Columbia River Gorge: Geology, Myth & Legend

It’s a big river. Water from the 1200-mile long Columbia River constitutes the Western Hemisphere’s largest discharge into the Pacific. Joining the Snake it flows westward through a gorge 100-miles-long and 3,000-feet-deep. Washington and Oregon share this boundary, the now dammed river running deep and placid compared with the wicked mercurial rapid-filled channel Lewis & Clark and Oregon Trail travelers had to navigate. There are dramatic climate changes too. Portland’s 40 annual inches of rainfall becomes Bonneville’s 75, becomes The Dalles 14, as cresting the Cascades moves you into desert and high plains. Possibly called the Ourigan at one time, Robert Gray, the first non-native to enter the river (1792), renamed it for his ship the Columbia Redivivia. Hoped to be the mythical Northwest Passage linking east and west coasts by a contiguous if not continuous water route, it was and remains a vitally influential part of the existence of everyone who has lived within its watershed.

The Columbia River Gorge Natural Scenic Area, beginning east of Portland at Troutdale, is a landscape of myth, legend, fascinating geological history, and great physical beauty; with spectacular waterfalls, State Parks, and other scenic wonders, unique museums, and historical venues. Hiking and water sports are popular. Terrain created (sometimes severe) windy conditions, gave rise to the popular sport of wind surfing, focused at the town of Hood River, where the Gorge Games are held. The Bonneville Dam, providing much of the region’s power, has visitor centers and fish hatcheries to visit and a good view along the river.

Some Must Sees:
--The largest concentration (about 70) of waterfalls anywhere, some seasonal or now submerged, mostly on Oregon’s steeper more abrupt side, a number, including Multnomah Falls (the second highest year-round falls in the US), are very accessible.

--Climbing the Oregon side the Historic Columbia River Highway, specifically designed to showcase the area’s natural beauty, was America’s first Scenic Byway. The sometimes intimidating incline provides stunning vistas, especially from 733-foot Crown Point with the lovely information/visitor center Vista House.

--The completely amazing collections of Maryhill Museum with nearby Stonehenge "replica" dominating the bluffs near Goldendale, Washington.

--Loop past Mount Hood (traditionally grouped with the gorge) to visit the beautiful Timberline Lodge, perhaps to ski or have a meal before returning to Portland .

Quick Tips:

Useful Information & Contacts:
--Columbia River Gorge Visitor Association, 2149 W. Cascade #106A, Hood River, OR, 97031
800-98-GORGE, crgva.@gorge.net
--Calendar of Events for the gorge.
--Friends of the Columbia Gorge
--Experience the Columbia River Gorge: a comprehensive database of listings, addresses, and maps.
--Forest Service Columbia River Gorge Natural Scenic Area: 541-386-2333

--House Bill HR 4944 proposing a Ice Age Floods National Geological Trail was introduced July 22, 2004. This would establish a marked tour route in four states. Read more about it here.

Best Way To Get Around:

--Occasionally, in winter, high winds cause closure of I-84 and the HCRH, usually this is for hours only but check the long-term forecast before venturing out. The Weather Channel‘s Interstate Forecast for I-84 is a useful tool.

I’d use a car, especially along the HCRH. The area is riddled with hiking and bike trails, but unless you‘re exceptionally fit I wouldn’t recommend using a bicycle on the western section of the HCRH.

Accessing the HCRH:
The western segment runs Troutdale to Dodson, the eastern Mosier to The Dalles.
--The route begins at exit 18 off I-84 just past Troutdale at Lewis & Clark State Recreation Area.
--Save time by traveling I-84 to Corbett and join the HCRH there using exit 22.

Useful Maps & Information:
--Check road conditions with Oregon Department of Transportation‘s Trip Check.
--Gorge Map with driving distances
--Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, Map (pdf)
--Forest Service Area Trails with links to trail amenities and conditions.
--HCRH Brochure (pdf) Lots of information: maps, history and background.
--Gorge Bike Trail Map (pdf) An informational brochure/map. Online interactive version.
--Scenic Byways Interactive Map

Sam Hill dreamed of establishing a Quaker community on this bluff overlooking the Columbia River near Goldendale, Washington. He built a house naming it for both his daughter and wife, but the latter objected to living so far from anywhere and so it would never be their home.

Friend Loie Fuller, pioneering modern dance innovator for the Follies Bergere, suggested making a museum instead and was instrumental in acquiring the Rodin pieces it would contain. So it became the Maryhill Museum of Art, dedicated by Queen Marie of Romania, a family friend (Hill had extended aid to Romania after W.W.I), in 1926. Hill died in 1931, before the museum opened. Another friend Alma Spreckels, founder of San Francisco’s Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum, stepped up to see it to fruition, making major donations from her own collections to Maryhill.

