The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning everyone!

Your ski report today is that Timberline’s open with 3” of new snow. There should be good fresh tracks this morning, but warm temps later today will make the snow thick and gooey and gloppy and bumpy and wet and just not so great later, so get it early.

The best call today is windsurfing or kiting if you’re into those wind-johnny sports. The morning gradient was huge (okay, really big, anyway): .17 from Portland to The Dalles, and the clouds were breaking up in Hood River. That’ll give us 28-32 at Mosier, Doug’s, and Lyle this morning, with a 50/50 chance of the wind filling in to the wall. Give the Corridor until 9:34am or so to steady out, and it will fill in too for a big day at the hatchery, which is wear I’m headed. If you’re joining me, one lane is open on SR 14 today, according to the WSDOT website (how do you say “WSDOT”?).

Westerlies in the 17-20 range early tomorrow morning fade to very light west winds as high pressure builds across the Cascades, brining sunshine to the east and west and the Cascades and everywhere in between. Thursday looks light as well.

With no rain in the forecast, this is a week to mountain bike. Post Canyon is currently the Superbowl of tackiness – that report comes from Dirty Fingers bike Repair, Hood River’s hub of bike repair productivity. Actually, there are a few muddy spots to avoid, but Clint and Maddie reported great conditions last night!

On the rivers, the Hood’s at 4 ft, the White Salmon’s at 3.6ft, the Wind River’s at 607cfs, and the Little White’s at 616cfs.

If you would like to be fed a free buffet dinner and learn about home energy savings, or if you’d like to learn about home energy savings and be fed this evening, come to the NW Natural and Energy Trust Workshop at the HR Library tonight (another reason to vote for the library district). You’ll need to preregister: Email Tonya Brumley, tlb@nwnatural.com or call 541-296-2229 ext 8610, 1-800-422-4012 ext 8610 or register online at energytrust.org under events and education. Thanks to Ron Martin, the free food maestro, for that information. I am sure the food will be good, but the home energy savings will allow you to purchase your own food in the future!

Have a great day today. I’ll see you at the Hatch!

Temira

Good morning!

Believe it or not, it’s snowing again in the mountains this morning.. If you like lift-serve skiing, Meadows is closed til Saturday, so you’re headed to Timberline, where it’s 28 degrees with 1 inch of new snow and 10-20 mph wind. They should get a few more inches of snow today, making for good skiing by afternoon. I was hoping we were going to end up with 6-8” of new, but now it’s looking like we’ll get 3-4 instead. Awwwww…..

On the river today, it was blowing in the upper twenties at 5am at Arlington as a front moved east, but that will be short-lived. Winds die quickly, dropping to the 10-15 range through the entire Gorge until mid-afternoon, when an upper low crosses Oregon. At that point, winds pick up to 23-27 from Doug’s to Arlington, with gusty 16-19 under the clouds from Stevenson to Mosier. If you haven’t heard, the E.coli advisory has been lifted, so you can sail at Rowena, Doug’s, and Lyle with no more danger than the usual pollution dangers of the Columbia River.

Tomorrow sees high pressure rebuild at the coast for stronger, steadier wind in our neck of the woods. Gvien the amount of clouds today, the steadiest wind will probably be at Doug’s, Rowena and Lyle tomorrow, but that’s just a guess at this point. I think we’ll see low twenties early, (yes, that’s Dawn Patrol), picking up to 26-30, possibly 30+, by midday. If we get lucky, winds will back up to the Hathcery and Corridor tomorrow. I say “lucky” because I like sailing the Corridor best. =) If you’re headed to the
hatch, one lane is open on SR14 between the bridge and the Hatch today and tomorrow.

In bike land, it’s muddy out there again, due to last night’s rain. If the rain backs off, you can join the Alternative Ride out of Mountain View cycles. No spandex, no clipless pedals. Bring lights, a helmet, and your appetite, because you’re headed to the Thirsty Woman for dinner.

That’s it for today. Have an awesome day today. I’m going to paint the bathroom today… I swear… unless I can find other projects to do instead….

Temira