Columbia River Gorge is Open for Business – and as Beautiful as Ever

The beauty of the Columbia River Gorge in November 2017, two months after the fire.

September 2, 2017, started off wonderfully in the Columbia River Gorge.  It was the beginning of Labor Day weekend in one of the nation’s most beautiful scenic areas.  Located just an hour east of Portland, Oregon, this was a busy time for the area’s $100 million-a-year tourism industry.  They had been hurt that winter with 8 feet of snow falling in an area that usually gets just inches.  Interstate 84 was closed and schools and businesses had to shut down for as much as two weeks.

But now on Sept. 2, the weather was beautiful, people were hiking, biking, wind surfing, eating locally sourced foods, drinking craft beer at outdoor cafes and just enjoying the incredible beauty of a wilderness area along a river lined with cliffs, thick forests and waterfalls.

And then at 4 p.m., a fire was reported in Eagle Creek.  Near the village of Cascade Locks, some teenagers had been throwing fireworks off a waterfall into the dry forest below.  By morning, the fire they started grew to 3,000 acres.  With favorable winds, over the next two days the Eagle Creek Fire blossomed into a raging inferno, so huge that at one point it leaped across the Columbia River, sending tongues of flame into the wooded hillsides on the other side of the waterway in the state of Washington. 

More than 48,000 acres of forest would eventually be consumed by the fire

Eventually, 48,000 acres of forest would burn.  The entire town of Cascade Locks had to be evacuated, along with hundreds of other residents throughout the gorge.  Surrounded by flames, 153 hikers were cut off by the fire and had to be rescued.  I-84 was closed.  Clouds of smoke closed schools in nearby Portland, where more than an inch of ash fell on the streets.  Fighting the fire rang up of a bill of $20 million.

The falls three years ago, before the fire.

And then the fire raced to Multnomah Falls, the highest waterfall in Oregon.  A national icon, the 611-foot waterfall had at its base a famous lodge built in 1925 that attracted 1.5 million visitors a year.   Dozens of volunteers came and heroically fought the blaze throughout the night, wetting the building’s roof and soaking a 100-yard perimeter around it.  By morning, though the fire consumed a wood bridge below the falls and many trees, the historic lodge was saved.

The Gorge Today

So how much damage was done in the end?  Amazingly, the Columbia River Gorge is today a triumph of both nature and man.  On a trip through the gorge in early November 2017, barely two months after the blaze, there is hardly much sign of the catastrophic event.  Sadly, Multnomah Falls Lodge and access to the falls is closed indefinitely, mostly because of damage to the roads.  You can still see the falls, as beautiful as ever, as you race by a vantage point on I-84.  Some other viewpoints and hiking trails are temporarily inaccessible, but compared to the vast amount of wilderness recreation available here, it is very small.  The towns are completely open, I-84 is open, and the burn area is hardly noticeable compared to the rich forest land surrounding it.  In fact, many environmentalists are saying the fire, which burned up the trees rather than torching the ground below, is just part of nature’s evolution.  So here’s a review of just some of the many pleasures open and available in the gorge and Mount Hood areas, starting with ground zero where the fire started.

Cascade Locks and the Bridge of the Gods

Bridge of the Gods in November 2017.

The village of Cascade Locks is where the 2,659-mile long Pacific Crest Trails crosses the Columbia River over the very pretty Bridge of the Gods.  A poignant scene was filmed in the Reese Witherspoon movie, Wild, was filmed on the bridge.  During the fire, all residents of the town were forced to evacuate, crossing the bridge as flames approached the village from both directions.  You’d never know it today. The bridge is as beautiful ever, and all businesses are open.  The Best Western Plus Columbia River Inn at the base of the bridge is a pleasant place to stay with balconies overlooking river traffic of barges and pleasure craft. 

Thunder Island Brewing Co.

Indian legend says there was once a bridge of land here over the Columbia with a huge lake behind it.  Well, for once, an Indian legend actually makes some sense and is backed by geologists, who say there was a land bridge here that eventually washed away, helping to create the spectacular gorge.   You can walk over the manmade Bridge of Gods to Washington, but there’s no pedestrian path on the road.  Better is to have a beer, while you still can, at Thunder Island Brewing on the banks of the river.  They’re moving into town, unfortunately, but their Rolling Thunder Pale ale and other craft beers will be just as good in the new location.

