If you're planning a fall trip to the Columbia Gorge for photos you should rethink.
A major fire (Eagle Creek fire) is burning out of control and advancing rapidly through the Gorge. I-84 is currently closed from Troutdale to Hood River. Local communities have been evacuated and firefighters are working to protect major structures like Nesika Lodge, Multnomah Falls Lodge, and Crown Point. It's burning on both sides of I-84 and it jumped the Columbia River this morning and about 20 acres is now burning in Washington across from Cascade Locks. The fire is currently over 10,000 acres and ash is falling in Portland. Hikers have identified two teenage boys who started the fire by throwing fireworks on the trail up to Punchbowl Falls, resulting in 153 hikers being prevented from hiking down from Punchbowl Falls Saturday afternoon. They were forced to spend the night and then hike to Wahtum Lake on Sunday, where the Forest Service then bused them back to the highway.
Local news is reporting that the fire is currently burning both above and below Multnomah Falls, and photos show firetrucks spraying down the lodge. Hikers in the area before the closure have reported that both Nesmith Point and Munra Point have burned. The USFS is reporting that the historic highway tunnel at the base of Oneonta Gorge "has been damaged". And, of course, this closes yet another section of the PCT, a bad year to make that trek.
This fire won't begin to go out until the rains come and long term forecast is hot and dry. So tragic.