Winter Day Trip Through Skamania County

Started early enough that the floating houses along the river were still mostly dark, a whole neighborhood of them moored in a line with their reflections holding still on the water. Then east into the Gorge, where the snow line dropped to meet us — by the time we crossed into Skamania County the firs on both sides of the river were loaded white and fog was lying in a band across the far shore, cutting the hills in half.

The hike was the point of the day: the 3.4-mile loop up to Falls Creek Falls, on the edge of the Trappers Creek Wilderness. The trail crosses the gorge on a cable suspension bridge partway in, which felt more interesting with everything iced. The falls come down in three tiers, about 250 feet altogether, though with the fog we could only ever see one tier at a time — the middle section would appear, roaring, and the top would stay a rumor.

Snow sat an inch thick on the moss-covered boulders below the falls, and the spray kept trying to knock it off.