A visit to the gallery and studio of Heather Soderberg / is worth a journey.  You’ll be hearing a lot about her in the near future.  She’s the first woman to own a bronze foundry and is currently working on a 55-foot-long, 12-ton cast bronze statue of an eagle that will be the largest eagle sculpture in history.  Bits and pieces of it currently fill the studio, and when finished, it will tour the country.  In the gallery, they’ll explain how bronze casts are made, but good luck understanding it.  Enough to say, it’s impressive to look at.

The head alone is as tall as a man.

The Cascade LocksAle House across the street is a cozy place for dinner with pizza and salmon chowder.  It’s a favorite hangout for people walking the Pacific Coast Trail.  It must be lonely on the trail.  The hikers we met were a talkative bunch.  As an ice-breaker, ask them what their “trail name” is and how they got it, but make sure you have a beer first.  It’s liable to be a long story.  You’ll certainly want to see the movie Wild before visiting the pub.   

Troutdale

This colorful little village is the western gateway to the gorge and a good base for touring the area.  Stop by the historic Barn Exhibit Hall, which is actually not historic at all.  The cleverly built “barn” museum is brand new, but designed to look like it’s been there forever.  Currently, there’s an exhibit on the history of the 75-mile-long Columbia River Highway, the first highway in the U.S. built as a scenic road, and amazingly, the first road to have a white stripe down the center.  You can see why they took such care to divide the road when you drive on portions of it as its twists and turns with sheer cliffs alternating from side to side.  It’s scenic and scary.   When it was built between 1913 to 1922, it was also an engineering marvel.  It still is.    

Pretty Troutdale is a mix of colors and pastels to mix with the dramatic skies often seen over the Gorge.

Though it was replaced by I-84, bits of the historic road are still open.  Sections between Troutdale and Hood River have been closed temporarily by the fire, but there is no impact from north of Hood River to The Dalles, our next stop.

Mosier

Mosier is picture postcard of a little place with a scenic park overlooking the river, the Rack & Cloth cidery, and most important, Route 30 Classics, which has ice cream, espresso and electric bike rentals.  And what a place to rent an electric bike!  

Electric bike rentals for a trip on the Columbia River Highway

A six-mile stretch of the historic Columbia River Highway here has been turned into a paved bike and hiking trail and heads west to the town of Hood River, passing through forest, along cliffs, and burrowing into tunnels on one hell of an exciting bike ride.  It’s hilly and up and down, but on an electric bike?  No worries.  You toggle the bike from one to four on a power scale, change gears, and never pump more than you would on a flat stretch of road.  The famous Oregon rain is also no problem.  Winds gush through the Gorge at this point, swirling clouds and dragging in squalls.  But the winds also bring bursts of sunshine.  Just when you think, well, it’s raining, do I want to be on a bike? Out pops the sun and a view of unbelievable beauty.

A few from a cutout in the tunnel looks down on to I-84 and the Columbia River.

If you get wet, dry off in the Rack and Cloth, a cute little place making their own hard cider from apples grown in their own orchard. They’ll walk you through a cider tasting of four hard ciders.  Even if you’ve tried commercial hard ciders and don’t like them, give these ciders a chance.  They are a completely different, tasty product, unlike commercial ciders, and paired with handcrafted pizzas and locally sourced delicacies like squash soup? Delicious.       

Hood River to the Dalles

Both Hood River and The Dalles are cool and quirky little towns worth a visit.  Hood River is home to Full Sail Brewery and a sloping main street lined with shops, galleries, and pubs.  This is the ground zero, recreational central of the Columbia River Gorge, and everyone is biking, hiking, sailboarding or doing something else to make you feel guilty if you’re just hanging out drinking craft beer.  Well, not that guilty.  This is Oregon, after all, and there are plenty of other people just hanging out. 

Hood River is a fun and quirky little town.

There’s a little more history at The Dalles, which has an 1856 fort (just a house is left, but nice grounds) and Klindt’s Booksellers, which has been hawking books since 1870 and is worth a journey to explore their maps and local recreation guidebooks.   Both towns, in keeping with this area of Oregon, have breweries and wineries and, increasingly, distilleries.  And did we mention marijuana is legal? 

And Now for Something Completely Different

Farming communities like Dufur and 300 days of sunshine are always just a short drive from the Gorge

The weird geography of this area creates micro climates that could not be more different.  It’s barely a 30 minute drive south from the misty, swirling clouds of Hood River or The Dalles into Mt. Hood territory, where you come into fruit orchards, rolling hills and incredibly, 300 days of sunshine.  Dufur, just south of The Dalles, is a tiny old farming community on the historic Oregon Trail with a few shops, a heritage museum and a real gem called the Historic Balch Hotel.  This historic building has been transformed into an elegant spa and countryside retreat with gourmet food and an idyllic setting.

