A Day in the Hood
- Aug 25, 2014
- 4 min read
All week long friends from Portland were hinting for some help with an upcoming move. They were already settled in their new apartment and just needed a truck for larger items. I planned on helping my next trip to Portland. The more adventurous of the two, John, is a fellow kayaker and bribed us to come sooner if we add a little play to the work with a kayaking trip to Hood River... we took the bait.
We loaded up and pointed north. We all made quick work of the move on the way and settled into a hotel in Cascade Locks. We had never seen the area and checked in after dark.
We use a prepaid Visa for our travels and loaded funds for fuel, room, etc. onto the card at a Walmart in Salem. When we reached the hotel (8 hours later) the funds were not there. In fact, the only record of them was the receipt in my hand. Luckily for me we passed a 24 hour Wal-Mart so I decided to "rectify" the situation. The clerk just laughed at me for even trying to fix something like that at 11pm on a weekend. I'm not real good with condescending attitudes and with that recouping my money became my life's mission. About 15 minutes later the store manager was on the phone with the Wal-Mart gods saying "he's gotta receipt, police can't remove him, he says we are robbing him and won't leave." Whoever he was on the phone with decided refunding me was a wonderful idea. The condescending smirks had vanished from their faces and suddenly appeared on mine. It's the little things..on to the river.
We checked into what looked like a normal hotel. The area was new to us and I spent way too much time harassing Wally world so it was very dark when we checked in. We awoke to amazement. We were literally on the banks of the Columbia with a stunning view of the Bridge of the Gods. John arrived early from Portland, we used his car for a drop/return vehicle and paddled the Columbia for about 4 miles. The views were stunning but the water was flat so we headed east on I-84 to Hood River.
We ended up at a drop point on the historic Columbia River highway. From the road it just looked like a bridge over the Hood but once we hiked down below we found a local hotspot complete with a rope swing tied to the bridge. While the spot was magical for the rest of us, I don't think I've ever felt so bad for my son, Tristin. He had broke his collar bone a couple weeks before. Although he was strong enough and healed enough to paddle and eddy... swimming currents and rope swings were out of the question... and we were not alone.
There were 3 families having a picnic and they all had teen daughters, beautiful teen daughters with not another male in sight except for me and John. So, Tristin watched as Mom and Sierra joined a group of Tristin's bikini clad peers to play on one of the coolest rope swings he had ever seen. All he could do was watch...poor guy.
We played under the bridge until a group of tubers floated by, they said they were floating to "The Event Site". The said that's where all the people are. We hiked up to the road with intent of heading up river when a jam/antique store caught our eye. How can ya' pass jam and antiques? We never made it to the antiques as all the jams were on sample breads, cakes and crackers throughout the store... needless to say we ate lunch there, and we had jam.
A jeep rolled in with two yaks strapped up top. I approached and asked where she was headed. The lady driving said she just pulled out of the Hood because it was too low. Said she was headed to "The Event Site". She gave us sore directions, we loaded up and traded the fast water of the Hood for the deep of the Columbia.
We were in awe when we pulled up to The Event Site. People everywhere, big boats, little boats, kite boarders, windsurfers, jet skis, SUP's, and kayaks. It was pandemonium. We wasted no time launching and before we knew it we were in the open water of the Columbia dodging kite boarders. The shore and inland channels offered shops, food, rentals, beach, surfing, etc. It was great. Sierra and Lisa headed toward the Event Site Bay and the little pier while John, Tristin, and I paddled across. When we reached the shipping lanes you could feel the currents and cross currents, the waves were huge.
We reached the Washington side and docked. Cannabis had already been legalized and John and I toked up recreationally legal for the first time. Paddling back across all three of us realized you should prep a little better to cross the Columbia... it's quite a challenge but we made it back. We were rewarded with awesome food choices when we reunited with the girls back on the pier.
We all left Hood River, Oregon exhausted and content. We all see many places in our lives and we take all sorts of trips for business, pleasure... you name it. However, there are certain trips that always become your favorite stories and there are always certain places that just become a part of you after ya' spend time there. No matter how hard you play the Columbia will be one of those trips and no matter how long ya' stay there... Hood River is one of those places.
Comments