Photo and caption by Tula Top

As the trail meanders through a massive rockslide and rounds a bend in the gorge, the low growl of Cold Spring Creek crescendoes to a thundering roar as 100-foot-tall Tamanawas Falls comes into glorious view. Tamanawas is the Chinook term for guardian spirit, the cataract ostensibly taking its name for its commanding presence on Mt. Hood’s eastern flank. Towering plumes of spray thwarted my attempts for a closer approach, but soon the sun moved on from zenith and began to illuminate the mist in radiant shafts of light as it filtered through the evergreens rimming the amphitheater’s cliff.

Location: Tamanawas Falls, Mt. Hood National Forest, Parkdale, Oregon, USA