Rodin sculpture (including the only pedestal-sized study of The Thinker) and watercolors, native artifacts (including some wonderful basketry), Queen Marie's royal regalia and collection of the books (travelogues and romances) she authored, a set of 1946 Theatre de la Mode French Fashion Mannequins (how fashion shows were done before models and the catwalk), an incredible chess set collection (100 sets), Russian icons, paintings ... amazing stuff in the (sort of) middle of nowhere, Mrs. Hill.

A small café serving simple meals is on the lower level. $7-$8 will get you a substantial sandwich, generous side of potato salad, and a beverage. The corner shelf has all the books published on the museum, its specialty collections, and Sam Hill for you to peruse. A half-wall surround allows you to gaze at the Rodins while eating. Inside seating is limited, but a outdoor plaza accommodates more people and also has great views.

Also there is a giftshop, a Sculpture Garden, and at least 20 noisome peacocks (including an albino) with cries suggesting murder in progress, a garden dedicated to plants identified by Lewis & Clark, and many interpretive signs. The trees beyond the great lawn hide a well-used picnic area. 26-acres of landscaping surround the museum but the grounds actually extend to 6000-acres much of it used for nature conservancy. And then there is the picture-perfect view, both up and down the gorge.

On a bluff 4-miles east, are a number of associated sites, Hill’s burial, his Stonehenge Memorial, the remnants of the planned community, and the first paved road in the Northwest. Read my Stonehenge entry here. And check out the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway/Vista House entry for more on Hill‘s roads.

Flash photography not permitted within the museum.

Open: (Mar. 15-Nov.15 only) (Museum/shop) 9am-5pm. (Cafe) 10am-4pm.
Admission:  $7, seniors $6, (6-16) $2. No fee: Sculpture Garden, grounds or parking.
Contacts: 509-773-3733, (fax) 509-773-6138, maryhill@maryhillmuseum.org
Directions:
Oregon: Travel I-84 east, cross the river on US-97 at Biggs, travel Hwy-14 west 3-miles to Maryhill.
Washington: Take Hwy-14 to Maryhill.

Four miles east of the wonderful collections at the Maryhill Museum of Art (see my entry here) its builder, Sam Hill, erected the nation’s first memorial to the dead of W.W.I . Having been told the original Stonehenge was used to make war sacrifices he saw the symbolism of his Stonehenge Memorial being dedicated to the dead of the war just concluded as appropriate commentary. This monument specifically commemorates those individuals from Klickitat County who had fallen, their vitals embossed onto bronze plaques mounted onto many of the stones.

The architecture of the circle is based upon a surmised version of what Stonehenge would have originally been like that was concurrent with this monument’s construction and is full scale. The ditch, embankment, avenue, and other associated features of the genuine Neolithic Stonehenge are absent altogether here. There is no differentiation between the sarsen or bluestones, all are made of uncolored concrete textured to simulate (rather crudely) shaped stone. You cannot substitute a visit to this memorial for a visit to the real thing. But while this is not a true replica it's still cool. And while there are no barrows, or other ancient monuments, dotting the landscape here there’s a staggeringly amazing view from the bluff.

Much later a memorial for those from the county who perished in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam was added. This sits between Stonehenge and the highway. Somewhat adjacent is Sam Hill‘s Country Store where you can obtain basic snacks and mementos. Sam Hill‘s burial crypt sits on the slope below Stonehenge overlooking the gorge.

Concrete with all its malleability and versatility fascinated Hill and it became the favored material for all his constructions. The 3.6-mile twisting loop road just north of Stonehenge is the first (1913) asphalt paved road in the Pacific Northwest. Here Hill and Sam Lancaster (see the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway/Vista House entry) experimented with various types of concrete and forms of road construction. The road is now open only to bikes and pedestrians. If you wander the area you’ll also find concrete pads, all that remains of the community Hill envisioned.

All these places are accessible year round 7AM to dusk. There is no fee for visiting.

Advisory: A road sign warns of no vehicle fuel available for the 85-miles east of 97 on 14 and I don’t know how far you need to go to west in Washington before you’ll find a station. So go prepared.

Directions:
From Oregon: Travel I-84 east to Biggs Junction, cross the Columbia River on US-97, turn east (right) and travel Hwy 14 for 1-mile. Turn right again (south) to the memorial.
From Washington: Travel Washington Hwy 14 east to 1-mile east of its juncture with US-97 and turn right into the memorial.
Contacts: 509-773-3733, (fax) 509-773-6138, maryhill@maryhillmuseum.org

More than a way to get from A-Z, the Historic Columbia River Highway (Hwy-30), designed to showcase the natural beauty of the area, is an experience in itself. An early example of cliff-face road construction (1913-1922) combined with a highway, and based on the Swiss Auxenstrasse, it’s the very first scenic roadway in America and a National Historic Landmark. As you climb the often steeply inclined curving road, twisting to conform to the landscape upon which it was meant to make a minimum impact, views open up. Don‘t let them distract you from the road, they are truly spectacular.

