All posts tagged: columbia river gorge

Klickitat River Hike

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December gets so wrapped up in holiday events and happenings (which I love and fully embrace), that it’s hard to slip away for a day trip. The weather often rains on any hopes of a nice hike, as well. So I had resigned myself to finding a low-key, indoor Adventure for this month. But then Jesse swooped in and planned a hike for us last Sunday, and saved the day! We headed out into the Gorge until we arrived at Lyle, Washington, where the Klickitat River feeds into the Columbia. It was a chilly day with fog on the horizon, but the rain held off for us, and we warmed up once we got moving. The Klickitat River Trail is a former railroad refurbished into a hiking/biking trail. It follows the river for 13 miles from Lyle to Klickitat. We only did the first 3 miles of it, being on foot and with one of us 4 months pregnant and all. That still added up to 6 miles total, which was a pretty good workout for …

Nella Chestnut Farm

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On the first weekend of November we headed out to Hood River, one of our favorite close-by destinations, especially in the summer and fall. The surrounding farms have joined together to create a 30 mile Fruit Loop full of U-Pick produce, fresh baked pies, wine tasting, alpacas, lavender fields, and more. This year we hit the farms towards the end of pear and apple season (we had just missed the apple festival), so after we loaded up on a few treats, we headed somewhere new. A chestnut farm! I have to admit, I’ve never eaten or really seen fresh chestnuts. So this was all very new and exciting! Nella Chestnut Farms is about 20 years old, and grows a colossal variety of nuts, a Japanese-European hybrid, according to their website. Harvest is in late September throughout October. We arrived the weekend of the farm’s annual chestnut roast: the nuts are roasted in a big metal drum over an open flame. When completed, you can peel back the layers to find the sweet nut inside. Glasses …

September Adventure: Triple Falls Hike

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I had a friend visiting over a sunny weekend in September, so we darted out to the Columbia River Gorge for a day trip and hike. Because after you eat your fill of Portland, a hike and the stunning views are the best thing for the stomach and soul! It was a warm day, but autumn was just beginning to peek in among the trees. We first stopped on a bluff to get a good view of the Gorge. It was a dry summer here, so the water level looked surprisingly low. After stretching our legs we headed further down the Historic Highway until we reached the Oneonta Trailhead. A waterfall awaited before the hike even started, as Horsetail Falls cascaded into the pool. Further on we spotted Ponytail Falls, and then after a moderate (read: I was huffing and puffing) hike we ended up at Triple Falls, where the creek splits into three cascades. That’s right, if you include all three separately, we saw five waterfalls in one hike! At the top of Triple Falls we hopped rocks …

March Adventure: Beacon Rock

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Our March Adventure happened at a good time. I was itching to get outside and away from the city and life, so even though it was a rainy, chilly, Saturday, we jumped in the car and headed out regardless. We drove to the Gorge, on the Washington side, to Beacon Rock, where I’ve passed but never stopped to hike. And what a hike! Beacon Rock is a bit of an anomaly in the Gorge: just a huge rock sittin’ by the river. In the early 1900s they carved a path up it, and now (helped by guardrails and steps) you can hike the whole thing, a short but steep walk to the top! On the way up you get great views of the river, forests, and mossy rocks. At 1.8 miles round trip, it’s a quick, rewarding hike. Afterwards we drove in to Stevenson, WA, for a visit to Walking Man Brewery (sadly closed this time), and the Columbia River Gorge Interpretive Center. I can’t resist a museum, which was perfect since the rain picked …

