BRIDAL VEIL, Ore. — In any season, the sight of Multnomah Falls is a recipe for goosebumps — and the presence of search and rescue crews on a soggy Tuesday morning adds a pinch of reality.
“The water is flowing really fast today, with all this rain we've gotten,” said Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue (PNWSAR) member Rachael Penchoen-Lind.
With all due respect to PNWSAR, their latest mission was garbage — picking it up, that is. The all-volunteer nonprofit group got to work early collecting what others leave behind.
“Just being respectful of these places that we get to visit,” Penchoen-Lind said. “I think is really important for the longevity of them and for kids and next generations to be able to enjoy them, too.”
PNWSAR set up ropes and pulleys on the Benson Bridge above the lower falls, allowing them to rappel down and remove trash. Aside from the valuable rope training it provides, they filled several bags with trash in a matter of hours.
“This year is our fourth year coming just to bring a bunch of people together to work on the goal of cleaning up the trash that we can't get to,” said Diane Noxon, who simply loves the outdoors. Noxon had noticed an abundance of trash on a trail years ago, and the idea of a partnership with a search and rescue group just came to her.
“As we know, the Columbia Gorge is just such a beautiful landscape,” Noxon said. “We are so lucky with the highlight being behind us, the Multnomah Falls there, so just do whatever we can do to keep everything as clean as possible, get the litter cleaned up.”
Thanks to Noxon’s initiative, PNWSAR, the U.S. Forest Service and more, the falls are maintained and the postcard view preserved.
Among the retrieved items were cans, bags, coins, a frisbee, even a driver’s license.
“These are beautiful areas that we're so lucky to have close to home for a lot of us, and the trash — I mean, one, ruins the view — but also it's not good for any of the wildlife and all those sorts of things,” Penchoen-Lind said.
“I know that I'm not the only one out there that's picking up trash,” added Noxon. “So just thank everybody out there that picks up the trash as they go and just enjoys this beautiful landscape that we are surrounded by and everybody's effort to keep it clean. It takes all of us together to keep this beautiful.”