Sam Hill, "good roads" advocate, was instrumental in its creation, making a convincing case for construction. Multnomah County hired landscaper/engineer Samuel C. Lancaster to build it, at which time the road experiments at Maryhill took place. The intent was a road to match the landscape: imported Italian masons creating parapets for beauty as well as utility, for example.
Associated Sam Hill journal entries.
--Maryhill Museum of Art
--Stonehenge Memorial

The original 74-miles fell into disuse (portions as early as the 1930s) after the easier (mostly flat grade) drive that became Interstate-84 was laid along the river below. In fact extensions (not intended as scenic road) were replaced by the new interstate. Today about 55-miles of road exist, and around 40 are still drivable. One section, including two tunnels, is only available from a trail by hiking or biking in.
--See journal Overview for more information on trails, etc.

Lancaster chose Crown Point, 733-feet above the river, as a viewpoint based upon his belief that this location would highlight the beauty of the gorge. Referring to it as an "observatory," Lancaster thought it would be the perfect place for visitors to "refresh" themselves. Generations of visitors agree.

Portland architect Edgar M. Lazarus (whose sister, Emma, penned the poem on the Statue of Liberty) was hired to design the art nouveau style visitor center/museum named Vista House. The relatively small copper-roofed sandstone structure, 44-feet in diameter, 55-feet tall, was built in 1916. Interiors are real or faux-marble. Currently under renovation, scheduled to re-open late summer 2004. A trailer houses a temporary information kiosk onsite. The view up and down the gorge is always available. Make a photo of yourself superimposed against the postcard view here and consider that during the Missoula Floods geology entry (13,000 years ago), rising 800-feet, you would have been submerged here.

[The Guestbook is all that remains of the Crown Point Chalet roadhouse. A perusal of signatures reveals a listing of the region’s influential during its heyday. This pdf contains a facsimile of Sam Hill’s signature and a nice biography.]

Visitor Center Open: (Apr 1-May 26) Fri-Sun 9am-6pm, (May 27-Aug 31) 9am-6pm, (Sept 1-Thanksgiving weekend) Thurs-Sun 9am-6pm, (after Thanksgiving) weekends weather permiting 10am-5pm.
Admission: None.
Contact: (State Park Dept.) 1-800-551-6949, 503-695-2261; (Friends of Vista House) 503-695-2230, (fax) 503-695-2250, friends@vistahouse.com

You’re traveling east through the Columbia River Gorge along the Oregon side. Just at the town of Cascade Locks a road runs north crossing a bridge spanning the river. Travel onto and across the bridge and when you reach the other side you’ll be in Washington State. This 1856-foot cantilever bridge of steel, rivets and cross-bracings is called the "Bridge of the Gods." The bridge was constructed in 1926 but the name, applied to this precise spot, goes back hundreds of years. You might imagine that this means a wooden or stone bridge previously existed to be replaced by the present bridge. Well, yes and no. There was a stone bridge of sorts here, the result of an accident of nature.

Five-hundred years ago part of Table Mountain, on the Columbia’s north bank, broke off, the massive landslide creating a 200-foot tall natural dam with a lake 80-miles long and perhaps 100-feet deep forming behind. Also known as "The Great Cross Over" the dam’s 5-mile wide top formed a perfect bridge. Gradual erosion undermined it until the water broke through in an estimated 50-feet high wall, sweeping downriver. The Columbia shifted south and this is still one of its narrowest portions.

These events gave rise to myths about the creation and destruction of the Bridge of the Gods and a number of the Cascade Mountains. Some of these, especially those involving Loowit, saw a popular resurgence after the eruption of Mt St. Helens in 1980.

What remained of the natural dam, a series of large boulders and wild white-water rapids, is the source of the name for the surrounding mountain chain: Cascades. As difficult as the massive portage effort around the cascades was it was easier than the even more daunting effort required to attempt crossing the Cascades. This then was one of the last of the physical trials facing those traveling the Oregon Trail. A steam-powered short-line train was a temporary and partial solution. The "Oregon Pony", actually the northwest’s first train, is now located in Port of Cascades Locks Marine Park. The park also provides a good view of the bridge. In 1896 the Cascade Locks were built to further ease progress down river. After construction of the Bonneville Dam in 1938 the bridge had to be raised by 44-feet to its present height of 135-feet above the water and lengthened by 729-feet. The cascades now lie submerged behind the dam.

This, the third oldest bridge in the gorge, cost $602,077.58 to construct. That bond and continuing maintenance are paid for by a toll, $1 per vehicle, each way. The tollhouse is open 24-hours a day. The bridge, 44-miles east of Portland, lacks a route designation but can be reached (see map below) by taking exit-44 off I-84 (Oregon) and following the loop round, directly off Hwy-30, or Hwy-14 in Washington.

