Friday. Kleeway work party is tomorrow. 8:30am at Family Man. Be there.

Random Morning Thoughts

You know you live in Hood River when… somebody tells you that they spend the summer living in a White Sprinter Van (or any other car, for that matter), and you find yourself more, not less, attracted to them.
 

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Gorge Wind

It wasn’t windy when I rolled off the couch this morning. Gradients were .02 at 6am. Expect the wind to remain light through midday, picking up to 13-16 by 2pm from Stevenson to Mosier and picking up to 22-25 later from Hood River to Rufus, probably strongest near Doug’s, with less wind west and east of that section of river.

Tomorrow starts off light and picks up to 17-21 after 1pm from Stevenson to Mosier. Models suggest we’ll probably see 21-24 late in the afternoon from Hood River to Doug’s.

Sunday starts off with 15-18 or so and picks up just a touch to 17-21 in the afternoon. Strongest wind will be from Hood River to Mosier early and from Stevenson to Doug’s in the afternoon. Monday looks just a touch windier than Sunday.

Out on the coast, expect light wind today with a 3′ W swell at 15 seconds (great surf day!). Tomorrow looks like this (north/central/south): 10-15/15-20/20-25, W 5’@12. Sunday: 10-15/20-25/25-30, W 4’@11.

Models are fluctuating a bit on when we’ll see the Next Big Day. As of yesterday, it was Wednesday. As of this morning, it’s Tuesday. But you know how those long-range models are: useless. That said, if Tuesday still looks good tomorrow, I’m going to clear my schedule. Please, please don’t let the big day be Wednesday. That would not be good for me.
 

Today’s Gorge Wind – these are ranges for the average speed, not a predicted wind range. =)
Your favorite beach	Dawn Patrol	9am- 11:30a	11:30a- 3pm	3pm- dusk
Rooster’s Rocks	clouds	casting	shadows	on buns
Steven’s Locks	light	light	10-13	15-18
Hatchery/White Salmon Sandbar (minus a few for Hood River)	light	5-10	13-16	21-24
Doug’s, etc.	light	5-10	13-16	21-24
Rufus, etc.	light	light	13-16	21-24
Roosevelt, etc.	light	light	8-11	12-15
Temira’s sail: 35-40: 2.9 / 30-35: 3.2 / 26-30: 3.5 23-26: 4.0 / 20-23: 4.5 less than 20: something bigger!
Tonia’s kite: 35-40: 4m / 30-35: 4-6m / 26-30: 5-7m 23-26: 7-9m / 20-23: 8-10 / 15-20: 10-12 / 10-15: 13-15.

Advertising Worth Reading
Camp 1805 Distillery on the Hood River Waterfront

Here’s a sad story: In 1805, Lewis and Clark were camping in Gorge. Unfortunately they’d run out of whiskey upriver, and hadn’t had a drop in months. Well, that won’t happen again. The Gorge has a distillery now: Camp 1805, on the waterfront. Camp 1805 makes Whiskey, Rum and Vodka on site in a handmade copper still. Enjoy handcrafted cocktails in a laid back setting (no minors please) and watch the whiskey and rum flow from the still. Bottle sales on site too. Food coming soon. Let no flask go unfilled, let no life go timidly by. Camp 1805.

 

Gorge Weather

It’s cloudy this morning, as you can see by looking out your window. That’s how I found out is was cloudy this morning: I rolled over on the couch and saw that it wasn’t sunny outside, and instead of drawing the conclusion that the sun was gone, I drew the conclusion that the sky was cloudy. Probably a good choice, as the former conclusion would have ruined my day. I’m not quite ready for the apocalypse.

Anyway, expect decreasing clouds this afternoon as the pesky Upper Level Low (ULL) finally moves east. Temps will be right around 60 early and in the low 80’s this afternoon. Tomorrow looks mostly sunny with temps in the upper 50’s early and low 80’s later. Sunday looks a touch warmer and cloudier as yet another low pressure system affects our region. Temps will be in the low 60’s early and mid 80’s in the afternoon.
 

White Sprinter Van of the Day

 

Road and Mountain Biking

It’s a cloudy day with light wind, and that means it’s a good day to ride any sort of bike anywhere (except Hospital Hill and Whoopdee, which are closed). Remember, Saturday is the Kleeway work party, meeting at 8:30am at Family Man. Wear long pants and gloves, and bring water and snacks.
 

The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear.
Temira approves. Click to join.

 

River Levels / Cheezburger update

The John Day Dam is reading 108kcfs. The Dalles Dam is putting out 102kcfs. The White Salmon is around 2.2′. If you plan on running the White Salmon yourself, remember that there is a riverwide log about 150 yards below Cave Wave. Cheezburger texted me last night that he saw a Snowy Owl fly over his house in the Heights in Hood River. I love Snowy Owls, and have since I was a toddler, and I’ve never seen one in person. I want to see that Snowy Owl so badly! The Columbia River is 72 degrees.

 

Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events

It’s Friday night tonight, and that means there’s Movies in the Park in Cascade Locks, showing The Lego Movie. Wall-E shows in Hood River tomorrow night.

The biggest thing on the scheudle tomorrow is the Kleeway work party. If you are a hiker, biker, runner, equestrian, or any other sort of Seven Streams trail user, please show up at Family Man tomorrow at 8:30am to help the trail adopters prep the trail corridor for the new descending-only trail. Tomorrow’s also the Bridge of the Gods kitefest Blowout for windsurfers and kiters and it’s the King of the Hook freestyle contest tomorrow evening at the Hook in Hood River.

Finally, there is a work party on the Kleeway, the new Seven Streams downhill trail, on Saturday morning at 8:30, with support from the Hood River Area Trail Stewards, Pfriem Brewery, and 10 Speed Coffee. This is a monster project, so if you are a runner, hiker, equestrian, or just a person who uses Seven Streams trail, please come help us on Saturday! Please RSVP here for the work party.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira