Quiet Day at Fort Stevens

Sunday
Today we took a rest day, during which we did a lot of sitting in the sun and catching up with things. I had a run and we also took a short drive into Astoria for a coffee and a stroll round the street market. While we were there we took a pic of the bridge from the point of view of Stephanie's house in Short Circuit.

After we had eaten we drove down the the beach and watched the sunset. There is a wreck on the beach of an old four masted barque called the Peter Iredale. It is a magnet for photographers, so of course I took a few pics.

We Must Go DownTo The Sea Again

Saturday
Decision time, Mt St Helens, or the beach? The weather is still a bit iffy, if now dry. To see Mt St Helens we need a cloud base above 10,000ft and I don't think we will get that in the next couple of days, so we plump for the beach. we set out to drive the 108 miles to Tillamook, famous for cheese and icecream and having the largest hanger in North America. Also a crabbing area (I think most of the West coast is a crabbing area really). On the way out we took one last look at Mutnomah Falls, still awesome.

We stopped in Portland for supplies and lunch in Applebees, while there we decided to cut out Tillamook and head instead straight for Astoria. The scenery on the road to the coast was hilly rather than mountainous, but still quite dramatic. everything is green, green, apart from the brightly coloured azaleas and rhododendrons which are everywhere over here. We have ended up by camping in Old Fort Stevens SP, about 5 miles West of Astoria.
This evening we drove the mile down to the beach and sat and watched the pelicans play follow my leader across the wave tops as the sun was sinking in the West.
Nice to see the sea again.

Sharing the Waterfalls

Friday
And it is raining again today!
In the midst of their car troubles Roy and Anne have taken a day to drive down the gorge to meet us, so that we can explore the waterfalls.

We started by driving to the Vista House and looking at the fabulous view from there, not to mention the fabulous house that is Vista House, all marble and Art Deco. Complete with a Tardis style lift that comes up through the marble floor to take Sally down stairs to the gift shop and restrooms.
Vista House is on the Old Columbia Highway, which is now an 'All American Highway' and a great road to just saunter along. From Vista House we drove North to Bridal Veil Falls, where we took the short, but steep walk down to the falls.
Visiting falls when it is raining is not necessarily a bad plan as (1) there are very few other people stupid enough to go out in the rain and (2) lots of rain means lots of water in the rivers and makes for more dramatic waterfalls. Having said that the sun actually shone (briefly) while we were at the Bridal Veil Falls
Further along we stopped briefly at a couple of other falls and then, turning a corner came upon the Multnomah Falls. Second highest falls in North America at 582ft. It was very dramatic, especially with all the extra rainwater. We stood for some time just watching the water tumble over the huge cliff and accelerate down to the pool below.
We finally drove on to the Horsetail Falls, where we said our farewells to Roy and Anne. We seem to have spent a lot of time together without really meaning to, although for the most part (apart from their car) it has been really fun.
The views from Vista House showed some lovely cloud formations that created a really moody atmosphere. I have put a few together, though they seem to be repeats each one is different. You may find this boring, so can skip it if you want.

Temperate Rain Forest Means it WILL Rain

Thursday
Part of the beauty of the Columbia Gorge area is that it is so green, with a huge variety of plants and trees. It is classified as Temperate Rain Forest. So it is hardly sur[rising that it rains  quite often. We have been fortunate so far, but today it rained. Not despeartely bad, but fairly continuous. We decided that it was more a day for inside things, so we visited the nearby Bonneville Dam. This was very interesting and mostly dry. We saw lots of water gushing through water barriers and the turbines that are used to generate power. Very big. We also were able to access underwter viewing windows of the fish ladders. While we were there we saw an awful lot of salmon type fish (Chinooks I think) come swimming through. There is a small room where some people are employed to count the varieties of fish as they swim past. I thought the Fish COunter would be selling salmon, but no they just counted it!
A diversion to Cascade Locks for a cup of tea and a fine view of the Bridge of The Gods, followed by a look at the Horsetail Falls after rain had fallen meant that we had a full day, and fun, even in the wet.
While cooking tea Sally spotted a hummingbird on our feeder. This one is bridght orange and red. It is a Rufous Hummingbird, the smallest found in this country. The pics I have are ppor as the light was not good, maybe tomorrow will be better.

Busy Day in the Columbia Gorge

We woke early and because it was bright and clear we got up quickly and drove along to Hood River, to return to Panorama Point to be rewarded with a great view of Mount Hood, without a cloud in sight.

We were so chuffed that we treated ourselves to to breakfast out. On inquiring from the locals we decided to patronize the Egg River Cafe (formally known as Egg Harbor Cafe). we had a huge breakfast. This is the only restaurant where the waitress has negotiated us into buying a smaller breakfast! On the grounds that one breakfast and a side would be quite enough, and it was. Great breakfast. Sally tried an omelette, to see the effect of eating eggs, I tried the apple pancakes and they were delicious.

Returning to the trailer we quickly packed up and rolled on to our next campground - Ainsworth State Park, a mere 40 miles down the I84. We arrived there and were set up by 11.04, I think this must be some sort of a record. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the glorious sunshine.

I went for a run in the afternoon and this evening Sally and I ventured out the 1.2 miles to the Horsetail Falls, which were very beautiful.




This afternoon we received a call from Roy and Anne to say that their Dodge Pick up was again giving them problems and they were now camped at Memaloose S.P. Where we had left that morning.