[Waterfall facts: A single drop is properly called a fall while multi-drops, as here, are falls. A single drop is unbroken top to bottom while multies drop to ledges before dropping again. Groups, such as Niagara, are falls regardless of the number of drops. A continuous flow, which is not seasonal, defines year-round fall(s).]

The dramatic 620-foot double drop of Multnomah Falls down the side of Larch Mountain (from a spring at the top) are the second-highest year-round waterfalls in the US. Prior to the opening of the casinos this was Oregon’s top attraction, drawing the most visitors annually, but in fact this has been a destination since the 1880s; when Portlanders came out for picnics.

Simon Benson, the man who donated the Benson Bubblers drinking fountains to Portland, purchased and donated several area falls with the idea of preserving them for the public’s enjoyment as parks in 1915. The picturesque footbridge, ¼-mile from the bottom, between the two drops, was built by and named for Benson. If you can get someone to take your picture on it from below. From there it’s a further mile to the falls top, but weather conditions can close the steep trail. Numerous hiking trails (pdf) pass through the area. Free maps are also available in the visitor center.

While these are the premier falls this area actually contains the largest concentration of waterfalls in the world.

Next to the falls is the stone Cascadia-style (a sub-sect of the Arts & Crafts Movement in America) Multnomah Falls Lodge, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, which, despite inclusion of "lodge" in the name, doesn’t provide accommodations. Built in 1925, it was designed by A.E. Doyle, also responsible for the Bubblers and the Benson Hotel. There is a restaurant serving three meals a day, Monday-Saturday, and a very nice Champagne (beverage included but Champagne is extra) Brunch on Sunday, for which reservations are recommended. Ask to be seated near the window to get a good view of the falls. Also there’s a Visitor Center for learning more about the falls, and a giftshop.

Warning: A 400-ton rock fell from the cliff face in 1995, ejected fragments injured 20 people. Trails can be slick. Exercise caution.

Mythology:
--The Multnomah peoples myth of the creation of the Falls one of the tales dramatized in the recent Dreamkeeper mini-series. All mention of the maiden’s face, sometimes visible in the mist on the rocks from the falls, has evaporated. Perhaps the rock fall (above) displaced her.
--A Wasco myth, Coyote and Multnomah Falls, tells the story of Coyote‘s attempts to win the heart of a beautiful girl.

Open: (falls) Dawn to dusk. (visitor center) 9am-5pm, (lodge) 8am-9pm.
Admission: None.
Contact: 503-695-2376 (information & reservations), ext. 208 (giftshop), (fax) 503-695-2338, multnomahfallslodge@yahoo.com
Located in the Columbia River Gorge about 20-minutes east of the Portland suburb of Troutdale, making it an easy day trip.

Timberline Lodge, sited at the 6,000-foot level of 11,237-foot Mount Hood, hosts the Northwest’s longest skiing season, 351 days. The surrounding Mount Hood National Forest offers a variety of other Recreation choices. That‘s one way of approaching it.

What I find compelling is the blend of a wonderful work of architecture, infused with the spirit of those whose physical labor created it, sited as it is in this marvelous place.

From drafting blueprints, to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dedication at completion in September 1937, the creation of the Cascadia-style Timberline took only 15 months. It doesn't show. From the site survey in 14-feet of snow onwards even the inexperienced craftsmen had determination and the construction proceeded not as the utilitarian make-work intended by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) but a labor of love for those involved. No one said they had to make it beautiful, they just did.

Everything’s handcrafted. Today a special unit exists for the care and recondition of the copious attractive and dramatic ironwork. Try picking up any chair in the cafe/pub; heaviest furniture I've ever encountered. All furnishings were special made as part of the project. Timbers forming columns and rafters are massive and the heart of the building on the two lower levels are monumental-sized stone fireplaces. Everything is so substantial, yet in a big comfy chair kind of way inviting you to sink in and curl up for a while.

While bits of memorabilia seem to be tucked into every corner there’s a museum on the ground floor with exhibits on the lodge and skiing, including examples of vintage skis and poles. The Forest Service gives tours, lasting 20-30 minutes each, on the history, construction, architecture, and more. A video presentation follows.
NFS Summer Schedule: 11am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm.
For other times 503/231-7979.

And as always the mountain waits outside with an amazing view westwards across the Willamette Valley.

