Originally Posted by
Andy_K
I was one of apparently many people inspired by the recent thread @
gugie started on the Columbia River Gorge. I road the historic highway (and a couple of side roads) from Troutdale to Ainsworth State Park and back with @
gugie and @
SquireBlack. Here's a pic of them at Crown Point, probably wondering how long it's going to take me to get up that climb and rejoin them.
There's a curve on the route with a cutout of a cliff. The cliff overhangs the road quite a bit, and doesn't appear to be a stable rock formation - sedimentary rock on top of igneous?
@
SquireBlack coming around the corner.
Sheer dropoff on the outside of this corner.
@
Andy_K at the same spot.
Temps in the Gorge were a bit lower than in nearby Portland, and we were in the shade most of the time. It was nice to hit some sunlight on the way back - the Gorge is an out and back ride. There are a few options to parallel Hwy 30 to avoid car traffic, but the tradeoff is a bit more climbing. @
SquireBlack was feeling frisky and suggested the "less traffic, more hills" gambit. We took some of them, but decided to skip the hilliest one as Andy's and my legs were getting tired. Somewhere past Women's Forum the traffic changes from tourists to locals, you see fewer electric cars and more pickups. The tourists often sit behind you, I'll peek around the corner and wave them around when it's safe enough on slow moving climbing sections.
Even on a nice, sunny day in March where the Multnomah Falls parking lot was at capacity the traffic to and from the falls was fairly light.