up in the Pacific. My first stop was Vista House which was the first viewpoint built in 1918 on the historic road that winds through the gorge. The road then winds down the narrow road that clings to the side of the gorge with the original stone bridges on it. The first waterfall is in two parts and I was told that the upper fall was particularly nice. A 0.8 mile steep uphill climb along a rough track was worth it when I reached the top. A young couple from LA insisted I stood really close to the waterfall while they took my photo and helped me on the slippery rocks. I walked back down with them and then made my way to the next waterfall which could be seen from the road. The third one again involved walking downhill to see the falls and then back up but it was not as long or steep. There are more falls along the road but unfortunately a massive forest fire last year has made the old road unsafe and so it was onto the freeway to get to Multnomah Falls which is one of the tallest in the US and the most well known in the Gorge. Again this could be seen from the parking lot so no walking involved. I drove on to Cascade Locks where a lock was built to bypass the rapids of the river. The Bridge of the Gods was built over the river here to connect with Washington on the other side. Native American legends tell of an old stone bridge here and it was named after this.