Trivia
--Mt Hood is the 2nd most climbed mountain in the world.
--Timberline's logo resembling a stylized letter "T" is actually a snow goose taken from the Campfire Girls’ handbook, modified from the Calendar of Moon’s April Moon Sign.
--And of course -- Timberline appeared as the exterior of the hotel in Kubrick's "The Shining." "Where shall we film this?" they wondered. "Take me to this place," Kubrick said showing them a photograph of Timberline in moonlight by the late Ray Atkeson, Oregon's photographer laureate.
--More History (Friends of Timberline).
--3D Model

Other Information:
Location/Directions
Special Programs
Weather/Road Conditions
Contacts: (info) 503-622-7979, information@timberlinelodge.com, online contacts, (NFS) 503/622-7674

Restaurant:
Breakfast Buffet: $11.95 for adults, continental: $6.95. Lunch: $9.50-$13.95. Dinner: $15.95-$36.95, reservations strongly recommended.
Lower prices, different menu choices in the pubs.
Cascade Dining: 503/622-0700

Accommodation:
$80-240 per night, plus 6% room tax.
Reservations: 800/547-1406, reservations@timberlinelodge.com

Skiing:
Adult Lift Rates, $18-39, depending on hour of day, lift utilized, and season.
Ski Trails Map.
In summer there‘s a skyride.

There’s a small white house with steps leading down to an open doorway. Through this portal is a small room, one wall lined with windows. Through the window the world is filled with green light and monsters. If you don’t descend there’s a view from above, on the side, looking down towards the windows. Here the world is still green and drowned. If you aren’t paying attention you won’t notice the monsters. Then a shadow passes below leaving you amazed at the creature’s size. And you’ll look for the others; there’s never just one monster. These monsters have been around for about 200-million-years. They have hard skin with bony plates and whiskered chins. They don’t blink, but who can tell whether they’re actually looking at you, they seem oblivious. One of the monsters is named Herman.

The place you are visiting is the Bonneville Fish Hatchery, specifically the Sturgeon Viewing and Interpretive Center. Herman and the other monsters are White Sturgeon. They look something like sharks but aren’t related. These large anadromous fish (freshwater but can survive in the ocean) can be up to 20-feet and 1,800-pounds. They can live longer than 100-years. In fact the females can’t even reproduce until they are about 20-years-old, although the males can at about 12.

The Bonneville Fish Hatchery allows you to view Coho and Chinook Salmon, and Rainbow trout up close. (Here’s a ‘Fish Identification’ pdf.) In the fall you can watch the spawning as the fish travel upriver using the ‘fish ladders.’ Otherwise there are multiple holding tanks, as well as the more natural setting of ponds, where they congregate in large numbers. Not that they’ve a choice, until the door opens they can’t leave. There are several kiosks where a quarter dispenses a small pre-measured amount of feed you can throw to the fish. As a sign explains, these are filled every morning with a certain amount of feed and when empty the fish are done eating for the day. I don’t know whether they include the hungry ducks that compete for the little pellets in their determination of how much daily food the fish require.

All this is set within some lovely landscaping. The fountain before the gift shop (sharing the webpage with the Sturgeon Center) has a group of leaping fish captured in bronze. There’s another fountain, sprouting flagpoles, in front of the facility offices, which also holds exhibits, more information, counting windows, and a second set of sanitary facilities. Interpretive signs dot the area.

All this is enclosed within the security zone of the Bonneville Dam. At the guardhouse you will be informed which direction to go for the dam (straight), and which for the Fish Hatchery (left). There is also fishing and other recreation available nearby.

Open: (mid-Apr thru Oct) 10am-6pm; (Nov- mid-Apr) weekdays 12pm-dark. Open daily, except spring break week.
Location: Exit 40 off I-84. Area overview map, Detail Map.
Contact: 541-374-8393

"Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll on Columbia, roll on." So says the song. In 1941 the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) hired Woody Guthrie to write 26 songs commemorating the construction of the N.W. dams. Roll On, Columbia, Roll On (to the tune of Goodnight Irene) was the most popular and actually became Washington’s official State Song in 1987.

Named for Benjamin de Bonneville, whose journals were edited by Washington Irving as "The Adventures of Captain Bonneville," the Bonneville Dam is a prime regional power source, and aids in flood control. This first man-made dam on the Columbia (1933-1937), part of the New Deal, is actually comprised of three dams linked by islands.

There are visitor centers on either end with displays on area history, hydropower, history of the dam, video presentations, and daily interpretive programs (posted onsite). Take a self-guided tour or call to arrange a group tour. Available food service is snacks from machines, but picnic tables are at both centers.

A lock 76-feet-wide and 500-feet-long lifts ships 70-feet. The water-level rise from the Columbia River dam system, in tandem with dredging, allows shipping as far upriver as Lewiston, Idaho, 359-miles from the river’s mouth. The lock is on the Oregon side where a viewing area allows you to watch operations.

Fish Viewing & Ladders
The ladders allow fish to swim upriver. Water passes over each step’s lip like green glass; the dark shape of a fish suddenly appears, it wiggles frantically, and then in a flash it’s over and gone. You’ll root for any accidentally swept back until the fish achieves the next weir again. Best viewed from outside, but the rooftop provides excellent aspects of the area, and interior rooms give underwater views.

