Spring in Oregon means fifty-fifty weather forecasts. Half the days are rainy. Half the forecasts are incorrect. After working all week in glorious Spring weather, the weatherman promised a storm front coming in for the weekend, and the next week, and the weekend to follow. Unfair! GTS car buddy and fellow Intel Ranger Steve Sanz and I decided to take a chance that we could get out of the `burbs early enough on Saturday to make a ride and get back before the storm hit.
The destination for the day was the Columbia Gorge. This time we were going to go from the Washington side and hit the Skamania Lodge for lunch. After this repast, we would cross the mighty Columbia at the Bridge of the Gods, and head back home along the Oregon side.
Saturday morning dawned with overcast skies but no rain. Steve and his wife Rose elected
not to bring their classic M-B 280SE. Instead, as we pulled up in the 911, Steve brought
out his BMW 540 sedan. This shiny, dark green Bavarian is powered by a 32 valve V-8 engine.
Steve still has his winter tires mounted up but he had no trouble keeping up on the roads
we traveled. From the Sanz' home we headed through Portland to cross over the border to
Washington on the I-205
Glen Jackson Bridge. Taking the first exit in Washington, we headed east in a two-car,
Teutonic convoy to Camas. Highway 14 is a divided highway to this point, but as the
road enters town it narrows down to two lanes as it navigates the main drag. It
remains a two-lane highway for the rest of the trip. Washougal is the next town along the
highway. As you drive east through this industrial community you can see the Pendelton
Woolen Mills to the left. There is an outlet store there but we were more interested in the
highway ahead and the meal at the lodge and zoomed right by. There are railroad tracks on
both banks of the
Columbia and, as we begin the climb up the bluff into the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area
there are four Santa Fe diesel engines just starting east from the siding. They had been
waiting for an inbound Burlington Northern freight to pass.
From here the road climbs towards the Skamania County line. The surface is well paved and the corners are well marked and easy to negotiate. At one point (roughly across the river from Bridal Veil Falls) the road snakes out along the cliff edge high above the river. It then works its way back down to just above the level of the water, about a half mile from the banks. There are two other ways to head east up the Gorge. Both are on the Oregon side. Oregon 30 (Interstate 84) is as straight as an arrow and a typical post- Eisenhower era Freeway. The Oregon Scenic Highway follows the serpentine 1920's era highway out of Gresham and winds its way to just beyond Multnomah Falls. Unlike those two highways, which represent travel extremes, Washington 14 is a great enthusiasts road. Once down from the bluff, we pulled over to the side for a quick break. That Santa Fe freight, having made the straight and level shot from Washougal, rumbled by at high speed just minutes after we got out of the cars. By this time the sun had come out from behind the clouds, debunking the morning forecast of rain.
We continued our journey and shortly passed Beacon Rock. Named by Lewis and Clark in 1805, this 850-foot monolith is a basalt plug from a volcano that has long since disappeared. It is thought (and don't ask me by whom or how to prove the hypothesis) to be the second largest monolith in the world, after the Rock of Gibraltar. As we approached from the west, we could make out movement on the rock itself. There is a state park and facilities there, along with a trail to the top if you want cardiovascular exercise. The trail is one mile long and climbs at a fifteen percent grade. Handrails are strategically provided. We zoomed right by.
Up the road a piece is the Bonneville Dam. Of interest to our neighbors to the south (California), it provides regional power and sells the remainder out of state. There are fish ladders there as well as other exhibits in the visitor center. Currently owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers, recent headlines report that Oregon Congressmen are mounting a bid to buy it for the State. We zoomed right by.
Presently we came to the turnoff for the lodge. It is about two miles beyond the Bridge of
the Gods. The Bridge is at the former site of the Columbia rapids. Now under deep water
due to the dam, they were reportedly severe enough that even Indians in the area used to
portage their canoes around them. Indians are still allowed to gillnet fish at the site by
federal law. The rapids were formed when landslides off of Table Mountain on the
Washington side, caused by either earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, tumbled into the
river. In 1896 the government completed locks at the site allowing for river traffic all the
way down to the Pacific. At the Skamania Lodge turnoff there is also a National Park
Service Interpretive Center. We zoomed right by.
The Skamania Lodge is a 195 room resort and conference center (with golf course) partially funded by the Forest Service. Your tax dollars at work to bring tourism to the Washington side of the river. The bastids. Well, maybe not. When you get into the lodge the views are spectacular. The four of us ate a lunch in the dining room for about $70 including gratuity. There is a pub-style area for less expensive lunches. Rather than my trying to explain all of this to you, check out their website at www.skamania.com.
After lunch we drove across the Bridge of the Gods and into the town of Cascade Locks. The bridge itself is worth the seventy-five cent toll. It is the shortest bridge across the Columbia (I think) and is an erector-set style masterpiece. There is a legend about the Bridge of the Gods. Supposedly a natural archway crossed the river at this point but one of two things happened to it, choose your favorite story. The two sons of Tyhee Sahalee (The Indian Supreme Being) fought over the affections of an Indian maiden. Her place in Indian lore was as the guardian of the sacred flame on the Bridge of the Gods. Tyhee Sahalee got angry over the courting battle and destroyed the bridge and the maiden with it. They tumbled into the river and created the rapids. The geologists version is that, if there had been a bridge, the Table Mountain landslides and/or seismic activity did the deed.
The town of Cascade Locks has but a single main street but several beautiful parks and a
very interesting museum. We turned back west and hooked up with the old Scenic
Highway past all the waterfalls. Unlike the highway on the Washington side, the tight
road contains other dangers including bicyclists, one of which we nearly made into a hood
ornament. We crested the bluff on the Oregon side at Crown Point and then drove down
the backside of the ridge and into Troutdale. When I last visited it about five years ago, it
had a few antique shops. My, how times have changed. Now in addition to the three
parks and two museums it had then, there are a handful of tasteful galleries and antique
stores, specialty shops, and B&B lodging. Along with this discovery came the rain. After
holding off for the majority of the day, it hit us as we departed (somewhat poorer) from a
local gallery.
The weatherman was right after all. At least the rains held off long enough for us to enjoy this trip. The loop that includes Washington Highway 14 is a great drive if you only have a few hours and you want to see the Columbia Gorge from a different angle. If you have the time and the money, stay overnight at the Skamania Lodge. It will make your trip even more spectacular.