The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning gorge sports fanatics!

On the river this morning, it was light at 5am. If we’re lucky, we’ll see 16-19 from Stevenson to Hood River late afternoon… head to Stevenson for the earliest wind today. Tomorrow starts off light, but westerlies pick up late in the day at Stevenson and possibly in the corridor as well if the marine push happens early enough. Honestly, don’t plan your day around the wind tomorrow. Monday looks windier, as an upper low slides across Washington… I’m thinking 25-28 or so.

In mountain bike world, it’s awesome out there! Post was great last night, but I have one quick reminder if you’re headed to post: the trail was rerouted and new bridges were built to keep the fish in the stream safe. Keep your horses out of the streams. Yes, that means you with the bridge-scared horsie. The whole point of the reroute was to protect the stream bed and provide horse-friendly bridges. And seriously, if you could be kind enough to use a poop bag so people don’t have to ride bikes or run through piles of horse poo, that would be great!

In other news, this is an early heads up for next Saturday. It’s everyone’s favorite sporting event: The Dalles Rifle and Pistol club has their annual open house next Saturday. Free ammo and free hot dogs. Yep, it’s your chance to try something totally different. If I didn’t have to work next Saturday, I’d be there. You should too.

And finally, several people have asked me for information about a memorial fund for Jeff Young’s daughter Hannah. If you don’t know the story, Hannah’s mom died suddenly, with no advance warning, a few years ago. Hannah is 16, and although I’m sure she has plenty of support in the community, she is an orphan and could use what you can spare. Those interested in donating to the fund can visit an U.S. Bank branch and make a donation to the Jeff Young Memorial Fund or they can mail a check to the address below. Thank you for your generosity. Every bit helps.

Jeff Young Memorial Fund
c/o US Bank
1309 12th St
Hood River, OR 97031

Have a great day today.

Temira

Good morning!

If you’d like to go windsurfing today, best conditions will be on the North Coast. That’s not exactly the Gorge, but who cares, because there’s at 3 foot SW swell at 14 seconds with 20-25 knots. If you can find a protected spot like Oswald West or Pacific City, the surf is going to be awesome too! If you’re sticking around here, light easterlies are the call today, with 16-19 in Stevenson and at Rooster.

Westerlies return tomorrow afternoon with 17-21 in the Corridor. Sunday looks light.

The mountain biking is excellent right now. Post is good, Nestor is good, hospital is good, but cow-affected, which means no dogs are allowed at this time. The Whoopdee trail (thank you, SDS) and the East Ridge trail are also in perfect riding shape.

With the light winds and warmer temperatures over the weekend, the road biking should be fantastic too. NOAA’s calling for it to be around 70 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, so it’s going to be shorts and t-shirt riding weather.

Finally, if you’d like to say goodbye to Jeff Young, there is a service for him at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hood River today at 4pm. Also, if you’d like to say a virtual goodbye or see some pictures of him, or leave some words for his daughter, here’s his Facebook memorial page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Friends-of-Jeff-Jefferson Young/117174624979689?ref=ts

That’s it for today. Remember, listen to your life, because all moments are key… have a great day today!

Temira