Rodney Falls and the Pool of the Winds

Our final hike of the day was to Rodney Falls and the Pool of the Winds on Hamilton Mountain at Beacon Rock State Park on the Washington side of the Columbia River.
This is a 2.5 mile round trip hike with 440 ft of elevation gain.  We were glad most of this hike was in the shade of the forest on this hot spring day.

We hiked straight up to the viewing area at the Pool of the Winds. Rodney Falls has a 50 ft droop into a pool before continuing down the cliffside. We were thankful for the spray and breeze that came down through this rocky channel.

A vertical pano of the Pool of the Winds.

Hardy Creek flowing downhill from the Pool of the Winds.

Vertical pano of Rodney Falls from the bridge over the middle section of Rodney Falls

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On our way back down the trail, we took the short spur to Hardy Falls, it has a 90 ft drop, the trees obscure the view of the bottom of the falls.

There were several small streams cascading down alongside of the the trail.



































Some of the wildflowers we saw in bloom today:

Rodney Falls on Hamilton Mountain Spring Hike

 Our third hike of today was to revisit Rodney Falls and the Pool of Winds on Hamilton Mountain, a 2.5 mile round trip hike with 500 - 600 feet of elevation gain.
We did the hike to the top of Hamilton Mountian 2 years ago, if interested you can read about that trip here.
 This is a nice hike in the woods.

 The Pool of Winds is the upper portion of Rodney Falls. We saw some dippers flying around this pool.

 Rodney Falls as seen from the bridge below the Pool of Winds.

Rodney Falls seen from below the bridge.

Some of the wildflowers seen on this hike today:

Beacon Rock Spring Hike

 After our hike to Dog Mountain we decided to do a couple of short hikes at Beacon Rock State Park. First, we headed to Beacon Rock. This is a 1.8 mile hike with 600 ft of elevation gain.
The State Park is right off of Hwy 14, 35 miles east of Vancouver, Wa and 19 miles west of Dog Mountain.

 A short walk through the trees,

 takes you to the base of Beacon Rock.

 the hiking trail goes to the west side of Beacon Rock, where a gate leads you to an interesting trail.

 up the south side of Beacon Rock.

 The trails are built on the side of the rock.

 Leading up to the top.

 Looking east, up the Columbia River.

 View going down the trail.

We saw some Dogwood trees in bloom along the trail.

Hamilton Mountain Washington

The hike to Hamilton Mountain, along the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington State side, can be done as an in-and-out hike or as a loop. We choose the loop option. 

It was 8 miles and about 2100 ft elevation gain.

 Amble parking near the trail head 0.3 miles off of State Route 14

 

 The hike begins in the forest, but soon we were walking through a large field with wildflowers.

 Looking ahead, we saw our destination Hamilton Mountain, 

and just below is a rocky ridge with wonderful views.

 About 1.1 miles, Hardy Falls

 Nearby is the side trail up to the Pool of Winds, definitely worth the short climb up hill. 

 As you climb, you see the top of Rodney Falls behind the rock. 

 At the end of the viewing area, you see where Rodney Falls burst through a tight chasm into a small punchbowl, the wind bursts through here, fabulous experience.

 Continue back to the trail, cross a bridge, to see more of Rodney Falls. A short distance further on is a junction, take the trail to the right for the best views on the way up to Hamilton Mountain.

 the trail climbs upward, with many opportunities to view the Columbia River to the South and the Oregon Cascade Mountains beyond. Beacon Rock is to the right on the Washington side of the river.

 More views as we continue to climb.

 
 More wildflowers as we cross higher meadows

 From the top of Hamilton Mountain the only views are to the East and the North.

 Follow the north ridge down from Hamilton Mountain to the saddle, where there are great views. 

We choose to take the Dons Cutoff Trail for our loop trail. 

where we found wild ginger