and the trail of life...
Matt Llano is scheduled to run the 10K final at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, OR after placing 4th in the East Region Championship. After arrangements were made we flew into Portland, OR on the first day of travel to the NCAA Championships since the NCAA could not get us flights into Eugene.
When we arrived into Portland it was late so we spent the night near the airport. The next day Matt had a longer run for his workout and we decided to run trails with some scenery. Here are some photos from his run…
Matt's run started a few miles out of Portland at the Horsetail Falls Trail Head... For additional waterfalls NEAR HORSETAIL FALLS go HERE.
Lower Horsetail Falls...
Lower Horsetail Falls from a different angle...
The trail immediately started to climb...in some places there was only a small portion of trail...with a big drop...
Even in the rain the views were amazing...as the Horsetail Falls Trail continued to climb to overlook the Columbia River.
The trail had sharp switchbacks that zig-zagged up the mountain...
About 2 miles in there was a narrow bridge with an over look of Oneonta Falls...
The canyon below Oneonta Falls was narrow and steep...
Oneonta Falls...No way to get here unless you like to run and climb...
The trail had huge fur trees along side...Here the trail is approaching Upper Horsetail Falls, sometimes called Ponytail Falls.
Matt Llano running towards Upper Horsetail Falls...
Here you see Matt about to run behind Upper Horsetail Falls on the trail...
The rock overhang was amazing...Photos do not do this justice.
Llano paused for me to take a photo...
Then he walked down to the edge of the ice cold water and looked up into the water coming down from 90 feet above...
Matt's shirt reads, "Gotta Eat, Gotta Live, Gotta Run"...This trail sums up life...You are living when you are running on it... 
Finishing up at the trail head...
A little further down the road you find Multnomah Falls. It is one of the most popular in Oregon.
It towers a hefty 611 feet from top to bottom making it the 2nd tallest in North America...It is also "ranked the 4th best waterfall in the USA". Who votes on that?
We also stopped by the Bonneville Dam where they had some White Sturgeon habitat setup...See one swimming in the center of the photo.
On April 9, 1806 the Lewis & Clark's Expedition camped at this exact location.
The prehistoric fish are the largest fresh water fish in North America...The one in this photo is just over 10 feet in length, over 450 pounds and he goes by the name "Herman".
Herman is still not even close to being as heavy as the two men that Matt got stuck sitting between, or should I say crushed between, on our 5 1/2 flight from Atlanta to Portland. Before the flight we even joked about him getting stuck between the two men that weighed ~300 pounds EACH... but it wasn't nearly as funny when it became reality.
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