Thursday-Over the River and Through the Woods

So, this morning it was raining.  Again!!  We spent part of the morning just shopping and browsing some of the shops here in town.  They have some very unique stuff here.

The weather began to improve as the day progressed and we decided to head across the Columbia and explore Washington for a while.

We like to drive up to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Mt. Adams but given the current weather conditions and the fact that the roads up there can be precarious even in good weather we opted for a less challenging drive up along the Klickitat River then looping back to Hood River.

We spotted some turkeys along the road so we were hopeful we would see more wildlife along the way.

At one point we considered turning back because the low hanging clouds were drastically decreasing visibility and one section of the road is just barely 2 lanes and probably closer to 1 and 1/2  right along a very steep hillside.  Because there was nowhere to turn around, we continued on up to the top of the ridge and were treated to some pretty amazing views of the valley.  Don't know if anyone has seen the movie Brigadoon but it seemed like you could just disappear into another world if you stepped through the mist.

As we descended off the ridge top, we got below the clouds and got a much clearer view of the valley and river.  Guess that other world I saw in the mist was just my imagination.

Wildlife was pretty scarce along the trip thus far, just the turkeys and the southbound end of a northbound deer on a hillside.  We headed back towards Hood River down a section of road that we have seen quite a variety of wildlife along in the past, a coyote, a bobcat, some turkeys and several deer.  Today we hit the jackpot.  Elk!!  And not just the hind end of one running through the trees like we've seen in the past.  A whole herd and actually this was only the first of two herds we saw.

Nearing the end of this road we crossed the White Salmon River.  We had considered a whitewater rafting trip on this river while we were here. But now actually looking at the river - Holy crap!--what was I thinking?! Actually, it probably would have been fun but the weather was just not very cooperative right now.  Maybe next time!

Since it was still fairly early, instead of crossing back over to Hood River, we drove back east along the Washington side of the Columbia and crossed back into Oregon at The Dalles so that we could drive another scenic section of Hwy 30. 

You get some pretty spectacular views of the Gorge from this section of highway.

And more wildlife also.

One good thing about the rain.....Rainbows.

Another good thing....The pretty water droplets clinging to everything.

Getting back to Hood River, we took a quick drive up to Panorama Point.  On a clear day there are awesome views of Mt. Hood and the Hood River valley from here.  The valley was quite pretty but Mt. Hood was no where in sight today.  Not even a glimpse.

The clouds even opened up a little to show so blue sky.

Tomorrow is supposed to be much better, weather-wise, so the plan is to drive up Mt Hood to Timberline Lodge and maybe do a little hiking along the way. We'll have to wait and see.