Columbia River Gorge

Day 17, June 22, 2017 Traversing the Columbia River Gorge

We spent June 14-21 in Rochester. We went to my son’s and daughter-in-law’s medical residency graduations, watched the grandson for several days and took him out to playgrounds and for ice cream. We returned to Portland and the same hotel on the evening of the 21st tired after the cross-country trip and the 3-hour time zone change.

On the 22d we started the day with an early morning swim in the hotel pool and then had a nice big buffet breakfast at the hotel. I received a scare when I went out to load the car. During our absence, the Portland area apparently had some big rain storms such that an island in the river was flooded. Closer to us, I saw that a large branch from a tree we parked the car under had broken off and landed 10 feet from the car. A few more feet and it would have been a major inconvenience.

We got on the road before 10 am and traveled east up the Gorge starting on the Washington side. Crossed back to Oregon east of the airport and after a brief stretch on I-84 we exited on to historic route 30. This was the first paved road in the Columbia River Gorge and it was the first built in the Gorge for auto sightseeing. It was built from 1913 to1922 and has several tunnels and a few dozen bridges. It follows a serpentine route that was designed to have no incline greater than 5 degrees to accommodate the Model Ts of that era. Now the road is just a scenic byway, albeit the oldest one in the US, having been supplanted by I-84, that bisects the National Scenic Area which is lined with state parks and waterfalls.

Long ago most of the Pacific northwest was covered my massive lava flows. During the last ice age, there were massive ice dams which when they melted resulted in torrential water flows that carved out the Columbia River Gorge. It is the only sea level passage through the Cascade Mountains and was used by Lewis and Clark to float down to the Pacific. The Oregon pioneers followed that trail. However, because the surrounding cliffs were not eroded, there are many waterfalls throughout the gorge.

We drove through the small town of Troutdale which is the western terminus of US highway 30, formally known as the Columbia River Scenic Highway and the Scenic Highway, Not much there except for many recreation stores. Its biggest draw is the art resort McMenamius, formerly the County Poor Farm. Our first stop was at a small overlook at the Portland Women's Forum View Point, that gave us a spectacular view up the Gorge. We took a few pictures there and then resumed our drive east on route 30. Two miles east of Corbett we took a fork to Larch Mountain Road. This was a 14-mile detour that toward the end climbed steeply. After parking, $5 fee, we took the Sherrard Point trail. It was less than 1/2amile, but quite steep. However, the view from the top rewarded the effort. We could clearly see 5 peaks, Rainier, St. Helens and Adams to the north, and Hood and Jefferson to the south. St. Helens was the shortest and had a flat top courtesy of its blow out in 1980.  After hiking back down to the parking lot we walked a short way on the Larch Mt. trail. This is a long trail that eventually gets to Multnomah Falls. A couple (young) passed us on this trail and we later saw them when we were hiking the lower trail to the Falls. On the ride down the Larch road we picked up 9 miles in electricity.

Our next stop was the Vista House at Crown Point. Sitting atop a 730-ft. bluff this two-tiered octagonal structure was completed in 1916. It was built as a way station for travelers on route 30. The architect, Edgar Lazarus was the brother of Emma Lazarus, she of poetry on the Statute of Liberty. The rotunda has pictures of the gorge and the highway. The House offers spectacular30 miles views of the Gorge.  

Next stop was Bridal Veil Falls. There are lots of falls along this route and we just picked a few to stop at. This was a tall, narrow, falls. We hiked a short trail down to the base of the falls. Standing there it was easy to see why the falls was given its name. There was a large mist and a strong wind that blew my hat off. We kept our parking space and took a .5miletrail to the base of Multnomah Falls. This is the granddaddy falls in the gorge, falling 620 ft. in two sections. It is the second highest year-round falls in the US. The view from the bottom of the Falls is great. We hiked a short trail to a bridge. Nice views of the gorge from the top and the trail.

After hiking down, we had a late lunch in Multnomah Falls Lodge. Might be an interesting place to stay, but we only ate in the bar area. Vaulted ceilings, stone fireplaces and some exquisite views of the Falls. Lots of draft beer choices.

Hiked back to the car beating the setting sun. Drove to our hotel, the Westcliff Lodge, that was just west of Hood River. Beautiful grounds and an expansive room with a large balcony. Managed to find an outside electrical outlet to charge up the car. We ate dinner at a wine room restaurant next to the hotel. There was live music and it was crowded. A local couple invited us to share their table. They are semi retirees who moved there to enjoy the wind driven water sports in the gorge of which there are many.

Long, tiring day.