“This above all: to thine own self be true” — Polonius to his son Laertes in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet

A couple of weeks ago brought some sad news out of the Columbia River Gorge. First a family was injured by falling rocks near Horsetail Falls, and then further up the trail a hiker fell off a cliff near Triple Falls and later died from his injuries. I had hiked this lovely trail for the first time a few weeks earlier, it was my last hike in the Gorge before leaving for my Washington trip.

I never made it all the way to Triple Falls, my fear of heights encouraged me to turn around when the trail got too exposed along the steep hillside. I’ve been pushing myself to work through this fear if the danger is mostly in my head, and while the trail was wide enough that I thought I’d be OK, a bit of vertigo started setting in. Since I was hiking alone and getting tired, I decided the risk was too high and turned back and hiked the Oneonta Gorge Trail to Multnomah Falls instead.

This picture is not from those trails but from a previous hike to Angel’s Rest further west in the Gorge. I had started off at Wahkeena Falls and hiked over to Angel’s Rest, I hadn’t been there before and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it out on to the rocky outcrop where you get a beautiful view both east and west into the Gorge. I was able to do it without much trouble, there were spots that gave me pause but I didn’t look down and was fine.

Several Townsend’s chipmunks were actively feeding out on the rocks at the end of the trail, so after actively feeding myself I spent most of my time photographing them. I did take a few pictures of the Gorge but I long ago accepted the fact that I’ll never be a good at landscapes since I’m always distracted by animals large or small.

We are what we are.