When we got to Multnomah Falls it was hard to find a parking spot. There were so many people here this early in the day. I had forgotten it was tourist season. I grabbed a cache in the parking lot as we were looking for a spot. River 300 (GC2G7XA) was hidden underneath the brush where everyone could see you grab it. You had to really be stealthy. I managed to grab it sign it and put it back without being too obvious. Finally a spot opened up and we snagged it.
We grabbed some paper and shoved it in my bag because I knew we would need it for the next cache. We took a few pictures and made our way up to the Benson Bridge, where we'll start the What's Behind Multnomah Falls? (GC14VG2) earthcache. Multnomah Falls, the nation's second largest year-round waterfall, is located east of Portland, Oregon. The two-tiered waterfall tumbles down a total of 620 feet, cascading over Grande Ronde Basalt, one of the basalt formations in the Columbia River Basalt Group. We were going to focus our sights on the rock layers for most of the cache. The notes and illustrations on my pad of paper were hilarious but I managed to cipher it when I logged it.
Once we got all of the information we needed we started the hike up to the top. It was almost a two mile hike with eleven switchbacks. Of course we had to follow a bunch of slow kids up the hill. The two girls wearing Jellies sandals ahead of us complained the entire time. They eventually stopped at one of the benches so we could go around them. We took a few picture along the way.
When we made it to the top and walked over to the next cache, Beyond Multnomah Falls (GC1N7RV). It was a quick find next to Multnomah Creek. It was a small lock n lock container with rocks piled on top of it. The scenery was marvelous. We walked over to the platform where you could see the falls and the bridge and lodge below. We were up really high.
Before we walked back down to the car, we stopped at chatted with a girl who was doing her internship with the Oregon State Parks. We told her we were geocaching. She actually knew what that was so it was a fun conversation. We grabbed one more before walking back to the car. Mile Marker 32 (GC1PDT), was a quick find without all the muggles wandering around. When we got back to the car we had our sandwiches, chips and drinks. It hit the spot. We were now en route to Estacada and the Original Stash Plaque!
I've been to Estacada a few times while disc golfing. The most recent trip out here was in 2009 when we played at Milo McIver State Park. This was the same day which I found out one of my friends, Megan had her first baby, Mason. This time we were just west of the state park in an area owned by Port Blakely Tree Farms, who by permission, allows geocaches on their property. We followed Nuvi up South Fellows Road and to the location of the very first geocache by Dave Ulmer. Unfortunately, his cache was ruined by an Oregon road crew mower and was not salvageable. Instead, a plaque was placed here to dedicate the historic cache for geocachers everywhere! When I got out of the car and saw where it was, I was not expecting it to be this close to the road, in fact, I thought it would be harder to find.
I finally made it to the Original Stash Tribute Plaque (GCV0P). There was an ammo can nearby, the Un-Original Stash (GC92), the one you actually signed your name in to get credit for both caches.
We climbed up the muddy hill and through the brush (because we make things harder than they really are) to get the two caches behind the Original Stash. The first one Steve had told us about, One in Fifty (GC1ZKWZ) and Take A Hike (GC27ZA7). One in Fifty had us going for a while until I remembered what Steve said to save us some time. I won't spoil it for those of you who have not been to this area for the caches.
We went back to the car and started our way down the hill. There we grabbed Slider (GC2W5V6), thank God we had a magnet, Sharpe Curve Ahead (GC1QG4W) and All Broken Up (GC1ZAVM), we had a little trouble with this one because the coords bounced and there were lots of places to look!
At the bottom of the hill we went and grabbed Viola School (GC1ACKH). It was a very cute little school building. This one room schoolhouse was built in 1894. It held its last class in 1939.
We drove into town to get a few there. We didn't do a query for the actual town of Estacada so we had to find a place with WiFi. We ended up at the high school at the top of the hill and it was very weak but got the caches on the GPS. The first one, Guarded View (GC1ANWW) didn't take too long to find since it was inside of a guardrail that over looked the town. The Old Mill Saloon (GC2A5YT) was a quick grab. We did not expect an ammo can but a find is a find.
Before leaving town, we got two more How About an UpGrade? (GC2C4C8) and Cazadero Cache (GC2DBQG). And of course, got my picture with the town sign.
We drove back to Portland and went to the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, which was at the PDX Airport area off of I-205. He had never been there before. I got my honey BBQ wings, fries and a drink and I was pretty content.
We went back to Brandon's house, chatted with him and Maria for a while. logged our finds and went to bed.
Next Adventure: Hwy 30 Caching
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