Often reality and fantasy can overlap for those who wander. Sometimes in small ways, other times in huge overwhelming ways that wash over them as they suddenly see what they’ve only imagined from reading someone else’s verbal pictures.

Such was the case for me when I viewed Multnomah falls for the first time. It wasn’t just the slender falls itself with its graceful plunge of over 560′ into the clear pool  below. Or the bottom falls which fell another 69′ onto a rocky platform where the cool water gathered itself then rushed musically down the side of the cliff to empty into the Columbia river.

That alone would have been awe-inspiring in itself, but then to add the graceful bridge spanning the distance over the lower falls where one can stand and feel the cool mist drift across your senses had to have been done by someone who knew Elves and the magic folk personally. Or perhaps having traveled to those places and experiencing the beauty couldn’t bear to leave them behind.

As you approach up a wide stone staircase to a viewing area that allows you to see the entire scene at once, you are suddenly thrust into another place, another world where anything can happen, where you might meet creatures from a land of fantasy that you only thought was imaginary. A place where magic was possible and you might have powers you never dreamed of before. This could be a gateway that, if you allow yourself and can throw caution to the winds, you might just visit a land of wonder and adventure the likes of which you have never imagined before.

Multnomah falls is just one of the many waterfalls in the real world that you can visit while traveling along old highway 30, a scenic byway that parallels I-84 in the Columbia gorge. If you get the chance, go there, you might just get an opportunity to take a journey to a place you did not expect to go.