Life in the Columbia Gorge

The Columbia Gorge is quite narrow and the Columbia River is quite wide, so there is lots of compewtition for land here. This ws the original end to the Oregon Trail. After six months of wagon travel the pioneers would end up at The Dalles, where they had to abandon their wagons as the only way down the river was on the river itself, then having lots of rapids, so no fun at journeys end then. in 1850 the paddle steamer came along, then the railway, then in 1920 odd they managed to build a road, now there is a four lane highway that clings to the river south shoreline and a road and railway on the northern, Washington, shore. The river itself has been tamed by a series of barrages which now enable large barges to navigate safely up and down, carrying mostly grain I understand. The trains seem to be frequent and long on both sides of the river, so it is a very well used transport corridor.
Today Sally and I drove a little to the West to River Hood, we went inland a little, but the mountain itself was shrouded in cloud, never mind, perhaps tomorrow. We explored the town a little, but much of it is closed at this time of the week, Tuesday (?). We stopped by the river for a picnic and were rewarded by great views down the gorge, as well as seeing a Bald Eagle, which had been fishing, being harassed by  raven.

Memaloose State Park, On The Columbia River

We watched our friends Roy and Anne drive off into the East, then left Cove Palisade ourselves to drive north to the Columbia River. Took a byway, the 197, very pretty could see all the clouds in front of all the big mountains. Real volcanic scenery. Huge lava fields. We dropped down into the Deschutes River Gorge to the little town of Maupin, stopped for a coffee at a little place called The Oasis, been there since the railroad came through in 1915! It looked like the 'Dueling Banjos' scene in Deliverance - river in the background, cabin type diner with a front porch, just lacked the boy with a banjo. Had a lovely coffee though (did I mention a short stack of pancakes as well? Or a side of Fries for Sally? OOPS!). Also sat and watched a pair of Ospreys come past the diner (as you do), they were nesting on a post about 50 yards away. Drove on, arrived at Memaloos SP and bagged a 'Prime site' on the Bank of the Columbia River, lots to see (and hear), with the 184 behind and the Union Pacific railway between us and the river barges. Looking forward to a couple days to catch up on the washing and who Lewis and Clarke are and why they are important in these parts. This evening we dropped back into The Dalles for a steak at Cousins Restaurant - a sort of upmarket Cracker Barrel. Thank you for that Roy and Anne (though it was entirely unnecessary, your company was more than sufficient compensation), now we have the basis for a reunion dinner out.

Smith's Rock State Park

Saturday
Sally and I drove the twenty miles to Smith's Rock State Park today. Although it has a peculiar rock formation you can drive past it without realizing what it is, in fact Highway 97 passes within 3 miles and unless you know it is there I am sure you would not notice it. However it is a volcanic crater, with a central cone and high walls almost all round it, about half a mile wide. However the Crooked river has found its way in, flows round the inside and flows out again on the other side, making a wonderful river gorge with towering, vertical cliffs which make for brilliant rock climbing and people come from all over the world to climb here. Today was no exception, with no exaggeration there were probably at least a thousand people taking part in activities in the park, mostly climbing, walking, cycling or just enjoying the views. A quite amazing place.
Highlight for us was being offered a view of a Golden Eagle nest, complete with two chicks, Sally spent about 45 minutes watching the nest trough the monocular and was completely delighted. Meanwhile Anne and Roy took a hike up the Misery Trail on the far bank of the river from us, we could see them climbing for part of the way, it looked hard, long and steep.

After visiting Smith's Rock Sally and I called in at the Rex Barber Bridge Overview, also the Crooked River. The river has cut a 300 ft deep gorge into the lava beds that at one time poured out of the Smith's Rock area. Crossing the gorge are the old road bridge, the new road bridge and the railway bridge. The are very impressive. The bridge area is named after a local war fighter pilot ace who grew up in Culver, a town nearby, and flew in the second world war. He was the pilot who shot down the bomber that was transporting Admiral Yamamoto around (he who masterminded the attack on Pearl Harbor), killing him and a number of his top staff, thus striking a blow for the war effort.

Cove Palisade State Park

Cove Palisade is a State Park built round a deep gorge cut by the Crooked river into the volcanic lava fields of the area. This gorge has been dammed and is now a huge reservoir, with spectacular views.

 The campground is right next to the gorge,at the top of a 600 foot drop. It is however a very pretty and well kept campground, with many trees that are in blossom at the moment. All this against a backdrop of the Cascade Mountains, though cloud obscured most of them for most of the time we were there.

It's Moving On Time!

Friday
We packed up our rig at Bend, feeling that we had not really done all there is to do in this area. Although it does not seem to have much it is a very nice place to be. Close to the mountains, close to the desert, warm and sunny with lots of countryside to see. It was a shame that we are about a week too early to get the benefit of it. We have one more visit to make in this area, on our way to Cove Palisade, our next stop, we made a slight diversion to Sisters, the town. The drive took us past some good views of the mountains. It is a bit higher than bend and has a more alpine feel to it, however it is a town stuffed full of interesting little shops, bakeries, coffee houses etc. we visited on the recommendation of our friend Sandy Brown, who lived in this area for a long time. Specifically we were to visit the clock shop! Beacham's. We arrived in Sisters in time for a nice drink in the Sisters Coffee House, which was very relaxing, Sally exchanging life histories with a very nice lady on the veranda as we watched the world go by in the pleasantly warm sunshine. As midday approached we meandered across the road to the clock shop, which is absolutely stuffed full of clocks. The owner - Ed - makes his own clock cases and also makes clock movements. At about 3 minutes to twelve the chimes started, all over the shop (two levels) a variety of chimes could be heard, this delightful sound continued for about 5 minutes, it was quite entrancing. We spent some time looking at clocks and the clock makers workshop, which is integral with the shop. Fascinating. Unfortunately the owner - Ed, was away for a vacation with his wife as it was their 40th wedding anniversary. Thank yo for your visiting idea Sandy. We continued to Cove Palisade via Redmond, where we found a nice burger joint to have an excellent lunch and then made the short journey to the campground. A pleasant, and short, moving on experience.