Mount Hood, Bonneville Dam, and Back to the Coast

Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8, 2014

The campground at Deschutes River was filling up for the weekend as we left, so we drove up the Columbia River to Hood River, Oregon. At Hood River, we drove south towards Mt. Hood. We didn't know if we would have a problem getting into a campground on a Saturday night after a great weather day. We stopped at a county park on the way to Mt. Hood. Looked like they would have lots of room that evening, if we decided to come back, so we drove on.


Mt. Hood dominates the drive south from the Columbia River Gorge. It stands above the hills and trees as a perfect cone, frosted with white snow. Until the road begins the ascent to the peak, you travel past orchards and vineyards. The road into the Mt. Hood National Forest takes you through stands of large forests. We wound up on the far south side of the peak and began the climb to Timberline Lodge at 6,000'. The mountain itself stands at over 11,000'.

Mount Hood

Orchards and volcanoes go together

Why can't they be more specific, like basalt, andesite, or ryolite?

Grungy gray volcanic cinders appearing from under the snow.

It was a busy Saturday, with warm temperatures and blue skies. It's a short drive from Portland, so between the locals and the tourists, it was crowded. The mountain still had snow on it, and boasts year round skiing. The lift was running, and there were a few dozen skiers and snowboarders negotiating the corn snow. The lodge was built by the WPA in the 1930's and is an icon. We went into the Ram's Head Bar for lunch, and found a table with a spectacular view of the Cascades south of us. Mt Jefferson loomed in the distance, another snow covered cone.

Timberline Lodge

Main lobby with huge fireplace

View from our table south along the Cascade Range toward Mt. Jefferson

If you look closely you can see the ski lift and skiers

After lunch and a quick walk around the inside of the lodge, we made our way through the skiers changing their clothes in the parking lot, and drove back down to find a campsite for the night. The large and popular Trillium Lake campground was totally full. Hmmm... we drove back up the road toward Hood River and found a few sites left in the Nottingham Forest Service campground. The sites were small, but we specialize in small, so we found one along the banks of the swiftly flowing Middle Fork of the Hood River. We sat along the banks before dinner, and enjoyed the sounds and sights of the woodland stream. A deer wandered by, and a few ducks floated past like tourists on a rafting trip, dunking under quickly to find food, while being swiftly transported downstream.

Hood River behind our campsite

Happy Hour

Our mission the next morning was to relocate to an RV park outside of Portland, so we could take the bus into downtown. After spending time in Eugene and Bend, we decided that we had already experienced a taste of the Portland-vibe in these “mini-Portland”s and were ready to avoid the hassle of getting into the city and move on to less crowded areas. So we began our journey back to the Oregon coast. Driving back to Hood River, and then west along the Columbia River took us to increasingly forested and wetter areas. After three nights at the arid Deschutes River campground, the transition to a wetter climate is rapid and unusual. That is part of what creates the famous winds that howl up the Gorge, and delight the large concentration of wind surfers and kite-boarders.


We stopped at the visitor center for Bonneville Dam, built in the 1930's to harness the power of the mighty river. The biggest challenge for the builders was to create a way for fish, primarily salmon, to continue to swim up the river to spawn. The solution was fish ladders that divert the fish into areas where they can climb up the artificial rapids, and continue up the Columbia. We spent a long time looking down into them to spot fish, and then going inside to the underwater windows that allowed us to see them swimming by.

Bonneville main spillway with fish ladder in foreground

The Army Corps takes landscaping seriously, also.

Fish ladder with alternating rapid chutes and slow eddies to rest in.

Tough set of rapids with a resting pool at the top

The king salmon on the bottom must have been about 40 pounds.

A face only a mother could love! Pacific lampreys resting by sucking on the fish ladder window.

Salmon in the resting pool at the top of the step-rapids

Resting before racing past the windows

Looking toward the old powerhouse

Next stop along the interstate, which is the main road along the river, was Multnomah Falls, the tallest along the Gorge at 600+ feet. The signs directed us to exit left into a very large parking lot in the middle between the two sides of the interstate. We drove in one side and out the other with a quick look back over our shoulders to see a very tall falls, and a very full parking lot. The traffic coming from Portland on the other side couldn't even get into the parking lot. They were still piling up and waiting in the entrance lane. No rain, sunshine, warm temperatures, a festival in Portland, and a Sunday, meant lots of people with the same impulsive idea, “Let's leave town and see the falls!”


Next task was to drive through Portland. We zipped through on the interstate. I caught a quick glimpse of the waterfront, mobbed with people for the Rose Festival, and had a quick glance at the dragon boats racing on the river. The day before was the Naked Bike Ride. Greg didn't volunteer us to ride in that!

Portland was mobbed for the Rose Festival. Tiny dragon boats on the left along the shore.

Ahhh, finally we were out in the countryside and climbing the two lane raod back over the Coastal Range towards Tillamook. Uh-oh, the traffic stopped about halfway across and two young men with white shirts, ties, dark pants and name tags raced toward us. Hyperactive Mormon missionaries in the middle of the forest? Actually, sadly, there was a bad accident up ahead, and they were telling people about it in case they wanted to turn around. We needed to go to the coast, and turning around meant going back almost to Portland and choosing one of the few routes out to the coast. We parked in the shade on a side road and checked out the close by forest service campground, in case we needed to stay the night, but it turned out to be a tenters only, walk-in campground.


We had a conversation with a local man heading back to his home on the coast, and he said bad accidents happen almost every weekend on this road, usually from speed. Sad... After about 45 minutes we were able to drive on and finally reach Tillamook. We found a small campground next to the town airport, with only one other camper. No hook-ups, but a faucet in the bathroom so we could fill up with water. We tried to fill out an envelope with the $10 fee, but there weren't any, so we just put our money in the slot. Then we discovered we could walk in the doorless shed and see our money in the box! We were greeted by two fluffy cats, (one a tripod), who were living there. They had fresh food and water, and a cat house, but were happy to see us.

We picked a site by a wetland area and watched the birds and heard the frogs all night. One plane came through, so other than that it was very quiet. The huge Air Museum WWII blimp hanger loomed nearby. That story would wait until the morning!