HOOD RIVER
June 17-23, 2006
From Rathdrum we drove into Washington and then south to the Columbia River and Hood River, Oregon, where we will stay for the next week.
Trexie did her thing once again and found the secret entrance across the train tracks and down a gravel road to our Hood River exchange. The house is very nice, quite spacious and comfortable, with nice views of trees all around.
Our first day we did laundry and then took off to check out the cycling terrain. We drove out along the creek and as we rounded the corner there was the startling sight of Mt. Hood, snowy capped and dramatically pointing up to the blue sky. What a view! We drove out the highway and on to Mt. Hood. By the time we got up the mountain we had gone from very warm, sunny weather to snowy ski areas. We gave a couple of guys a ride up the mountain to their job at one of the ski areas and took a walk around the lodge. Then we continued around the mountain and back into the valley again.
The next day was sunny and blue, so we took our bikes out and rode around the cherry, apple and pear orchards. We could see another snowy mountain across the river in Washington that stuck up above everything just like Mt. Hood. Some of the farmhouses have views of both mountains. Our route took us onto a dirt and gravel logging road for several miles, along the river over obstacles and through the dust. Finally we came out the other end and back to the pavement for a nice coast back down the hill to our home.
Another day we rode along the Columbia River from Multnomah Falls all the way to the scenic viewpoint near Corbett. It was a secondary road which ran parallel to the main highway, so traffic was light and the road was tree-lined and shady. Around each turn there was another beautiful waterfall rushing its way to the Columbia River—Wahkeena Falls, Coopey Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Latourell Falls, Horsetail Falls—each one was full of water and beautiful. WE climbed up to the Vista House where we could see huge views of the Columbia River Gorge. We continued on to the Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint where we ate our lunch, and then we rode back to our car.
We had a very pleasant and restful week in Hood River. On the way out of town I picked up a new bluegrass cd since we had worn our two out going across S. Dakota and Montana.