The Resort at the Mountain is nestled near Mount Hood and offers a completely different forest landscape.

South of Troutdale takes you on the western fringes of Hwy. 26, which (along with Hwy. 35) is called “The Fruit Loop,” as it curves and twists around the base of 11,249-foot Mount Hood, passing dozens and dozens of orchards, forests, rain forests, timberline, snow-covered mountains and rivers.  The Resort at the Mountain just east of Sandy is one of Oregon’s premier lodges with a 27-hole golf course, luxury spa, hiking trails, two restaurants and bars, and best of all, fireplaces in the rooms.  On a November afternoon at twilight, with a fire going and college football playing, we noticed someone on the patio peering into our floor to ceiling glass door.  It was three baby deer.   

Bob Denman has been making hand forged gardening tools for 30 years at Red Pig Tools in Boring, OR

For a true Oregon evening, head to the nearby Skyway Bar and Grill, a real mountain roadhouse (the address is Zigzag Mile Post 43) that was built by hand in 1972 and is today filled with art, antiques, live music, craft beer and the smell of barbeque and smoked meats.   

And don’t miss the most exciting photo op of the region – Boring, Oregon.  They make the most of the odd name choice with a Boring Brewery and Boring Winery (in the same building!) and lots of opportunities to take photos of the word “Boring.”  It’s cute.  But nowhere cuter than at the blacksmith shop Red Pig Tools, where for 30 years Bob Denman, a semi-retired advertising executive, has been hand-forging gardening tools.  Bob, a life-long gardener, will tell you, there’s only one rule for weeding and that’s King Harrod’s rule:  “Kill them while they’re babies!”

Nearby Wildwood Recreation Site has a wetland boardwalk down to the Salmon River

He has researched old garden tools and found that any modern tool that does two tasks is half as efficient at each.  In his blacksmith shop, he hand forges old forgotten tools for special tasks (like weeding between cracks of patio tiles).  The tools are beautiful (if somewhat medieval looking).  Bob has been dealing with customers and perfecting his comedy-set for 30 years and if he’s in the shop, he has a 15-minute routine that is perfect, fun, educational and worth a journey.  At a time where “fire” is not exactly a friendly word in Oregon, you’ll have a lot of laughs around his flaming forge and come away with a lifelong tool and memento of this slightly wacky – but gorgeous – part of the state.

FOR MORE INFO, ITINERARIES AND SUGGESTIONS:  Hood-Gorge.com 

The elusive and spectacular Mount Hood is visible sometimes and sometimes, like our four day trip in Nov. 2017, not. 

Keep Portland Weird

As the billboards and bumper stickers around town proclaim, there is an underground campaign alive to “Keep Portland Weird.” Well, they needn’t worry. This gorgeous city of natural beauty has plenty of quirks…but it also has everything else a city should have: a walkable, hip urban downtown with big department stores; a wide river lined with parks and paths; a slew of trendy restaurants and brewpubs in old brick and stone buildings; a lively street musician scene that ranges from classical duos on corners to zydeco bands in the plaza; an amazing light rail network that’s free downtown; parks and gardens with grand views of distant snowcapped peaks and volcanoes; thousands of young people filling the downtown bars and streets; and perhaps the nation’s best fleet of food trucks with dozens of them dishing up everything from Scottish bangers to sushi.

But the soul of Portland are the three B’s, which this “city of roses” can claim above any other American urban center: beer, bicycles and bookstores. The bikes are everywhere, giving Portland a real European feel. On the river path, it’s actually dangerous to be a pedestrian, there are so many bikes zipping past. But these are serious bikers – people who commute to work and do their part to keep Portland green.

Good beer is plentiful too. Portland claims the most brewpubs per capita, and they certainly have lovely ones downtown. The Oregon Brewpub Guide (available for free at airport) lists 156 brewpubs in the state, and that’s just where they make the beer. Every restaurant has a sophisticated beer selection. You’ll find microbrew taps all around, even in strange places. I saw a small bar with three taps and three stools in a hardware store in Canon Beach. Who doesn’t occasionally need a beer when buying tools?

And for books, there’s Powell’s – the biggest new and used bookstore in the world covering an entire city block with more than one million volumes in 3,500 different departments. www.powells.com It’s even bigger than it sounds, with 6,000 buyers and browsers in the store every day. Powell’s is almost never closed. It’s open 365 days a year, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. And if you want to combine books and beer, some of the best pubs are just a few minutes walk, especially the Deschutes Brewery & Public House, Bridgeport Brewpub + Bakery, and Henry’s 12th Street Tavern.

