I took off down to Oregon on Wednesday, and just got back a little while ago. I camped out Wednesday night in the rain, then headed up to Timberline for some snowboarding.
As you can see, the summer ski camps are in full swing with the kiddies, but there was still plenty of cloud-surfing to be had.
The higher clouds finally blew off completely for a short while and offered a great view of the peak.
When I was back at my car taking off my boots, this friend stopped by, but got bored and wondered off when I didn't feed him right away.
Since I had a whole afternoon (they shut down the lifts at 1:30 in the summer) I went over to the town of Government Camp for a while. This is where the snowboard and ski camps all house their guests. It's also the only place I've ever found where the snowboard shops outnumber the coffee shops by at least a 3 to 1 ratio. No joke.
After that, I drove up to Hood River, and watched some of the windsurfing and kiteboarding on the Columbia river while I put my snowboard gear out in the sun and wind to dry.
Had a great dinner at a restaurant called 3 Rivers with an awesome view, then headed back down the highway through the orchards towards Mt. Hood, and found a campground right on a river, with a rocky bluff on the other side. There were eagles coasting off the up-drafts, but they disappeared by the time I pulled out the camera.
No rain Thursday night at the new campsite, but when I got to Timberline Friday morning, it looked a lot like this:
I had a nice breakfast in the 5-star restaurant in the lodge, then walked out to see the rain and clouds still out in force, and lots of sopping wet people walking back toward their cars with the heads hunched low against the rain and wind and a general look of defeat in their eyes. The lifts had only been open an hour at that point, so these people were throwing in the towel after only one or two runs. I decided to skip the boarding that day, and just head down to Salem. I hung out with my Dad at his place down there through saturday and a father's day breakfast this morning before heading back up to Seattle. All in all, a pretty good trip, and at least 1 day of good boarding.
As you can see, the summer ski camps are in full swing with the kiddies, but there was still plenty of cloud-surfing to be had.
The higher clouds finally blew off completely for a short while and offered a great view of the peak.
When I was back at my car taking off my boots, this friend stopped by, but got bored and wondered off when I didn't feed him right away.
Since I had a whole afternoon (they shut down the lifts at 1:30 in the summer) I went over to the town of Government Camp for a while. This is where the snowboard and ski camps all house their guests. It's also the only place I've ever found where the snowboard shops outnumber the coffee shops by at least a 3 to 1 ratio. No joke.
After that, I drove up to Hood River, and watched some of the windsurfing and kiteboarding on the Columbia river while I put my snowboard gear out in the sun and wind to dry.
Had a great dinner at a restaurant called 3 Rivers with an awesome view, then headed back down the highway through the orchards towards Mt. Hood, and found a campground right on a river, with a rocky bluff on the other side. There were eagles coasting off the up-drafts, but they disappeared by the time I pulled out the camera.
No rain Thursday night at the new campsite, but when I got to Timberline Friday morning, it looked a lot like this:
I had a nice breakfast in the 5-star restaurant in the lodge, then walked out to see the rain and clouds still out in force, and lots of sopping wet people walking back toward their cars with the heads hunched low against the rain and wind and a general look of defeat in their eyes. The lifts had only been open an hour at that point, so these people were throwing in the towel after only one or two runs. I decided to skip the boarding that day, and just head down to Salem. I hung out with my Dad at his place down there through saturday and a father's day breakfast this morning before heading back up to Seattle. All in all, a pretty good trip, and at least 1 day of good boarding.
throttlebitch:
Sounds like an excellent trip. I'm a skier personally, but maybe next season we can do a trip locally.
merritt:
I love Hood River.