Hooray for the PNW!
So, since I live in an awesome part of the world, and since a large part of my readership are in other time zones, I'm introducing a new travel writing element to my LJ. (Also, I don't really like the type of entries I've written recently. Well... I haven't read them, but I don't think I'd like them if I did. And I want to change the pace a bit. And... and.... it's my LJ, and I can introduce new elements if I want to! Dammit!)
The intent is to brag entice people to visit, and also document my gallivanting around the Pacific Northwest. It's lovely here, and I've done a good job of getting out and about in Portland (well, the west side, at least), but outside the metro I have a lot I've yet to see...
I'd passed the ever-popular Multnomah Falls (second highest and perhaps most visited waterfalls in the US), for something a little quieter.
The Historic Columbia Gorge Highway was considered an engineering marvel on it's completion in 1922. The road was the first paved highway in the Great NW, and was built to take advantage of the great scenery offered up by the Columbia River Gorge. -Back when families would tour or drive as an activity, this was a very popular spot (the parts that are still open still are), and it actually served as the major thoroughfare in the area until the completion of I 84.
Off the highway there's a series of trails, once of which is named "Oneonta." It leads back away from the highway, interstate, and Columbia river, up towards Horsetail Falls.
Horsetail also refers to a style of waterfall, but I wasn't enough of a nerd to bother learning about that...
Although this area has the highest number of waterfalls per square mile (That that, New York!), most people come here for the gorge itself. There is world class windsurfing along a stretch near Hood River, as well as skiing and fishing (and tours of dams, for those mechanically inclined tourists. Which frankly, there doesn't seem to be many.)
...It's hard not to wonder what Lewis and Clark thought about all of that. -The Columbia is the only navigable river through the cascades, and there is evidence of human habitation going back 13,000 years. In all that, aside from Lewis and Clark, the most famous historical event was the formation of the Bridge of the Gods (which is a cool story).
In all, a good trip. And this is all less than an hour outside of Portland...
The intent is to brag entice people to visit, and also document my gallivanting around the Pacific Northwest. It's lovely here, and I've done a good job of getting out and about in Portland (well, the west side, at least), but outside the metro I have a lot I've yet to see...
I'd passed the ever-popular Multnomah Falls (second highest and perhaps most visited waterfalls in the US), for something a little quieter.
The Historic Columbia Gorge Highway was considered an engineering marvel on it's completion in 1922. The road was the first paved highway in the Great NW, and was built to take advantage of the great scenery offered up by the Columbia River Gorge. -Back when families would tour or drive as an activity, this was a very popular spot (the parts that are still open still are), and it actually served as the major thoroughfare in the area until the completion of I 84.
Off the highway there's a series of trails, once of which is named "Oneonta." It leads back away from the highway, interstate, and Columbia river, up towards Horsetail Falls.
Horsetail also refers to a style of waterfall, but I wasn't enough of a nerd to bother learning about that...
Although this area has the highest number of waterfalls per square mile (That that, New York!), most people come here for the gorge itself. There is world class windsurfing along a stretch near Hood River, as well as skiing and fishing (and tours of dams, for those mechanically inclined tourists. Which frankly, there doesn't seem to be many.)
...It's hard not to wonder what Lewis and Clark thought about all of that. -The Columbia is the only navigable river through the cascades, and there is evidence of human habitation going back 13,000 years. In all that, aside from Lewis and Clark, the most famous historical event was the formation of the Bridge of the Gods (which is a cool story).
In all, a good trip. And this is all less than an hour outside of Portland...