Want some substance? A block from Powell’s is Jake’s, a Portland seafood institution for 119 years. Sit at the bar for a bowl of New England or Manhattan clam chowder for $6, served with a half pound of warm sourdough bread, in a Victorian setting of carved wood, glass and mirrors.

Downtown Portland is best enjoyed at night – only because there are so many better things to do in the day. Within an easy drive of an hour or two you can walk along a stunning beach past tidal pools and giant rock formations; visit a reconstruction of a fort where Lewis & Clark spent a winter; hike to a dozen waterfalls (some of them 600 feet high); take in sweeping views of the Columbia River Gorge; drive through some of the most gorgeous farmlands in the world filled with stands selling (in season) fresh pears, peaches, apples and berries; and hike on the ridge of snowcapped Mount Hood, above the famous Timberline Lodge.

Portland by Rail
Before heading out on day trips, it’s worth spending an afternoon exploring Portland’s Washington Park – easily accessible by light rail from Pioneer Courthouse Square (the center of downtown) on the Blue or Red line. Buy the one-day pass for $4.75. The Washington Park station, about 15 minutes away, is the only underground station in Portland, but at 260 feet deep, it’s really underground. This is the deepest train station in North America and third deepest in the world. The elevator takes 25 seconds to reach the surface and the temperature at the bottom is always 50 degrees. There are exhibits at the station on the 16 million years of geologic history above you.

Strangely, the elevator comes up in the middle of the park, across the street from the highly popular Zoo. If you don’t have time for a zoo and want to tour the park, take the free bus (show your rail pass) and ride to the International Rose Test Garden (free) and the Japanese Garden ($8). There are miles of trails here, thousands of roses, and beautiful views of Mount Hood and downtown. The Japanese Garden is incredibly tranquil with bridges and splashing waterfalls connected by gravel trails. Portland is called the “City of Roses,” and the amazing rose garden here is one reason why.

Daytripping on the Coast

You could spend a month touring the spectacular Oregon coast, but if you just want a taste on a Portland weekend, head west 1.5 hours on Hwy. 26 to Canon Beach, the most attractive and upscale resort town in the area. The village is filled with overflowing flower baskets, nice shops on brick plazas and courtyards, and weathered shingle cottages. The main street is lined with outdoor cafes, all with their own gardens and flower boxes. Flowers do very well in the ocean air and they are everywhere.
For lunch, try the local guest beer and an “Oyster Burger” at Bill’s Tavern Brew House.

The highlight of the beach, just a ten minute walk from town, is Haystack Rock, a black mountain of a boulder just offshore that juts up 235 feet into the air. At low tide, you can walk to the base of the towering rock, see a rare colony of Tufted Puffins and wander around tidepools filled with crabs, colorful sea stars, snails and coral. Docents are on hand on weekends to explain the creatures above and below the surface.

Nearby, Ecola State Park has a twisting road through an old growth rainforest, that winds through ferns and trees covered with deep green moss to one of the most famous coastal views in Oregon. The park has been used in many films including Kindergarten Cop, and appears in most Oregon calendars. There are hiking trails to vantage points where you can look out on a wild scene of pounding surf and coastal rocks, many forming small islands that are now home to barking sea lions.

Explorer William Clark and his Indian guide Sacagawea hiked here in January 1806 to investigate reports of a beached whale, which Indians had told them about. Clark was wintering with Meriwether Lewis and their men at the log Fort Clatsop they had built, several miles away.

Today, the National Park Service has erected a replica of the small fort. It’s a short drive to the park to see and hear living history programs about how difficult it was to survive in the wilderness. In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis & Clark and 31 explorers to follow rivers across the great American West to the Pacific Ocean. It took them a year and a half and they traveled 4,000 miles before they finally reached their goal. Before heading back, the explorers spent 112 days at Fort Clatsop. It rained on all but 12 of them, rotting their clothes and making life miserable for the flea-infested men. Today at the national park, it’s pleasant enough out in the woods, but it does seem a far cry from the flowers baskets and shingle cottage cafes of Canon Beach.

Into the Gorge and Around Mount Hood

The big day trip from Portland is traveling the Mount Hood National Scenic Byway, a 150-mile loop that takes you up the Columbia River Gorge and to the base of the 11,239-foot, snowcapped Mount Hood. Leave early – there are lots of stops and short hikes along the way.

