July 4 Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood

I set my alarm, but accidentally set it for Monday-Friday… and it was Sunday. I only woke up three minutes late though. Aaron tried out the new French press while we were eating some Voodoo donuts and off we went. The coffee was terrible. But it’s a learning process.

Our first stop was Angel’s Rest, but we decided against the four mile hike and opted instead to move on. We stopped at W---something falls for a quick photo and then moved on to the more popular Multonah Falls. It was hugely tall with a bridge spanning it about halfway up and a look out at the very top. There were like four people on the bridge when we first crossed it around 8:30… and like forty when we returned after our hike up to the top and beyond.

The hike to the top of the falls was supposed to be a mile and 11 switchbacks, but it was more like a mile and half and fourteen switchbacks. The lookout at the top was pretty awesome and looked directly over the edge of the falls. We decided to go further on up the trail to check out two other falls. The hike was nice, lush, and uncrowded, and we were also able to hike under an overhand of columnar basalt. When we reached Oneonta Gorge, we decided to turn around, deciding we had had enough hiking (even though there were two more falls aways up). There’s only so many waterfalls you can see in a day. On the way back down the trail was crowded with people – maybe even a tour bus and we felt that we had done well by getting there early. There were so many people milling around the bottom parts of the trail, on the bridge, and around the lodge, it was hard to get around.

Even though we decided that, I still stopped at the next one. It was only supposed to be 0.8 miles, but it felt like forever. We hiked till we could see the distant falls through the trees and turned back. Next up was Bonneville Dam and Locks. We were less enthralled with the power generating aspects of the dam, but entranced by the fish chutes and ladders. The Columbia River Gorge saw a huge decrease in fish numbers after the dam was constructed, so money was pumped into the hatchery downstream and a lot of improvements were made to the dam, and still are.

Along the visitor center was the fish ladder, which we looked at second, but you could actually see the fish swimming in the levels of the ladder. The ladder was a lot wider and deeper than I thought it would be and apparently had underwater chutes through the stairs that we couldn’t really see. Very few fish jump from level to level and most of them go through the chutes. The coolest thing was in the bottom floor of the visitor center – there were windows into the fish ladder and even though the water wasn’t crystal clear, you could still see plenty of fish swimming by. Some of them were really big. Most of them were salmon, but there were some trout and other freshwater fish too. The coolest thing was the lamprey sucked onto the window glass so that you could see it scary toothfilled, though jawless mouth. Just like what I teach in class… except for I have seen it person. The current was going pretty strongly in there so it makes me wonder how the lamprey even get through the fish ladder, but apparently plenty of them do. There was a computerized fish counter in the first window of the fish ladder and they had the totals posted for the previous year – some of them in the ten thousands, some in the hundred thousands and increasing yearly.

The fish hatchery was next door so we went there because I asked Aaron if he had any quarters and he didn’t know why he would need them. We grabbed the self guided our brochure and followed the painted fish on the pavement to the egg barn. It was empty because it was the wrong time of year, but these people churn out some serious fish larvae. We stopped to see the few giant sturgeon (they raise those too) and the rainbow trout. They don’t raise the rainbow trout for stocking, but have them because they are pretty and to feed them – and Aaron learned what the quarter I supplied him with was for. He was amazed the way the fish fight over the little pellets. We moved on through the rest of the hatchery learning about how they raise them and release them into the stream and how they catch them, harvest their eggs and sperm, and start the next generation. Aaron thought the fish hatchery was ridiculously cool (his very words as I type this).

After that, we were pretty much done with the gorge and got going. We turned south to go round the side of Mount Hood… it was funny because it kept getting closer and peaking around the clouds getting better and better. We went up the historic lodge and saw our first snow… and then we walked through it – me in my sandals. The Timberline Lodge was built in the 1930’s and is absolutely beautifully handcrafted. We admired the beauty of the lodge and the view of Mount Hood, and saw my second Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in the little bar downstairs.

We went back to Government Camp to get dinner and brews at Mount Hood Brewery. It was gray and misty and cold. I asked Aaron if wanted to make camp there or head south and he voted for getting the hell out of Dodge – especially after consulting the weather and temperatures on his phone. So off we went.

Finding a campsite was a little more difficult than we expected… well maybe I expected it because it was Fourth of July weekend. We tried and struck out at two state parks before finding a small forest service campground near the national monument. The problem was that the campground cost fourteen dollars and we didn’t exactly have enough, and we didn’t want to drop a twenty in the slot. While I set up the tent, Aaron fought heroically to get nine dollars in bills and four dollars and seventy cents in coins through a slot that was as wide as four credit cards. Gravity pulled the initial coins through, but the rest had to be carefully guided. Yes, we were thirty cents short. Oh well.

It was chilly. It was cold, but it was alright for camping. Aaron tunneled in and was probably warmer than me, but he still thinks it was chilly. Also, now that we are past date thirty-three Aaron thinks it is ok to fart in front of me. Secretly I have laughed every time it has happened, but have raised an in inquiring eyebrow. The favor has not been returned.