Columbia River Gorge and into Washington

24^th May

We biked for 2 miles to the light rail station and caught the train into the middle of downtown Portland. The city is set between the Willamette River and the hills. It is a mix of the old and the new. We walked thru the centre and down to the river where there was a weekend craft market. I have decided all craft markets are the same throughout the world. Woodwork, pottery, glass, metal stuff, tie-dyed stuff, olive oil, honey and knitting. This one was big but followed the formula. We used our one day pass and got back on the light rail to Washington Park This is a huge park with the zoo, gardens etc. We wandered around enjoying the peace and quiet before heading back to the city centre for lunch. Really great nachos!

Portland has a population of 600,000 and a great transport system. (free within the CBD) Back on the light rail to our bikes and the ride to “Ernie”. We skyped the girls with limited internet success.

25^th May

It was an overcast morning with very little on our agenda. Val did washing and I did a couple of small jobs on “Ernie”. After lunch the sun came out and we went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We are on the banks of the Columbia River with a yacht club outside our gates and some pretty posh houses overlooking the river. There is also a very up-market golf course nearby. Summer membership of the Kaiapoi Golf Club would not have got us passed the security! Around dinner time it started to rain again

26^th May

We used the internet again before heading east along the Columbia River and joining the Historic Columbia River Highway thru a couple of cute little towns. The road was narrow and windy and we stopped for views of the Columbia Gorge. A bit like the Rhine. There are some beautiful waterfalls along this historic road and the traffic was really bad. This is a public holiday (Memorial Day) and everyone was out sight- seeing. We were stopped for long periods as cars waited to find parking to see the waterfalls. We drove on as we were camping close to the best ones and will ride our bikes back to them tomorrow when everyone is back at work. After finding our camp we went for a pleasant 2 hour walk

thru the forest to a couple of waterfalls, one of which you could walk behind. There were many family groups on the track most with dogs. After dinner we spent some time with the maps and our planning schedule researching our route thru Washington.

27^th May

On our bikes and a 4 mile ride back up the Historic Columbia River Highway to the largest waterfall in this area. There were far fewer people around and we had a great look at the spectacular Multnoma Falls, the 4^th highest in the USA. (620ft). We climbed up a gentle track for 1.2 miles to the top of the falls with some great views. We stopped at another waterfall on the way back to “Ernie”. Back on the road and onto the I-84, the main road up the Columbia River Gorge. It was only a short drive to our next camp at Viento Lake.

The river is dammed just down stream forming this lake. It is a very windy area and popular with wind surfers. (Viento means windy in Italian) After a short walk to the lake we spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun. The weather is now very warm. Hopefully it will stay that way when we hit Washington tomorrow. Oregon has been great! Quite like NZ with mountains, lakes and a lovely coastline. 

28^th May

Another change of plans over breakfast. We have decided to take a 50 mile return detour to see Mt Hood, the highest mountain in Oregon. We turned off the Columbia Gorge highway and followed the scenic road thru the Hood Valley where there were many fruit orchards. We climbed thru forest up the side of Mt Hood, passed some good camp sites to the Bartlet Pass. Unfortunately there was some cloud obscuring the mountain and it even snowed briefly. We went back down the pass to one of the camp sites we had seen. In the afternoon we took a 4 mile hike up to the Tamanawas Falls. The track followed the up a step gorge with a very swift river cascading over rocks.

After scrambling over a huge rock fall area we came to the falls. What sight!! There was a large volume of water going over the falls making an impressive view. Back at “Ernie” we sat in the last of the sun before it turned cold. We were the only ones in the camp. The hope is that we will see Mt Hood on our way out tomorrow.

29^th May

Believe or not we have now completed 1/3 of our trip. The time has really flown. We stopped a couple of times on the road back to the Columbia Gorge for a glimpse of Mt Hood but it remained in cloud. The hike to Tamanawas Falls yesterday made the 50 mile detour well worth it however. The Columbia Gorge is dammed at several places for hydro power but also to make the river navigatable, with locks bypassing the dams. Very suddenly the landscape changed from forest to being much drier, rocky and barren. Eventually we crossed the Columbia River and were in Washington and climbed out of the gorge and away from the river. Our overnight camp was at a State Park where we found a great sunny spot. As it was nice and private and much warmer, we took the opportunity for haircuts.

