COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE, CASCADE LOCKS, OR: The road felt different than it usually does before a hike. Normally it’s just me, darkness, and the quiet hum of tires before sunrise, but this time the highway carried a migration of seekers escaping south into the weekend. I watched the early evening light hang over small Puget…

COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE NATIONAL SCENIC AREA, OR: With an early morning start that really felt like the night before, I had plenty of road-time to Bridal Veil Falls in Oregon, a quick stop before my hike at Dry Creek Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. The stillness of the early morning was like a gentle…