Two Days in the Gorge

Walla Walla, WA

July 15, 2021

During our three-day interlude between Walla Walla weekends, we discovered (or re-discovered) a few jewels in Oregon’s crown. 

As our cousin Ashley steered us right by sending us to Joseph last Friday, she hit the bullseye advising us to visit Hood River this week. Till then, we’d never been there. After going, we didn’t want to leave. 

Situated in the heart of the Gorge, Hood River is a pleasant assemblage of upscale shops, al fresco dining, local galleries, comfortable cafés, and bustling breweries.

As its name implies, the town nestles against the Columbia River, with easy access to Mt Hood. We spent the afternoon watching skiers descend that mountain, and the evening admiring wind surfers whipping the whitecaps like gnats at a summer picnic.

As we noted a couple days ago, the Columbia River Gorge connects a few distinct geologies, topographies, and climate zones. The pressure difference between the them creates a vacuum drawing air up the canyon, turning Hood River into the greatest windsurfing region in the world.

And the locals love to take advantage of it. As do aficionados from around the world. When we were in Tualatin for dinner Monday night, Jeff and Sybil recalled once being in Norway. When they said they were from Portland, the locals asked if that was near Hood River. As everyone knows, that is where the windsurfers go.

I’m not much of a windsurfer, but I do like to ski. After the blistering heat a couple weeks ago, snow dissipated quick from the slopes of Mt Hood. Even so, a few runs remain open, and often are year-round. 

That’s all we needed to hear. From Hood River, we high-tailed it an hour south, down Route 35, and about halfway up Mt Hood. There, at the Timberline Lodge, we parked, settled into the buffet lunch, and watched hardy skiers wend their way down the receding glacier. 

Brian recommended we lunch at this iconic lodge and, once again, he didn’t disappoint. It was built in 1937, offers a nice buffet, seasoned with magnificent views of Mt Jefferson to the south and Mt Hood just above. The exterior was used to depict The Overlook Hotel in The Shining. 

About halfway between Hood River and the lodge is the trail to Tamanawas Falls. We parked at the trailhead, and made the three-and-a-half mile round-trip hike along and above a fast moving stream through gorgeous woods, to the base of what David called the most beautiful falls he’s ever seen. Dropping about 100 feet, they are the main feature in a grand amphitheater of cliff, rock, and trees.

Having accumulated quite a bit of dust on the dry trail, we decided to return to Hood River, and have it blown off by the banks of the white-capped Columbia. With the late-afternoon wind whipping thru the gorge, the windsurfers were out in full force. 

Sails and boards covered the park along the bank, as kids swam along the beach below. On and above the river, densely packed para-sailers and windsurfers darted past and around each other like bees in a hive. Even the occasional barge didn’t disturb them. Indeed, the surfers welcomed it, using the wake as a launch pad to reach greater height.

To navigate the Columbia, such vessels must now navigate a series of locks and dams. The Dalles Dam is near our hotel in that town, downstream from the John Day Dam, and about forty minutes upriver from the Bonneville Dam, where we went yesterday morning. 

Like many such projects, the initial dam went up in the 1930s, to enable electrical power generation and facilitate river navigation. A second Powerhouse was later added, requiring relocation of the town of North Bonneville, which had been built to support construction of the original dam. By the 1970s, relocation was complete, and Cascade Island created.

Within the dam, fish ladders were constructed as a series of collection basins, guides, and locks to allow and steer salmon upstream. The underwater perspective on the efforts of these fish was fascinating, as were the eels that plastered their mouths to the surface of the glass. 

From Bonneville, we retreated to The Dalles, grabbed a late lunch, and checked out of the hotel. On our way out, about thirty minutes upstream and across the Columbia, was another site we wanted to see.

Among the quirky characters instrumental to the development of the Pacific Northwest was Sam Hill. He was a railway lawyer so good at his job that after several successful suits against the Great Northern, that line’s general manager, James J Hill, hired him to represent his railway. Sam accepted James’ offer, and would later become his son-in-law by marrying his daughter Mary. 

Sam Hill was known in his time as an advocate for paved roads, but also as one who indulged flights of fancy. Some trace the expression “what in Sam Hill is he up to?” to contemporary bewilderment at his eclectic endeavors. 

Hill served in the First World War, which confirmed his natural inclination toward peace. Among his dedications to that reclusive cause is the Peace Monument along the Washington border with British Columbia. Another is his replica of Stonehenge, above the banks of the Columbia at the east end of the gorge. The re-creation is impressive, and it’s location and vantage astounding. 

Hill visited the original Stonehenge while in England during the war. He interpreted it as a place of human sacrifice, which the “civilized” west was re-enacting during its calamitous war. 

Modern scholarship now inclines toward Stonehenge having been an astrological tool to track the time and the seasons. But Hill’s conception prompted construction of this replica, as a memorial to those who sacrificed to a war in the name of an elusive peace.

Another benefit of Stonehenge is that it brought us to the Washington side of the river, giving us a reason to return to Walla Walla by a route other than that which brought us to The Dalles. 

I’m glad it did. As fabulous as our outbound journey was, the inbound trip surpassed it. Being on a two-lane road helped. Washington Route 14 undulates along the north bank of the river to the eastern edge of the gorge, before drifting away from the river and descending into sagebrush in the Goodnoe Hills. 

We expected monotony to carry us the final hour to Walla Walla. But we were pleasantly surprised when we crossed the Columbia back into Oregon, and took the first left. Once again, we sat up in our seats.

The half hour from Umatilla to Wallula Junction looked as if the Columbia had carved itself into a John Ford western. It was magnificent. Past Hat Rock, steep slopes and sheer walls rise from each side of the river. The canyon carried us across the state line, past Wallula Lake, and into the familiar wheat fields of Walla Walla County.

A bit further east, the wineries appeared. L’École, Waterbrook, and Reninger were the first bread crumbs. We followed them along Highway 12, till we saw the familiar form of the Whitman Hotel, a beacon in the heart of Walla Walla, where we’re now settled for the weekend.

JD