The camp host told us that we could bike to a view point of the elusive Mt Hood. We biked across the highway and followed some fire trails up the hills to a beautiful meadow with lovely spring flowers and out to the SW we could see Mt Hood at last. Quite spectacular piercing the clouds. At around 7:00pm the camp host came to check if we were back and OK as he had not seen us return from the ride.

30^th May

We had a chat with a guy who is coming to NZ fly fishing next year before leaving the camp and heading north thru the big Yakama Indian Reserve and more fruit growing. Our overnight stop was at the city of

Yakima (pop 93,000) where we shopped and found an RV park. Just before Yakima we passed thru Union Gap. Ring any bells?

Yes, “Gary Puckett and the Union Gap”, an iconic sixties band with many great hits like Young Girl, Woman Woman and The Mighty Quinn came from this town. Try this link for a flash back to your past. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJFVPxBpezk     

We went for a nice 10 mile bike ride along an asphalt path beside the Yakima River and then found a bar and restaurant for dinner.

31^st May

The weather has really warmed up. It was hot in the night. Val did a wash and I wrote some of this blog before we left Yakima and followed the beautiful Naches river valley up towards the Chinook Pass. We had decided to stop for the night before going over the pass and into the Mt Rainier National Park and found a great site in a forest park.

1^st June

The views just got better as we climbed towards the Chinook Pass.

Soon we were in snow and we stopped at the top for the spectacular views in every direction. Down the other side and into the Mt Rainier National Park at White River. Unfortunately the camp ground was closed but the ranger showed us a great hike up the White River and then onto the Emmons Glacier moraine. The views of Mt Rainier (14,410ft) towering above us were fantastic.

We had packed our lunch and we stopped near the top of the moraine on a ridge and enjoyed the hot sun and the spectacular views of Mt Rainier, the Emmons Glacier and Gibraltar Rock. Not a cloud in the sky! Back to Ernie and a short drive out of the White River, over the Cayuse Pass to a camp at Ohanapecosh.

2^nd June

Another sunny morning. We heard sad news on the radio this morning the 2 guides and four climbers were killed on a ridge climbing Mt Rainier yesterday very near where we were. We have decided to stay here

another night and do a short walk. Again we packed our lunch and headed up the Ohanapecosh River. This river is quite large and has huge flow due to the snow melt. The gorge was steep and the rapids were awesome. It would be a brave man who tried to navigate them. The Silver Falls were roaring!!! We continued on for a short walk around the Grove of the Patriarchs, a series of large trees.

We have seen better. Back at “Ernie” we gathered some firewood and cooked our tea over the fire. A nice finish to a great day.

3^rd June

We woke to fog and cloud around the camp. We drove up the toward the only visitors centre open high on Mt Rainier. We were dreading a repeat of Crater Lake and Lassen Peak but the higher we got the cloud cleared and we could see the summit. By now we were back in thick

snow. At the visitors centre we enjoyed the views as the cloud cleared. We took a short walk following poles in the snow to a view of the Nisqually Glacier. By now the cloud was back down but we got a brief glimpse of some of the glacier. Back at “Ernie” for lunch with the forlorn hope of another view of the summit but the clouds stayed down. We drove down the road to our camp at Cougar Rock. The hosts showed us a great walk to yet another waterfall, Carter Falls.

We are just about mountain and waterfalled out now and will head out of this great National Park and towards the coast tomorrow.

4th June.

As the morning was clear we walked the first short bit of yesterdays hike to get a view of Mt Rainier that we missed. Back on the road and out of the National Park. We are on a windy scenic route to the coast. The first part was thru forest areas and towns, then an area where Christmas trees were cultivated, then fields of tulips, and finally fruit and berry orchards. After crossing the I-5 we stopped at a forest park for the night about ½ way on our trip to the coast.

5^th June

We followed the Wallapa River to the coast. The coastal road followed around some nice beaches and towns not unlike those in the Nelson area. At Westport we found an RV Park also very much like a NZ holiday park. (with lots of grassed areas)

We rode our bikes along a cyclepath to the marina where there were many fishing boats, some charter and some commercial. We enjoyed a stroll along the harbour with an ice-cream. Back on our bikes to the library where Val was able to print out our Alaskan Cruise tickets.  We gave “Ernie” a well deserved wash. As we have good internet we will publish this blog and skype the kids.