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Published: June 23rd 2017
Geo: 45.5118, -122.676
We were promised good weather so took advantage of it to explore the majestic Columbia Gorge. It runs for 80 miles and is up to 4000 feet in places, gouged out by a succession of cataclysmic floods at the end of the last Ice Age. Think Cheddar Gorge on steroids!
The Columbia River forms the state boundary between Oregon to the south and Washington to the north. Why the Columbia River is not in the District of Columbia and why Columbia University is in New York are matters for Wikipedia. We drove along the Historic Highway past a succession of dramatic waterfalls and spectacular viewpoints.The huge cliffs are made of dark, volcanic basalt, which make for marvellous scenery but must have presented tremendous challenges to the first settlers and to the early roadbuilders.
At Bonneville, we visited a hydroelectric dam which thoughtfully includes a salmon ladder. Very useful for salmon when they have to get things out of top cupboards or clear out the guttering, I imagine. Nearby was a fish hatchery where Alan caused confusion by asking in the café for a white Americano. Maybe it's not pc to call it that or maybe it was his cute English
accent but the woman hadn't a clue what he was talking about.
In the early days of the pioneer settlers, the wagons were floater on rafts down the river where it was too difficult to travel over the rugged terrain. There were fearsome rapids to negotiate until some enterprising types constructed a series of locks. By a strange coincidence they seem to have done this at a small town called Cascade Locks which provided our lunch stop. There was a huge range of food being costumed by a range of huge people so we limited ourselves to a bowel (bowl) of tasty salmon chowder - presumably made by the salmon that fell off their ladder....
We drove on to Hood River, which, in the confusing way of naming rings round here, is not a river but a town. A surfing town one hundred miles from the sea. In fact it is a centre for windsurfing as the wind rushing through the gorge is ideal for it. The town has some quaint old buildings and shops selling the mix of surf gear and New Age tat you find in Cornwall.
From here we crossed the river over a rather alarming toll bridge, then drove
Columbia Gorge
As seen from the Vista House.back to Portland along the Washington shore, not so attractive but with beautiful views across to the Oregon side.
Apparently Alan says this is meant to be a food blog, as well, so I have to mention that we had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Portland which served a dessert that was too sweet even for me - an 'almond biscotti ice cream sandwich with gelato and caramel sauce'. It made my triple chocolate tartufo pudding seem almost savoury.
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Lynda
non-member comment
The 'bowel' of salmon chowder was a freudian slip? On second thoughts, no, it must have been deliberate.