my first attempt at camping this year

Hello!

I had a really nice long weekend though it all panned out a little differently than originally planned. Planning can only take you so far though! Friday afternoon Gina & I left for a weekend of camping in the Columbia River Gorge. Our goal was Beacon Rock State Park about 45 minutes from Portland on the Washington side of the Gorge. We were nervous about the weather which has been exceptionally rainy and chilly lately. The forecast called for scattered showers Friday night and then clearing for the rest of the weekend with sun and warmer temperatures.

We had a wonderful surprise on our short drive to the campground. A huge raincloud was in front of us and behind us the sun was shining brightly on Portland. As we drove on a huge rainbow was formed that ended on the far side of the Columbia River. It arced over the freeway and went to the otherside of the gorge's steep, forested cliffs. It was spectacular! It was the most vivid rainbow either of us had ever seen. My pictures don't begin to do it justice. It was gorgeous!!!!

We crossed over the Bridge of the Gods to the Washington side and got to the park just a few minutes later. We choose our campsite and scrambled down a steep hill to check out the little stream behind our site. There weren't many people at the park so we had no immediate neighbors. We set up our site and were working on making dinner when it started raining. We needed the fire to cook our dinner that night so we were determined to not let the fire be doused. We stood over the fire pit with an umbrella and laughed and laughed. It was pretty ridiculous. It downpoured and we got wet and muddy from the water splashing up off the ground. A small lake began forming on the other side of the fire pit. Thankfully the tent was in a good spot and had a huge rainfly on it. The rain subsided and eventually it cleared enough to see some stars and the moon. We cooked our dinner in foil packets on the grate over the fire (bbq chicken, cheesy potatoes and asparagus). We gazed at the fire and talked and talked until sleep called us to the tent.

Friday night was an interesting night's sleep. Gina's cell phone was possessed. The phone was turned off completely yet the alarm clock kept going on and asking if she wanted to turn the phone on. (NO! That's why the phone is OFF!) We were tempted to throw the phone in the creek as it continued to beep every hour or so until we got up. Very strange.

We woke up the next day and made breakfast on the camp stove before heading out for our hike to Beacon Rock. The rock is a huge monolith (800 some feet tall) on the side of the Gorge with incredible views of the river in both directions. It was named by Lewis & Clark as they paddled down the Columbia towards the Pacific Ocean. The rock has a crazy trail built on the side of it with 47 switchbacks to the top. It was really beautiful and a great short hike.

Back at our campsite we packed our lunch before heading off for another hike to Rodney Falls. With all the rain the falls were really raging. We ate our lunch on mossy rocks along the water with the mist falling on us from the falls. We hiked a little further up to a viewpoint of the Gorge. On our way back we also stopped at Little Beacon Rock, a crazy rock formation with great views to big Beacon Rock. Just as we were hiking back to our campsite it began lightly raining on us. We decided to hole up in the tent and take a nap with the hope that the rain would have subsided by the time we woke up. No such luck. The rain continued for hours and hours. Finally we decided to pack it up since we wouldn't be able to have a fire in the rain. I made dinner and Gina started loading up the car. We left just as it was getting dark at 8:30.

Instead of going back to Portland we decided to head up to Trout Lake on the side of Mt Adams. Our friend Wampler (the accordion player) lives there and Dave and some other Portland friends were up there for the night. We had told Dave we might meet them up there but only if the weather was bad for camping. The drive along the Columbia was beautiful with fog clinging to the cliffs. We got to Wampler's house and found a map for us on the door showing where they were all hanging out. The map left much to be desired as it ended with a big "X" but with no description of what the "X" was. We drove down forest service roads to the middle of total wilderness. We entered the National Forest and were really wondering where we were going. It was 10:30 and we did not want to make the hour and half drive back to Portland. Eventually we came across a lodge at a Sno-Park with lights and cars. We walked up and heard Dave singing so we knew we'd found them! It was a great lodge with a huge stove keeping the place warm. The guys were playing music and people were dancing and Gina & I were happy to be done driving.

We drove back to Wampler's house to sleep up in the loft. Unfortunately Dave slept on the floor with us and snored like a champ. Gina and I were laughing hysterically at 4:30 AM wondering how someone could snore so loudly and not wake themselves up. After the night before with the cell phone fiasco we just wanted some uninterrupted sleep.

Sunday morning Jimmy Robb made breakfast for us and Jason even cooked up some morels that he had recently picked in the forest. yummmy! The guys all jumped in the sauna and I checked out Wampler's greenhouse and veggie garden. Gina and I decided to head back to Portland in the early afternoon. The drive back was beautiful with Mt Hood snowy peak out as we passed Hood River. That drive in the Gorge is my absolute favorite. We made it home and unloaded our stuff. Later I went to Elaine & Gina's and helped them clean. Two of their roommates moved out so they were excited to have more room in their house.

Gina and both had Monday off since our original camping plan was somewhere a lot further away. Monday was finally sunny and warm so we took full advantage. We got 18 rounds of frisbee golf in at Pier Park and Daisy got to come along too. It was a lovely sunny day and a great way to spend a Monday.

So let me know what you've been up to and how you are. I'll be real late with next week's posting since I have Monday off for Memorial Day and took Tuesday off since it's my birthday. yeah! I hope you are well!

I will post some pictures today and more tomorrow so please check back if you'd like to see them.

xoox,
carolyn