Columbia River, Mt. Hood, Washington Apr 18, 2015

April 18 Columbia River & Mt. Hood

Rose early this morning and went back to Multnomah Falls which, yesterday, was absolutely crawling with tourists.  Not so this morning as we arrive before 7:00 and the only folks there were a few photographers.  Pretty two-tiered falls with a bridge between the two, 2^nd highest year-round falls in the US at 620’.  We hiked up to the bridge.  Cold and windy in the 40’s.

 

Did a quick stop next at Horsetail Falls and parked there to warm up with  some good hot oatmeal with fruit. 

We continued out the gorge, stopping at Mitchell Point Overlook and then drove to The Dalles.  Interesting geography of stepped cliffs and lots of green.  We crossed the 197 bridge to the Washington side and started back. Similar scenery, smaller road, less traffic.   Saw some logs floating in the river and several mills with stacks of logs, stacks for lumber, piles of sawdust. Klickitat Port.

Trains run parallel to the river on both sides and seemed pretty busy.  We imagine they come from the port at the mouth of the Columbia and speculate on the things they might be carrying from overseas….fruits, fish, “stuff” from China, etc.

At White Salmon we cross the Hood River Bridge, $1 toll, back to Oregon to explore a little of the Mount Hood area.  This snow-covered mountain dominates the landscape for many miles.  Normally popular for skiing, it has been a dismal year for snowfall and we are told there shouldn’t be any road problems.

First we travel along the “Fruit Loop” which includes acres and acres of orchards. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries.  Some trees are in bloom and beautiful!  Periodically there are huge stacks of crates which will get a workout this Summer.

We stop at one of several orchard stores – Packer Orchard – and purchase a marionberry rhubarb empanada and a jar of jam.  The clerk there is most helpful and gives us a map and some suggestions of pretty areas.  This is obviously a lot of work, as we see crews trimming trees and notice lots of irrigation and heating equipment in the orchards.

At the town of Dee we take a road to what Fodor’s calls an “Off the Beaten Path” place called Lost Lake which is supposed to be great for photography.  Well, we do agree it is off the beaten path as we wind progressively more narrow roads back towards Mt. Hood. What we arrive at is a beautiful lake with a busy and well-established “resort”.  There is a little snow on a few roads but it is more like slush.

Lots of folks with their dogs and kids. We are in Bigfoot/Saskwatch territory (see above). We walk around several areas and then head back to the beaten path, more orchards, back across the Hood River Bridge and onward to a town called Longview.

Longview is a very pretty town, lots of greenways and flowering trees and shrubs everywhere.  The houses aren’t huge, but all seem neat  and nicely landscaped.

We find a Lowe’s and settle in to use their wi-fi for a bit.  Then go to a local-recommended restaurant called The Masthead for a nice dinner.  Then on to Walmart for the night.

April 19 Lewis & Clark

42 degrees this morning as we head along the river then cross the Lewis & Clark Bridge back to Oregon and Route 30.  More lumber mills.

About 9AM we come into Astoria, home of the Fighting Fishermen.  We stop first at Pier 39 for some photos. Definitely a working port as evidenced by businesses, large boats, fishing boats.  We follow the sound of barking sea lions to the next pier where there are hundreds.

Someone along the way told us to check out the Astoria Column, so we head there next - a tall tower (164 steps) on a hill overlooking Astoria.  Elaborate artwork decorates the outside, showing the history of the area. They sell little wooden airplanes at the gift shop and estimate that 35,000 of them are thrown from the tower each year.

The town is full of flowering trees, yellow scottish broom, rhododendrum and other flowers.

Next stop is Fort Clatsop, the Winter home of 33 men and one woman (- whose name I know you all know and I forget how to spell - Sacagawea?)of Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery. They left here in March 1806 to head back to St. Louis.  Nice visitor center where we watched a film about the Expedition, then toured a replica of the fort and the area.

The crew of the expedition was chosen with care and a less skilled group would never have completed the trip.  Clark's maps were very accurate - off only a total of 40 miles after 4,000 miles traveled!
We stop at a few other related sites - Middle Village, Station Camp and read some more history.

Then we head north, back into Washington and stop at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach, Washington.  Nice displays including kites from around the world, some quite large, as well as kites that were used in WWII for collecting meteorological data, lifting radar equipment, blocking areas above ships from straffing, etc.  Who knew.

This was used to hold communication equipment.  Kind of like a very early satellite - on a string!

We are into tall evergreens everywhere, sitka spruce, hemlock, pine, douglas fir, cedar.  The air smells wonderful.  We have passed several fish hatcheries the past few days.

We pass this boat which is unloading oysters and stop to watch a bit. There are a few folks there buying them right off the boat.

 Then on to Aberdeen and the local Walmart for exercise and dinner of ham, yams and pineapple.