Summer Months

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I have neglected this space, but since it’s due to being busy with life I’m forgiving myself. I’ve been living up my summer months with all the best June and July things like fresh berries, bike rides and lots of sunshine. Our dear friends Sarah and Jozef visited Portland at the end of June, all the way from Amsterdam, and we spent a full weekend doing every awesome summer thing we could think of! We hiked the Gorge, floated the Sandy River (which I’ve always wanted to do!), got some lavender at Hood River, and lounged at the beach on Sauvie’s Island. They also brought us a pack of stroopwafels fresh from Albert Heijn grocery store in Amsterdam. The best way to enjoy these is on top of hot coffee, so the steam makes the caramel all gooey. (Portlanders, get your own at the local Dutch Market!) On top of those adventures I’ve been stitching up a lot of great custom requests for the shop, which I hope to be able to share once they’ve …

Stonehenge in the Gorge

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Last week I wrote about our Sunday adventure, but I left one part out. We saw Stonehenge! Okay, it wasn’t the real Stonehenge, but it’s modeled after it exactly. And with it’s placement right on the edge of the canyon, with expansive, craggy views and the wind whipping in your face, it feels almost as mysterious as the real thing. Who built this?? And why? Turns out it was a quirky, wealthy man’s tribute to Oregon soldiers lost in WWI. We spent a lovely twenty minutes to ourselves wandering around the stone pillars, taking pictures, and enjoying the  view. While it’s not quite as cool as being at the real Stonehenge, I’d wager you can’t get this close to the real thing anyway, so these pictures probably turned out better! No one has to know it’s in Oregon, right? Shhh. I’ll back you up, too.

Avontuurtje in the Gorge

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It’s been a busy few weeks here! Last weekend we managed to escape the hectic, rainy city for a day of adventure. One of my favorite Dutch words is  avontuurtje, which translate to something like “little adventure.” That’s what I like to think of day trips– the perfect opportunity for avontuurtjes! You can’t really wait for sunny days here in the Pacific Northwest (though we’ve had a rash of beautiful ones lately!), so though it was gray and a bit drizzly, we set out anyway. It turned out to be a perfect, with the sun poking out through big fluffy clouds, and only a spot or two of rain. The Columbia River Gorge is stunning. The canyon is cut through by the Columbia River, and extends about 80 miles east of Portland, forming the border between Washington and Oregon. We usually drive down on the Oregon side to get to Hood River, but this time we hopped the bridge to Washington for a change. It was stunning! The Gorge starts out forested and wet, but …

Hood River Pear Festival

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For the last few years, it’s been our tradition to head out to Hood River, Oregon, every fall to enjoy the sunshine, views, fresh fruit and pies the orchards have to offer. We were looking forward to it all summer–it was one of the things we were excited to move back to the States for. And when we went a few weekends ago, it was everything we had hoped for! The weather was dry and hot–an unusually beautiful fall day for Portland! We reveled in the last of summer’s warmth with milkshakes and fresh pears, loading up with boxes of peaches, pears, apples, and a few pies. This year we were able to share the fun with our 18 month-old twin nieces, who happily accepted tractor rides, milkshakes, and bites of pie from everyone. The twins’ favorite part (and everyone’s, really), was the alpaca farms with the fuzzy, frisky baby alpacas to feed and pet. Inside the store we bought some soft alpaca yarn for a toddler sweater for upcoming chilly days. We almost came …

Special Place: Hood River, Oregon

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About an hour outside of Portland, up the Colombia River Gorge, lies the town of Hood River. The drive from Portland is a beautiful one, full of waterfalls, hiking trails and mossy forests. The most popular stop is at the stately Multnomah Falls. If you can drag yourself away, Hood River awaits. Not only home to world-famous windsurfing and kiteboarding (it’s fun to sit and watch), but it also one of those perfect small-town main streets with shopping, lots of cafes and restaurants, and great views. When we go, we’ll often jump on a free tour of Full Sail Brewery, or take a pizza break for lunch at Double Mountain Brewery (both have delicious brews!). But we mainly go to Hood River for what lies just beyond it’s streets, in the fertile fields. {These pictures got a little blown-out, exposure-wise, sorry.} The call it the “Fruit Loop,” and it’s a 35-mile circle of farms and orchards that teem with deliciousness. One of our favorite things to do in late summer is to drive the Loop, …