The powerhouse turbines are massive and cylindrical. Powerhouse One (Bradford Island) is generally closed so you need to drive to the Washington center if you want that experience. (Self-guided tour of Powerhouse Two (pdf).) Between the two powerhouses is the spillway dam, that’s the part emulating a waterfall.

Bonneville Vital Statistics & Trivia
--197-feet-high
--24-foot overflow crest
--2,690-feet-long
--180-foot-wide base
--Two Powerhouses,18 turbines, a 2272 MW capacity
--750,000-cubic-yards of concrete in the central section
--Bradford Island was once a native burial ground.
--2003: 920,000 Chinook Salmon count, a record.
--Facilities operation employs 100 people

In a park-like setting, Bonneville includes recreation areas and fishing spots. The Bonneville Fish Hatchery and Sturgeon Viewing & Interpretive Center (my entry) are also of interest. Special events are listed on the Activities page.

Security concerns can limit or curtail activities, tours, or access of facilities and roadways. Your vehicle is subject to search.

Visitor Centers: 9am-5pm, closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years
Admission: None. Lock portage is also free, if you arrive via boat.
Location: Oregon: Exit 40 off I-84.
Washington: Milepost-40 on Hwy-14.
(area overview) map, (details) map
Contact: (OR) 541-374-8820 (also tour info), 541-374-8344; (WA)

The landscape here is dry with the exception of a wedge of green lawn and the vines. There are dramatic contrasts of dark and light. The position is elevated and so you can see for miles. Nearing the edge of the bluff below you’ll see, along the river, the main vineyard’s oasis of green complimenting the greenish-blue water.

Overlooking the grandness of the Columbia River Gorge the Maryhill Winery holds one of the more enviable gorge winery locations (see map for other locations). The wine itself is also enviable, having received numerous awards, a significant fact as their first vintage was only bottled in 1999. It’s the micro-climate, just the right balance between sun, rain, wind, and soil that allows even finicky grape varieties to flourish here.

Your approach to the winery’s entry is through a leafy arbor. You may bring a picnic to consume here or carry your wineglass from inside to sip while seated in one of the simple wooden chairs. In the corner (see photo) you may find live acoustical musical entertainment. Along the bluff side of the arbor are stools and a raised shelf for resting your glass upon. This feature gives a direct view down into the gorge.

Inside to the immediate left is fireside café-type seating. Beyond this is the shop: crates and bottles of wine and the associated necessary paraphernalia and accoutrements. The wines are reasonably priced, and if you are an Oregon resident you’re exempt from paying the sales tax. They also do online sales

To the right is the large wooden wine bar. Scattered along its top are pamphlets describing the various vintages available and placards announcing those available for tasting that day. Small tastes are free and you can try as many wines as you wish. You can try a more substantial taste for $5, refundable with a purchase of $20 or more. The servers are friendly and knowledgeable, willing to answer all questions and make recommendations.

The Maryhill Amphitheater is a 4,000 seat, 180-degree arced wedge of green lawn incorporated into an existing slope. I’ve never attended a concert here but I imagine it must be quite the experience, the night, the music, the view. Concerts are held only during the summer season. The eclectic 2004 Summer Concert schedule presents the The Temptations, Hootie and the Blowfish, Don Henley, and Willie Nelson. Ticket cost varies from $33.50 to $79.50 (for Henley), depending upon whether you choose reserved or general seating. There is also a reservation only buffet meal for the concerts.
Ticket Master: Maryhill Amphitheater

The location of Maryhill Winery, lying just west of the museum’s grounds on Hwy-14, near Goldendale Washington, makes a combined trip to the Maryhill Museum of Art (my entry), the Stonehenge Memorial (my entry), and the winery a natural choice.

They also have some nice Lewis & Clark

weblinks. Open: Daily 10am-6pm
Contacts: 877-627-9445, (fax) 509-773-0586, Online feedback form

Beacon Rock, the world’s second largest monolith behind Gibraltar (1396-feet), in the Columbia River Gorge marked the end of the Columbia River cascades; a series of rapids, remnants of a collapsed natural dam. Situated within 4,650-acre Beacon Rock State Park this 848-foot basaltic andesite volcanic neck or plug, the core of a volcano (estimated age 9-million years), was exposed by the Missoula Floods. It was at here the Corp of Discovery noted the tidal influence indicating they were closing on the Pacific Ocean, 150-miles away, although some scientists claim tidal influence isn’t actually measurable here, making their "observation" a surmise based upon expectation.

Originally noted as Beaten Rock in William Clark's journal, an apparent mondegreen, but soon corrected to Beacon, so called for looking the sort of peak to light a beacon fire upon. Alexander Ross of the Astor Expedition (1811) called it Inshoack Castle (I don’t know why) from which it became known as Castle Rock. In 1961 the name Beacon Rock was officially "restored." The aboriginal name was Che-che-op-tin meaning "navel of the world."

