Portland, OR

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September 2008:
Went to Portland, OR to raft the White Salmon River, see the Columbia Gorge River Area, and explore the city. We rafted the White Salmon and hiked a few trails of the Columbia Gorge area. Amazingly beautiful. The White Salmon is a small river that flows down from Mt. Adams(in Washington) and flows into the Columbia River. It was really fun but the water was about 40 degrees so it was cold! We did the half-day rafting trip in the morning and hiked around the gorge the rest of the day checking out a few waterfalls, ending at the famous Maltnomah Falls. If you're ever in the Portland area, Columbia River Gorge is a must. Take the Columbia River Highway east and there are tons of waterfalls (77 to be exact) and hikes to stop and explore, absolutely beautiful places! Then that evening we went into the city and walked through the Japanese Gardens, it had a great view of the city.
We went into the city and checked out a local winery they had and went out to dinner. We also kinda snuck into a little floating house community that night to see the houses. They had a full on housing community on the river, with nice houses. The last thing we did before we left was the alpine slide on Mt. Hood. So much fun and had awesome views of Mt. Hood.

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Photos

Rafting
Just about to jump in.

Rafting
The 10 ft. water fall we went down.

Rafting
Took a stop to jump off the bridge, water was cold!

Horsetail Falls
A stop along the Columbia River Highway.

On a hike
Bridge viewpoint at Middle Oneonta Falls

Japanese Gardens
The view of Portland with Mt. hood in the background from the Japanese Gardens

Winery
Wine tasting...

Alpine Slide
Mt. Hood in the background