Backpacker – September 2019

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

BACKPACKER.COM 63

DAYHIKE

MULTNOMAH FALLS

TO WAHKEENA FALLS

Columbia River Gorge

Don’t be dissuaded by the clusters

of ca mera-toting tourists at the

beginning of this hike. The crowds

never make it past the first bridge

overlook of Multnomah Falls, so

all you have to do is keep going to

enjoy solitude on this waterfall-

filled, 4.8-mile loop. Trailhead

Wahkeena (45.5777, -122.1172) 35

miles east of Portland. Season Ye a r -

round Permit None Info bit.do/

Wa h ke en a Fa l l s

OVERNIGHT

OREGON COAST TRAIL

Ecola State Park

Emerge from a Sitka spruce forest

onto a wind-tickled bluff overlook-

ing the Pacific on this 8-mile jaunt.

Switchback up Tillamook Head for

1.5 miles, glimpsing rocky islands

in the Pacific, then bed down in

one of three hiker’s shelters (each

sleeps four; first-come, first-serve).

Trailhead Indian Beach Day-Use

A rea (45.9311, -123.9784) 81 miles

northwest of Portland; call Seaside

Police (503-738-6311) for permis-

sion to pa rk overnight. Season Ye a r -

round Permit $5; obta in at tra ilhead

Info cannonbeach.org

Portland, OR

MULTIDAY

SANTIAM PASS
TO OLLALIE LAKE

Willamette National Forest

On his first trip to Ollalie Lake,

Travis Clough (see right) was wob-
bling across roaring Russell Creek

when he decided it was a bit much

for a group hike with The Venture
Out Project. So he and Venture Out

founder Perry Eaton decided to har-

ness the adrenaline just for fun.
Start the 45-mile, northbound

trek on the PCT with views of 7,841-

foot Three Fingered Jack, which
stacks up “ like sa nd drip ca stles,”

Clough says. Look for fireweed’s

magenta stems ( blooming July and
August) amid the ruins of wildfires.

Jefferson Park’s meadows offer

prime camping below its 10,497-foot
namesake. Toward the end, ascend

Park Butte, where the snow-capped

Cascades dress every view.

Trailhead PCT Santiam Pass
(44.4226, -121.8549) 130 miles

southeast of Portland Shuttle car

Olallie Lake (44.8141, -121.7912) 76
miles north of Santiam Pass Season

July to September Permit $5/vehi-

cle per day; self-issue at trailheads.
Info http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/

willamette

Travis Clough

DIRECTOR OF TRIP

OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS,

THE VENTURE OUT PROJECT

THOUGH HE RAN out of water

and was nearly stormed off the

summit, when Travis Clough

came off Katahdin at age 16,

mountains became one of the

leading forces in his life. He was

pre-transition and often teased

as a result. “A lot of people didn’t

understand who I was or what I

was,” he says. Climbing helped

him make peace with his body.

“I just found a connection,” he

says. “And no matter where I was

with my body, my body could pull

me up those mountains.”

But finding anyone to go

with, much less anyone who

understood what he was going

through, was tough. So when

he discovered The Venture Out

Project, he “kind of freaked out.”

Venture Out, founded in 2014, is

one of the first wilderness guid-

ing companies run by and for

queer and transgender people.

Through Venture Out, Clough

now helps others explore the

woods safely and comfortably.

“It’s the ultimate reconnection to

yourself and to nature and other

people,” he says.

Wahkeena Falls

gushes 242 feet

in the Columbia

River Gorge.

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