Henry Jonathan Biddle (who’s ancestor edited the first edition (1814) of Lewis & Clark’s journals) acquired the rock in 1915. In 1932, as his will stipulated, his children offered it (and surrounding land) to the State for $1 and the promise to preserve it as a park. Washington State only agreed to this deal when Oregon seemed inclined to accept the same offer.

The park has over 20 miles of trails and roads. Most notably a mile long trail to the top of the Rock; rising in a series of ramps that switchback (reputedly 52 times) like a staircase crossing a number of bridges en route. The top provides yet another amazing view of the gorge and river.

Rock climbing is permitted but restricted on certain faces during raptor nesting season. The climber’s trailhead has a board posting any notices or extra warnings. There is also camping, boating moorage and launch facilities, and riding trails. The area is great for birding and for viewing a variety of flora and fauna.

Beacon Rock is visible from either side of the river (from about Multnomah Falls to around Bonneville Dam) for several miles in either direction, so if you‘re not up to (or don‘t have time for) the hike to the top you can appreciate it from a distance.

Open: (Day use) Summer: 8am-10pm. Winter: 8am-5pm. (Camping) Check-in: 2.30pm, Checkout: 1pm
Admission: $5 daily Parking fee ($50 annually). Washington State's current solution to its parks funding issues. Additional fees for camping and moorage. Parking fee not applied if paying camping fee.
Location: 35-miles east of Portland/Vancouver on Washington Highway 14 (Lewis & Clark).
Or 7-miles west on 14 from The Bridge of the Gods (Cascade Locks).
Contact: (info) (360) 902-8844, infocent@parks.wa.gov, reservations: 888-CAMPOUT, 888-226-7688, form
Parking permit info: 360-902-8844 (call M-F 8am-5pm).
Annual permit Info.
Online purchase requires printer for temporary permit.

(The following is meant to give my journal Columbia River Gorge: Geology, Myth & Legend context rather than to be an exhaustive study.)

The Geology of the Columbia River Gorge has shaped a startling beautiful place. It remains as a reminder of the volatile forces that have been Earth‘s geologic history.

Rising far to the north at Lake Columbia in British Columbia the Columbia River, a Washington and Oregon’s boundary for most of the length of both State, travels 1214-miles before joining the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon. Meandering a southwesterly course to confluence with the Snake River at Pasco, Washington, near Kennewick it turns westwards to run through a gorge, 100-miles-long and 3,000-feet-deep, created by the incessant movement of the water over millennia.

Water, and ice, and plate tectonics, and geologic uplift, and volcanism … and time.

This is a volcanic landscape, even where it's hidden beneath a mantle of trees, moss, or fields, or water. Beginning about 17-million-years-ago some 41,000-cubic-miles of basaltic flows aided the creation of the much of the Northwest, changing the course of the river a number of times. Uplifting along geologic faults as crustal plates push against each other and the volcanic flow created mountains, giant folds in the land. The land splits and the gorge is formed.

The Gorge bisects the High Cascades Mountains; an extension of the Sierra Range running from the tip of South America well into Canada. They are large, angular, snowy, and due to plate tectonics and volcanism still growing. The most famous would probably be Mount St. Helens (8,364-feet tall) whose explosive 1980 eruption was a reminder of the forces involved. The tallest of the Mountains are: in Oregon Mt Hood (11,239 feet) and in Washington Mount Rainier (14,410), and Mount Adams (12,276). All four are visible at some point when traveling from Portland up the gorge.

[The resulting landslide when the north face of St Helens blew off had a volume of over half (0.56) a cubic mile, reducing the mountain 1,300-feet in height. The cloud of ejected debris, smoke, and dust hung on the horizon looking like a nuclear blast.]

Permanent glaciers dot the range today. During the Pleistocene, the last ice-age, a thick glacier covered much of North America. Glaciers are not large smooth continuous chunks of ice, but craggy and broken, with deep crevasses. The shortest distance is a straight line doesn’t apply here. In some places the ice acted as a dam retaining water as a lake, a tricky balance in temperature between frozen and non-frozen water. A number of these lakes existed throughout the world, some for extensive periods of time. The volume of these lakes increased, sometimes dramatically, as the ice melted.

What remains of Lake Bonneville is the Great Salt Lake of Utah. At one time it covered almost 20,000-square-miles. About 14,000 years ago the earthen dam at Red Rock Pass, Idaho, eroded to the point of collapse. Water seeks the course of lowest resistance. Over a period of several weeks the lake’s level dropped 300-feet as the water rushed out. It flowed into the Snake River and filled the gorge known as Hell’s Canyon lying between Oregon and Idaho. Peak flow is estimated at 33 million cubic feet per second. The Snake then empties into the Columbia, which carried the flood through the gorge.

