Historic Columbia River Gorge Photos

The Twin Tunnels.
The Rowena Loops (some of them).
The view from Rowena Crest.

From Hood River to The Dalles and Back

After determining my detour route this morning, I left all my bags behind except my handlebar bag and a bag with my raincoat and spare tube strapped to my rear rack and headed toward The Dalles on the Historic Columbia River Gorge Trail. I wanted to ride the trail and go visit my grandma's friend, Ellen.

I got to the trailhead parking lot and saw two touring cyclists there. One was on a recumbent and the other was on a Bike Friday (the second one I've seen in as many days). They were two women who were doing a loop ride from Portland back to Portland. It was the first time I've seen a group (in this case, just two people) of just women.

I got on the trail and shortly after I did, it started to rain. I stopped, when it started to get heavier, and put on my rain jacket and helmet cover.

Soon I came to the Mosier Twin Tunnels. They were pretty cool. I was stopping all along the way to take photos.

At Mosier, the bike trail ends and the route goes on Hwy 30. There is very little traffic. I worked my way up to Memaloose Overlook, then continued up to Rowena Crest Viewpoint. The views of the Gorge are pretty great up there. Then it was down through the Rowena Loops--basically a looping, switchbacking road down to level with I-84 along the river.

From there it was just a handful of miles on into The Dalles. Since it was about 1:30, I stopped for lunch before heading over to Ellen's.

Ellen and I had a nice visit of about 1 3/4 hours. Then, I had to head back to Hood River. I knew I had to go back up to Rowena Crest. Really, it wasn't that bad! Of course, it helps when I'm not carrying anything!

As I reached the top of the crest, another cyclist passed me. We started talking and ended up riding all the way back to Hood River together.

I returned to my cousin's house at about 6:15. All in all, it was a great day for a bike ride! By the way, the rain stopped not long after I put my jacket on and didn't start up again until I was coming back into Hood River.

One Final Detour...

...and it's a doozy!

Elk Pass is closed. I will have to detour to Vancouver then north to home. Good news is it will be doable in the time schedule I am on. I can still go to The Dalles and back to Hood River as planned. I will still cross at Bridge of the Gods. I even have the choice of splitting up the day to Vancouver (currently at 70+ miles) and still make it home by the 18th.

It deprives me of going up Steven's Canyon to Paradise at Mt. Rainier. I'm beginning to think I am not destined to ever do that road!

It is what it is, and I just have to be flexible and go with it!

A Few More Photos

Cherries!
Mt. Adams in the distance.
Panorama Point.

Photos from today

Bennett Pass.
Three touring cyclists.
Routson Park

Mountains and Orchards

This morning as I left my campsite at Clackamas Lake I discovered there actually was water there. I filled my third water bottle. I guess I should have investigated more last night.

About 9 miles into today's ride I came to my first pass of the day--Blue Box Pass. It was a pretty easy one. I never even got into Super Granny gear. At the top, I met one touring cyclist going the other direction. We talked for a bit then I continued on. As I came down Blue Box, there were great views of Mt. Hood.

I made the turn onto Hwy 35 toward Hood River and began the climb up my second pass--Bennett Pass. Bennett was longer and steeper than Blue Box, but still I was at the summit sooner than I thought.

On the way down, I met two touring cyclists. They were also doing Sierra Cascades, but in chunks. They told me Elk Pass is closed. I need to go over Elk Pass to get to Randle! Tomorrow I will call Gifford Pinchot Forest HQ and find out if it is still closed.

I continued down and met three guys touring. They were out of Portland. The one guy took a picture of me so I took a picture of them. They said they thought they had seen a tweet about me on Twitter. I dunno.

I stopped at Routson Co. Park so I could see what it looked like. It was my grandma's friend's uncle who homesteaded there.

Not long after the park, I was onto a road that would take me through Parkdale and Dee and on into Hood River in a somewhat roundabout way. I began to ride through orchard after orchard. Cherries mostly, but also pears.

As I continued down, I met two cyclists. They were on Day 1/2 (they were from Hood River).
As I came up this one hill, I saw Panorama Point. I figured since I was already going by , I might as well go up and see it. It was a pretty good view of Mt. Hood and the valley.

I continued my way into Hood River. I thought for sure I would see one more touring cyclist but, alas, it was not to be.

I made it to my cousin's house after riding 68 miles. Tomorrow I will find out if I have to do a severe detour...

More photos from July 10th

First view of Mt. Hood.
Clackamas Lake (campground where I am staying)