The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning!

There are lots of clouds over Hood River this morning and clear skies out east. Combine that with a .10 gradient from Portland to The Dalles at 5am, and we’re setting up for a good west wind day near Hood River. Give the desert until 10 or 11 to warm up, and give the high pressure a chance to build at the coast some more, and the wind will steady out into the 24-28 range at Mosier and Doug’s. As the clouds burn off, the wind should fill in at the Hatchery, Sandbar and Viento. If you’re headed to the Hatch, one lane is closed on 14 today. The Hatchery itself is open.

Tomorrow looks light, but we’ll probably see 80 degrees, so that’s a good tradeoff. You can try calling Cathy or Dan or Scott for some wakeboarding or waterskiing. With the Columbia temp at 59 degrees now, the total will be 139 tomorrow, so you might be able to skip the 5 mil suit!!!

Westerlies return on Sunday, and things still look good for a big day Monday. If you’re headed to the coast for wind, today looks good from Lincoln City south and the weekend looks good from Astoria south.

In mountain biking world, it’s very muddy out there right now, according to Mitchell, so if you can let Post and Hospital and anything off the 44 road dry out for a day, that would be great. Also, I’ve been getting reports of massive amounts of ticks on the trails, so make sure to check yourself and your riding buddy after you ride or hike. To me, that sounds like a good reason to go skinny dipping after a ride. =)

Boaters, the Wind River’s at 7.2 feet, the White Salmon’s at 4.25 feet, the Hood River’s at 5.4 feet and the Klickitat’s at 2970 cfs. Get out and go rafting or kayaking this weekend – it’s going to be so good, and the river levels are likely going to start dropping after this (we’re done with Junuary, right?) I’m taking a beginner whitewater kayaking class on Monday and Tuesday at Wet Planet. If anyone else is interested, I can give you the details. I’ll be baking brownies to bring to that class.

Coming up this weekend are several fun events. Friends of the Gorge sponsors a road ride through the Gorge on Saturday to benefit… duh… Friends of the Gorge. That indirectly benefits… you and me and everyone we know (and if you haven’t seen that movie, you should). There’s a mountain bike race at Skibowl on Sunday.

Most importantly, It’s free fishing weekend in Oregon, and that means you can cast a line without a license. Back to that in a second… there’s an all-day Steelhead fishing class at Community Ed (different than Special Ed) in Hood River on Saturday. For $17, you can learn all about fishing for Steelhead. So, back to free fishing weekend… makes me think of all the other things we could free up for people to try without a license. Free driving weekend? Free gun owning weekend? Free try-being-a-doctor weekend? Best idea along this theme wins a small tray of homemade brownies!!!

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Whatever you do today, have an awesome day!

Temira

Good morning!

It’s already windy on the Columbia this morning with the Portland to The Dalles gradient at .07 and another .08 out east. In the western Gorge under the clouds, winds blow in the 15-18 range today, but from about Rowena east to Arlington, we’ll see 26-30. My pick today is Rufus and The Wall this afternoon, assuming the current isn’t overly strong. If it is, I pick Doug’s.

Models are having a hard time with tomorrow, but I think we’ll see mid twenties near Hood River, with a little less at Stevenson and Lyle and a lot less in the desert. No matter how much wind we get, it’s going to turn more northerly and get gusty in the afternoon. But more importantly, it’s going to be sunny tomorrow. Saturday does not look windy. However, it looks like we’ll see 80 degrees, and that’s a fine tradeoff. Sunday depends on timing. I expect a big day Monday. =)

If you’re thinking about the coast, it looks great both today through Saturday from Lincoln City south if you’re a windsurfer, and everywhere except Pistol if you kite (unless you like kiting in 35-40). The swell is 7 feet today and tomorrow, 3 on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. Those are west swells with 9 second periods. I wish mine was that short…

If you’re headed over to Syncline to bike or hike, keep your eyes open for rattlesnakes. I had two people tell me yesterday that they’ve seen rattlers, and one dog was bitten already. You may want to leave your dog at home if you’re headed there, and don’t forget, speaking of dogs and biking, that dogs are not allowed on Hospital Hill at this time.

Boaters, the Hood’s at 5.7 feet, the White Salmon’s at 4 feet, and the Klickitat’s at 2980 cfs. I had thought the Wind was done for the season, but with all this rain it’s at 6.7 feet and Wet Planet’s running one last trip down the Wind River on Saturday.

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Have a great day today, and thank you for reading this every morning!

Temira