Just to be clear, I want to be sure to give my full effort on a post on the surreal Sand Station experience, which because of yesterday's exhaustion (which will be described soon), I didn't have time for. It really deserves my best.
That said, from the Dalles, Knak nixed a stop at the Dalles Dam so we proceeded to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
(Side note: why can't these all be called National Parks? It must go to the bureaucracy of our country, what department's purview each designation falls under, etc. etc. As Fothergill drove us to our morning birding in Missoula he did explore the complex differences between the Parks Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service, so surely it must be in this spirit that there are all these different "National blah blah" variations.)
As we drove, the high plains desert and overall light brown scenery gradually gave way to more and more green and more and more trees dotting the landscape though the harsh gorge that the Columbia River cut out of the earth definitely did not stop.
That said, from the Dalles, Knak nixed a stop at the Dalles Dam so we proceeded to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
(Side note: why can't these all be called National Parks? It must go to the bureaucracy of our country, what department's purview each designation falls under, etc. etc. As Fothergill drove us to our morning birding in Missoula he did explore the complex differences between the Parks Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service, so surely it must be in this spirit that there are all these different "National blah blah" variations.)
As we drove, the high plains desert and overall light brown scenery gradually gave way to more and more green and more and more trees dotting the landscape though the harsh gorge that the Columbia River cut out of the earth definitely did not stop.
We settled on Wyeth Campground because it was relatively cheap and there was a trailhead right near our campsite. We were finally in the embodiment of the Pacific Northwest: the temperate rain forest. We quickly set up our tent to theoretically dry out though that seemed unlikely in the mist and rain. The weather seems to consistently say somewhere in the 20-40% chance of rain every hour every time we look.
We quickly packed up for a hike out of the gorge. What this entailed was about 6 miles to a lake up the steep wall of the gorge. Knak's entry has the details, but it was intense, and made more so by our lack of fuel. We had an incredibly meager 'Pasta Side' that we split in half before departing and, of course, I forgot to grab us some ClifBars for the hike. It was easily the most intense hike of our journey. I don't deal well with humidity and what began as a pleasant walk in a light mist taking pictures regularly quickly became a rainy slog through the actual clouds as our boots and socks became soaked by the time we reached the top of the gorge. As tough as the ascent was, I knew the descent would be rougher and this was the first time my notoriously weak knees really began to give me trouble. We made it to our campsite, set out our clothes after a complete change into dry clothes and proceeded to inhale a bunch of food before laying down jamming music. We were exhausted and laying down by 8 PM.
We quickly packed up for a hike out of the gorge. What this entailed was about 6 miles to a lake up the steep wall of the gorge. Knak's entry has the details, but it was intense, and made more so by our lack of fuel. We had an incredibly meager 'Pasta Side' that we split in half before departing and, of course, I forgot to grab us some ClifBars for the hike. It was easily the most intense hike of our journey. I don't deal well with humidity and what began as a pleasant walk in a light mist taking pictures regularly quickly became a rainy slog through the actual clouds as our boots and socks became soaked by the time we reached the top of the gorge. As tough as the ascent was, I knew the descent would be rougher and this was the first time my notoriously weak knees really began to give me trouble. We made it to our campsite, set out our clothes after a complete change into dry clothes and proceeded to inhale a bunch of food before laying down jamming music. We were exhausted and laying down by 8 PM.
Laying down in the relative dry conditions I jammed a lot of the Police, where I kept reflecting on how underrated Stewart Copeland is as a drummer. Then I put on Black Sabbath "Master of Reality" and dozed to the glory of another underrated drummer: Bill Ward.
Nothing was dry this morning, and we proceeded to a suburban Panera in Portland on our way to Mt. St. Helens. Much love to the kids who have kept us fueled with your gift cards and tea gifts. They have proven invaluable, particularly as our budget is tightening as we approach the finish line.