April 26, 2009 - Day 4 Exploring Hood River and surrounding areas
Past Days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
written by Mary Dawn (with all of the "fluffy words" : )
[Map of geotagged photos can be found here -> map
Note it only holds a certain number of photos at a time, so use the arrows at the bottom to go to the next set to view on map.]
We awoke early to brilliant sunshine and decided first to explore the famous gardens of the Historical Columbia Gorge Hotel which is shared by our beautiful accommodation at the Columbia Cliff Villas .
The gardens are magnificent and well worth a visit whether residing at the Hotel and Villas or not. They were built around the Phelps Creek, which meanders through the gardens under quaint European style stone bridges and eventually rendezvous with the Columbia River via the spectacular 208’ high Wah Gwin Gwin Falls, native American for 'rushing and tumbling waters'. These falls are the third highest in the Gorge. The beautifully manicured gardens are filled with color and native Oregon plants which provided an amazing backdrop to an already stunning view for pictures of the Columbia Gorge, us and our pups. What a great place to get married, I thought…
After a quick gourmet take away breakfast at the European style Cafe Doppio in downtown Hood River, we began our scenic journey around Hood Mountain. The first part of our drive followed part of the famous “Fruit-Loop” drive, so named for all of the thousands of pear, cherry, and apple tree orchards in the valley – not to mention the multitude of Vineyards and wineries. This fertile valley rests at the base of the mighty Mount Hood Volcano and boasts rich soil and indeed is the Nation’s largest pear growing region!
We happened to be there at the most beautiful time! All of the fruit trees were in full bloom and we began our drive at the Panorama Point, where we got magnificent pictures of the blooming orchards and the Snow Capped Mount Hood in the distance. The dogs loved this area, as there was lush grass for them to play and roll in.
After driving through the rich valley floor, we headed towards the forests and Mount Hood itself. Our road gradually ascended and before we knew it, we were back in snow again! The first that we had seen since we left Telluride the previous week! We decided to check out the local ski area and drove up to the famous Timberline Lodge and Ski Resort at an amazing 8540’ elevation. The dogs got to romp in the snow and were petted by many ski and snow boarders who came over to see them. The Timberline Lodge is a National Historic Landmark, and is known not only as an architectural wonder, but because it was built during the 1930’s depression, funded by the Federal Works Progress Administration, offering many unemployed craftsmen work during a dismal time.
After our exploration of the lodge and checking out the Ski facilities, we piled back into our car and headed down out of the snow and back to the lush, green forests at the base of Mt Hood: our goal, the Historical Columbia River Highway. This highway is one of the most scenic highways ever built in the Nation. In fact it is the first scenic highway in the US to gain the distinction of National Historic Landmark. It was built in 1913 for the sole purpose of taking in the many magnificent waterfalls and vista viewpoints of the Columbia Gorge along the way. At the time it was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the modern age.
The highway wound up and up amongst a botanical treasure of plants and trees. In fact, we learned that there are over 50 species of plants flourishing in this perpetual cool and moist area along the gorge. There were many scenic over looks along the way, with the cumulation of them being at the Vista House, a great spot to take photos and to grab a map showing all of the waterfalls to visit on the next 20 mile stretch of highway.
We only had time to explore two, and the first, called Latourelle was our favorite. It is set back off the highway amongst a lush rain forest of trees, ferns and other moist loving plants. I hiked up to the top of the falls with Valentino and Smokie Bear whilst Michael took pictures and explored the base of the falls. We eventually joined up again at the base of the falls. We especially liked this Fall, as it was not that over crowded with tourists and it was indeed spectacular to be able to hike from the base to the top.
By now it was getting to mid-afternoon, so the next falls that we stopped at were the most famous falls on the by-way and the “must do” on most tourist lists if one has limited time: The Multnomah Falls . This fall, although spectacular, was marred by hundreds of tourists, hot dog carts, solicitors, etc., so we did not spend as much time as we did at the Latourelle Falls, however snapped a few quick foto’s.
The reason for our rush was that we wanted to visit one of the famous Columbia River fish hatcheries and fish ladders erected around the Dams, enabling spawning salmon and steelhead to continue their instinctual navigation up river to their breeding grounds. The Hatcherie of choice was the Bonneville where we got to feed humungous Rainbow Trout, see Salmon and the most fascinating thing, to meet Herman the Sturgeon , a 70 year old fish, coming from one of the oldest boney fish families in the world, dating back 150,000 years!
After visiting the Hatcherie, we drove over to the Bonneville Dam, where we watched fish using the fish ladders to bypass the damn – super cool!
Back in Hood River, we watched the sunset and had an “ok” dinner at the Big Horse Brew Pub. Although the food was so-so, Michael confirmed that the Brews were just fine and the sunset views were spectacular.
Back to our Villa for a restful evening and early night in bed.
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