Whoosh.

[The ten-mile wide Hell’s Canyon, world’s deepest, is 8,000-feet at its deepest and averages 5,500-feet. The flood did not carve it but did enhance it.]

Ancient Lake Missoula stretching over 200-miles, primarily in modern day Montana, contained 520-cubic-miles of water, maintained by a glacier ice-dam blocking the Clark Fork River. Periodically the ice-dam failed and floods ensued. About 13,000 years ago the ice-dam broke for the last time. And although this time period, as the last ice-age came to a close, saw global flooding of low-lying regions, the Missoula Floods were, probably, the largest ever seen. Moving at speeds of up to 65-miles-per-hour the water scoured topsoil and rock in its path, leaving behind what is known as channeled scabland, an indelible mark on the landscape. Reaching depths of 800-feet the swiftly moving water submerged Crown Point, as it moved into and down the narrow Columbia River Gorge. The lake is estimated to have drained in about 48-hours.

[The cliff-face at Dry Falls, Washington, once supported the world’s largest waterfalls.]

[Upon reaching the upper end of the Willamette Valley flood waters spread out and as the water slowed in filling this wider space the soil dropped out, settling to the valley floor to enhance the top-soil already there. The Willamette Valley, named for the river running through it, has some of the richest farmland in the world.]

Five-hundred years ago part of Table Mountain, on Columbia’s north bank, broke off, the massive landslide creating a 5-mile 200-foot tall natural dam, a lake 80-miles long and perhaps 100-feet deep forming behind. Gradual erosion undermined it to the point where -- that’s right -- it flooded, a wall of water up to 50-feet high broke through sweeping everything in its path, shifting the riverbed south. What remained of the natural dam, a series of large boulders and wild white-water rapids, is the source of the name for the surrounding mountain chain: Cascades.

These events gave rise to myths about the creation and destruction of the "Bridge of the Gods" and a number of the Cascade Mountains. Some, especially those involving Loowit, saw a popular resurgence after the eruption of Mt St. Helens in 1980.

Beacon Rock marked the end of the rapids. Now a State Park, at 848-feet tall is the world’s second largest monolith, behind Gibraltar, and the core of an ancient volcano. Featured in William Clark's journal, it was at here that they noted the tidal influence and knew they were close to the ocean. However, some scientists claim the tidal influence isn’t actually measurable here and that their "observation" was a surmise based upon what they expected to find due to other information they had. Hmmm … whatever.

In 1896 the Cascade Locks were built to ease progress down river. This was followed in 1937 by the Bonneville Dam a primary power source for the region, allowed ships to proceed 100-miles further up river than was originally possible. The river runs deep and placid compared with the wicked and mercurial channel that Lewis & Clark, as well as all those early along the Oregon Trail, had to navigate. The cascades are now all submerged behind the dam.

People lived in the flood zone, for all three events, but the physical evidence in the immediate affected area was destroyed by each catastrophic inundation. As it stands, the oldest physical evidence for human occupation in Oregon is at Fort Rock Cave, in eastern Oregon, where a pair of sandals dating to 9000bce have been discovered. The anecdotal evidence comes from the verbal histories of the various tribes mostly expressed in their mythology. So we know they were there when the amazing and amazingly blue Crater Lake, in southern Oregon, was created in an explosive event within Mount Mazama such as the one that truncated Mount St. Helens.

There are about 70 waterfalls located in the Gorge, the largest concentration of waterfalls found anywhere in the world. Most are on the Oregon side where the gorge walls are steeper and more abrupt. Some are seasonal, run-off from snowmelt, and some are lost beneath the waters beyond the dam. The basaltic flow layers are clearly visible in the cliff walls of such places as Multnomah Falls.

Viewing the Scablands from the air:
Flying in or out of Portland, coming from or going to the east, try to get a seat on the side that will let you see out a window looking north. Also, an early (7-8am) flight leaving or late afternoon/early evening -- do your math if your coming the other direction so that you’ll be in the air above eastern Oregon/Washington and Idaho around 8-9am or during the corresponding later time periods. On a clear day the oblique light will throw the scablands below into high-relief allowing you to get the big picture and truly appreciate how amazing and beautiful they are -- and what a large area they cover.
Scablands map

Other Resources:
--Beautiful but slow loading Relief Map without counties overlaid or with.
--Cascadia Geology (Nice set of links with descriptions.)
--Learn More About Oregon Geology
--Oregon Department of Geology & Mineral Industries
--USGS: Cascades Volcanic Observatory (An absolute wealth of information and photos.)
--Volcano World
--U.S. Geological Survey: Oregon
--Geologic Time (Global geology.)
--The Geologic History of the Columbia River Gorge (pdf)
--Columbia Plateau-Channeled Scablands: Field Course, Internet Resources
--Glossary of Technical Terms Related to Ice-Age Floods