The Gorge Is My Gym

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Good morning,

Update: Uh yeah… the Dog River Enduro is NEXT weekend. Sorry for the confusion. I’m only perfect when it comes to forecasting the wind. 😉

West wind continues today as low pressure sits in the desert. We’ll see 17-20 from Stevenson to Mosier early, picking up to 23-26 by midday, and filling in at Doug’s, Rowena and Maryhill this afternoon. Tomorrow loks similar to today. We should see 15-18 early from Hood River to Mosier first thing in the morning, picking up to 21-24 from Hood River to Rowena in the afternoon.

At this point, Sunday isn’t looking very windy. The models aren’t agreeing yet, but it looks like we’ll see light west winds in the 10-15 range.

If you are interested in a coast trip, it looks like 15-20 on the central coast today with 4 feet at 16 seconds, and tomorrow on the coast looks like light wind, with a 3 foot swell at 15 seconds.

If you were planning on the Doug’s Beach work party on Saturday morning, you can make other plans because it’s cancelled due to high water. Instead, swing by Windance for snacks and coffee and schmoozing with the legendary Jimmy Lewis starting at 10am. After a social morning, there will be free demos of Jimmy Lewis standup boards and kiteboards starting at noon at a to-be-determined location.

In mountain bike world, if you want another trail, 8-mile is open other than a few patches of snow.

Moving on, Oregon Parks and Rec is doing a photo shoot on 6/27. They are looking for volunteers to be in some of the photos. They would like to shoot some 4×4’s such as Jeeps and other vehicles that are not too radical in design. They are also in need of a few 8 to 10 year olds that can pose for certain shots with quads and motorcycles. OPRD will supply all the gear the kids need to wear as well as motorcycles and quads. This is a good opportunity to help out OPRD and to have your photos seen by the public. This sounds like a fun photo shoot! Contact Ian Caldwell at (541) 410-5512 for specifics.

And finally, I’d like to tell you about the extreme tanning session I had with Denise yesterday in the hopes that you can learn from our mistakes.

Tanning is always a dangerous sport, as it can result in sunburn, so it must be approached with caution. Strict adherence to time limits, generous application of high SPF sunscreen, and careful alignment with the sun are just three must-follow rules for safe tanning. We broke them all.

Not only did we break these rules, but we chose an extreme location for our tanning session. The lawn we chose to lie in was uncut, a dire situation that could result in red spots from touching the grass or uneven tan from grass blade shadows. This lawn was located at approximately 121 feet above sea level, not high enough for any form of altitude sickness, but definitely low enough that if the Dalles Dam had burst due to the unprecedented high water volume in the Columbia, we would have been swept away.

Our chosen location was also in the debris paths of two active volcanoes, Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. Had they erupted, the chances were minimal of Denise and me waking from our sun-induced naps and making it to our cars in time to escape.

Everything turned out all right, although I feel that my lower back might be burned, but you should take our story seriously. If you’re going tanning in the Gorge, take proper precautions. Use sunscreen, don’t tan in a floodplain or volcano debris path, and most importantly, take care to orient yourself correctly so your tan comes out even.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the sad-looking link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til April 2012, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.