White Salmon, Washington

July 6, 2009

In keeping with our Lewis and Clark adventure, we left Woodland for White Salmon, east of Portland on the Columbia River. There were several route options available, the most direct being to follow the freeway to Vancouver, WA then continue on WA-14, a 2-lane with who knew how many twists and turns. This road is true to the river and meanders through numerous villages. The longer route was to stay on the freeway through Vancouver and Portland to Hood River, Oregon where a bridge connects to White Salmon. Locals recommended the freeway as timelier and more scenic looking over to the Washington side. Sounded good!

We wound through the big cities uneventfully and started lapping up the view; mountains, fruit tree groves, vineyards, waterfalls, wide rushing river, all the way to Hood River, a surprisingly large town. Then there was THE BRIDGE. It absolutely must be wider than it appeared to be beyond the tollbooth. If you had to fit through the tollbooth to board the bridge, we barely made it. A logging truck was heading straight for us: “Get the mirrors in!” Only by thinking thin and not breathing did we clear all obstacles. The White Salmon RV Park is a small, but roomy, nicely landscaped individually owned business.

The Gorge Loop is the Columbia River between City of the Dales on the east and Multnomah Falls on the west. We were in the middle-perfect! A trip east on WA-14 proved that we had made the correct choice for RV travel by freeway. Our destination, Beacon Rock, is an ancient volcano core and one of the largest monoliths in the world, straight up. From the parking lot there are 2 routes, climbers–not us–go left, hikers–us–go right. We walked to the river facing side of the rock to find stairs that wound back and forth in 47 switchbacks, clinging to the face of the rock. This state park is the site of one of Lewis and Clark’s camps and was once private property. Mr. Biddle bought it in 1915 because the Army Corps of Engineers was going to use the raw material to build a nearby dam. He hired an engineer and together the men spent the next 3 years building the stairway that still exists today. He then gave the historic site to the state with the stipulation that the public never be charged for admission. And so it is. The legacy of the man stands as tall and strong as the rock he championed. The view from the top includes marshes, mountains, farm lands, and of course, the river. It has been used as a look out by all the people who traveled this route for centuries.

We next traveled the Historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon complete with stonework walls to keep travelers from dropping off! This road made the bridge look roomy, but Horsetail and Multnomah Falls virtually splash on to the road, well worth the trip. A little hiking would yield several more falls, but we were short on time. The Dalles is one of the oldest cities of the area; a trading and meeting point of Indians and later, traders. The site is named for the long stretch of rapids nearby. There is also a natural rock formation that creates a type of fort. We sacrificed seeing the town for the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and a sit-down lunch. Wish we had allotted more time for the area. We bought salmon on the way home for another delicious meal. Indians are allowed unlimited fishing rights on river, whereas all other have strict limits. Therefore, the best salmon is roadside, in coolers.

Navigation on the Columbia was once an iffy thing, with spring swells and numerous rapids. Original navigation plans included locks to bypass dangerous cataracts. Now the rapids have been flooded by the creation of dams. Interestingly, dams do not cross the entire waterway to allow for boat and salmon navigation.

It is safe to say that we needed more time, but we were due in the next location. We drove the length of Oregon, right down the middle. Farm land rolled over hills, we skirted Mt. Hood, marveled at lava fields, gasped at major ravines in the desert and arrived again in wooded mountains and another volcano, Crater Lake.

NEXT TIME: Stay Longer!