For the best light on the waterfalls, start by heading east on I-84 to the pretty little village of Troutdale (Exit 17). Here you pick up the what’s left of the Historic Columbia River Highway. When it opened in 1916, this was the first major paved road in the Northwest, and one of the great engineering marvels of the world. The original Columbia River Highway had 18 bridges spanning rivers and canyons, and was built as a scenic road for Model T’s to allow access to the incredible natural beauty of the area.

Much of this 1916 road was destroyed or abandoned in the 1940s when Interstate 84 was built, but there is still a 22-mile section of the original highway open and it is an amazing drive, coming so close to waterfalls that their spray will land on your windshield. There are pull-offs, vistas and plenty of short hikes. The first two “must” stops are the strangely named Women’s Forum State Park, and Vista House at Crown Point. Both have views up the gorge. The Vista House was opened in 1917 as a “comfort station” and, at 733 feet high, it is one of the grand views of the road.

From here, the highway spirals down to the river and begins a stretch lined with seven huge waterfalls. First up is Latourell Falls, definitely worth the short hike. Bridal Veil Falls is a steep hike through woods, pretty, but there are better falls ahead.

The showpiece, and the most visited natural attraction in Oregon, is Multnomah Falls. There are two falls here, the big one drops 542-feet into a pool crossed by a foot-bridge, with a second drop of 69-feet under it. If you combine them, the 620-foot drop makes this the third highest year-round falls in the nation. And certainly the most crowded. On a Saturday in July, I had to wait to cross the bridge – it was packed solid with literally hundreds of people. You can escape the crowds by hiking the steep 1.2 mile, paved trail to the top of the falls, but in truth, the view is limited compared to the effort, especially with so many other viewpoints available.

But even with the crowds, this is an incredible sight. There’s an attractive old 1925 lodge, and the visitor center has free maps to the many hiking trails and hidden waterfalls to be found along the gorge.

Back on I-84, it’s 33 miles to Hood River, a very pleasant town with a main street lined with cafes, shops and antique stores, and home of the Full Sail Brewing Company (the name comes from the windsurfing that takes place on the river here, where it is always windy). If you can get in the small pub at the brewery, it’s the perfect place for lunch, but also crowded. No worries. There are many pubs and restaurants in town for lunch.

From here, head south on Hwy. 35, making a stop in a few miles at Panorama Point, a small hill that looks across the farm country to towering Mount Hood. This fertile Hood River Valley produces 225,000 tons of cherries, pears and apples a year, prized fruit that is shipped around the world. There are 30 farms, wineries and specialty stores selling their products along the way, on a route that is amusingly called “The Fruit Loop.”

The highway twists, climbs and circles 44 miles into the Mount Hood massive, gaining elevation through forests of pine. Take a turn west at Government Camp on to Hwy. 26 and then follow the turnoff and continue climbing to 6,000 feet and the Timberline Lodge. Opened in 1937, this wood and stone structure, built of local products with a central stone fireplace in-the-round, was used as the location for the movie The Shining. Trails lined with wildflowers, or across snowy glaciers lead up to even more stunning views of Mount Hood, or there’s a chair lift up to 8,000 feet if you don’t care to walk. The late afternoon light is gorgeous on the year-round glaciers that curl down the mountain and the lodge with its big fireplaces and snow just outside is fun to poke around.

But as the sun starts to set, remember, it’s 63 miles back to the pleasures of Portland…and all those waiting food trucks, brewpubs and music. With any luck at all in traffic, you’ll be back in Powell’s, long before they close, for a final browse in the stacks of books and a late evening of IPA’s, pale ales, bitters, stouts and porters in Portlands incredible selection of brewpubs.

The Nines hip lobby bar.

Where to stay:  Everything downtown is within walking distance. Don’t be put off looking at maps. Portland’s blocks are half the distance of normal city blocks (an early attempt to create more corner lots) so everything is closer than it appears. The town is divided into cute names for its various areas (Chinatown – there are no Chinese here, Old Town, Historic Waterfront District, etc.) and even more confusing, it is broken up into four quadrants that make sense to locals but are mystifying to visitors: NW, SW, NE and SE. They have to do with the 

crossing of Burnside Street and the Willamette River dividing the town into fourths. Ignore it. The heart of the city is between 12th Ave. and the river, with I-405 closing off the north and south, and no matter where you are in that area, you can’t go but a block or two without finding something interesting. But do check out the area northwest of Burnside…a little sketchy here and there, but lots of great pubs and young people. The Nines is an incredibly hip and wonderful hotel right on Pioneer Courthouse Square; if you can afford it, stay here.