The Gorge is my Gym

East winds pick up today as high pressure intensifies over the desert. With pre-dawn gradients at .12, it’s going to be a great day for kiting or windsurfing in Stevenson or at Rooster. I’m thinking we’ll see 20-24 today, or this morning at least, with winds fading this afternoon.

Personally, I think you should go ride Plains of Abraham on St. Helens. Half of Hood River rode it yesterday, so the other half of you might as well head up there today. There’s still a little snow from last week’s early storm, so the views are pretty amazing up there. I think this is the most beautiful ride around (with one of the best downhills around), so if you haven’t ever been there, now’s your chance.

Tomorrow is looking pretty light as a weak marine push cools off the coast. Most likely we’ll see light east winds switching to light westerlies by late afternoon.

At this point, it looks like the marine layer will make its way into Portland on Sunday, setting up a decent west wind day in the central gorge. I think it’s going to be a little cold in the desert on Saturday night for dawn patrol Sunday, but I think we’ll see winds in the mid-twenties at some point Sunday.

If you like surfing, you’re probably already on your way to the coast. If not, you should know that it’s 6.5 feet at 13 seconds today and sunny, and 11 feet at 14 seconds tomorrow, with more sunshine and almost no wind. Magic Seaweed’s giving it four stars both days, so throw your surfboard in the car and head west!

In other news, mark you calendar for a Cook’s Meadow work party this Sunday. Dirty fingers is calling this one the “Jimmy T and Me work party,” named for Ranger Jim, without whom we wouldn’t have many of the trails around here. This is your chance to help build a new trail off the 44 road, as well as increase your mountain biking karma.

Speaking of biking. One final note on the Hood River gas tax. If you enjoy having gravel-free roads (yes, you do like the street sweeper, you road biker, you), please vote for the gas tax.

It’s really starting to feel like fall in the Gorge. The nights are getting colder, and the wind can’t decide which way to blow. On top of that, it’s getting really hard to put out an accurate wind forecast, as you might have noticed yesterday. I notice this every year. I kill the forecast in the summer, and then after Labor Day, I get it right about 2/3 of the time. Frustrating. Anyway, today’s going to be an east wind day, as high pressure builds across the Gorge. I think we’ll see 17-21 in Stevenson by this afternoon.

As the high builds overnight, easterly gradients build too. By tomorrow, east winds pick up into the 23-26 range in the morning in Stevenson and at Rooster Rock. With high temps around 90 tomorrow, we’ll likely see the usual midday east wind fade at Stevenson.

At this point, it’s looking like the east winds will hold through Sunday, for yet another windy weekend.

In other news, the mountain biking is perfect right now. Seriously. Perfect isn’t a word to be used lightly, but it’s absolutely epic on the trails right now. I have perfection reports from Post Canyon and Surveyor’s and Knebal and basically anything on the 44 road.

If you’re looking for something else to do, check out Crossfit at Children’s Park in Hood River. It’s every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 630 am and 530 pm, and it’s free.

Finally, mark you calendar for a Dirty Fingers trail work party this Sunday. Give them a call for more details.

Whatever you do today, have an awesome day!