Hood River, Oregon - #2

Today, July 14th, we did some more sightseeing - actually re-visiting some places we had seen back in 2006 when we were here in the Columbia River Gorge. A few miles west of the town of Cascade Locks Historic Scenic Highway 30 takes off from the interstate and parallels it for 14 miles. It is a very narrow highway through dense beautiful forests of evergreens. Along the way are several majestic waterfalls. The first one we stopped at was Horsetail Falls, then a few miles farther is the most popular one - Multnomah Falls. Here are pictures of Horsetail, Multnomah, and Wahkenna Falls.







At the small town of Corbett, Larch Mountain Road takes off south east for 14 miles to Sharrad’s Point. At the end of the road is a large parking lot, then it’s a half mile hike up a paved path and finally up 100+ steps to a platform on top of the point where you have a full 360 degree panorama. The platform is at 4650 feet and from here you can see the 3 big mountains in Washington - Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams, and also the 2 in Oregon - Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson.







Back down the 14 miles to Corbett, then a mile or so back on Hwy 30 to Crown Point Vista House. This is an overlook high over the Columbia River with great views in both directions.



Just a few miles back east on I-84 is the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery. We stopped there - first went to the Visitor’s Center at the dam where they have the “fish ladder” to allow the Salmon access up the river past the dam during their spawning season. There is a place on the outside overlooking the “ladder”, and also down inside the building there is a viewing room where you can see the Salmon go by as they make their way up the ‘ladder’. There is also a room where a guy sits all day and counts all the different kinds Salmon going up - Sockeye, Coho, Steelhead, and Chinook.







After seeing all the stuff associated with the “fish ladder” we went to the Fish Hatchery. Here they raise different kinds of Salmon for release, and also Rainbow Trout and Sturgeon. They have a viewing room where you can see the Rainbows and Sturgeon up close and personal. The real draw of the place is “Herman - The Giant Sturgeon” - What a fish!!!










Tomorrow we're moving on to the Oregon Coast.