hiking - The Gorge is my Gym

Even though it was pretty light out there when I wrote this forecast, it looks like we’ll see more west wind today. It’s going to be in the 10-15 range near Hood River early, but with the gradient at .09 at 5am, the wind will pick up to 17-20 from Stevenson to Mosier by mid-morning, picking up to 22-25 in the afternoon.

This weekend is Windfest in Hood River, and that usually stops the wind from blowing. This year it looks 50/50, but not windy enough to test the small gear. Even so, you can swing by for free clinics, socializing, and a concert at the Waterfront Park on Saturday night from 6-10pm. As for Windfest wind, it looks like we’ll see a light start on Saturday in the 5-10 range, picking up to 16-19 in the afternoon near Hood River. Sunday looks like a very light wind day, with the possibility of no wind at all.

The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

That means the windsurfing and standup paddle blowouts will probably happen Saturday, so sign up now at vmgevents.com and make sure you’re ready to race Saturday morning.

The Big Winds Big Loop contest window is now open, through June 29th. If you’re a windsurfing, get a video of yourself doing a big forward, a big back loop, or a big crash, and post it on Big Winds Facebook page and you could win some great swag from local windsurfing companies.

In mountain biking news, you can ride with the Disco Divas every Friday morning. This week they’re riding Post Canyon, but the meet time today is early, 8:30am, so if you missed it, join them next week. If you want to make the trails better, there’s a work party on Mobius Strip tomorrow morning. Meet at the bottom of Post Canyon Road at 9am.

Speaking of Post, just a reminder that the upper flat portion of Mitchell Ridge is now closed due to logging. The bypass is open. Just take a right down the road when you exit Spaghetti Factory and take a left where you see the laminated sign by a bridge. Follow the sticks in the ground marked with yellow survey tape, and you’ll come out on the top of the Mitchell Ridge downhill.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the sad-looking link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til June 2012, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.

Well, I slept in again this morning trying to recover from the Solstice, and guess what? It’s really windy. The gradients are .09/.12/.27 and the low clouds are past Hood River. Normally I’d tell you to skip the Hatch with this setup, but it’s blowing in the mid-twenties there now. It’s also in the mid-thirties at Arlington. So where should you go today? Well, I think we’ll see the strongest, steadiest wind at Rowena/Doug’s/Lyle/Mosier (26-30). Although it’s 34 at Arlington now, I think it’s going to back off into the 24-28 range. As for the Corridor, well, 23-26 unless the clouds burn back a bit.

The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

Coming up tomorrow, we’ll see a light start, with westerlies in the 10-15 range. By midday, the wind from Hood River eastward goes to 17-20, picking up to 23-26 later in the afternoon. On Saturday, west winds blow in the 17-20 range from Stevenson eastward.

Coming up either Saturday or Sunday, it’s the windsurfing blowout, where a hundred or so sailors race downwind from Stevenson to Hood River. There’s also a standup paddle race from Viento to Hood River. Check out vmgevents.com for more information. Speaking of events, Windsurfing Mag has a forward loop contest going on. Biggest loop caught on video wins.

This weekend is Windfest at the Hood River Event Site, where you can check out all sorts of new gear, get some free lessons, and hear some great music.

If you’re a mountain biker remember that the upper part of Mitchell Ridge trail is closed due to logging, but there’s a bypass if you ride down Post Canyon Road. I flagged the bypass trail with small sticks with small pieces of yellow survey tape last night, as there are lots of intersections. Dirt bikers, Post Canyon Road is closed about 1.5 miles up the dirt part, so Post Flats staging area is inaccessible from below.

Finally, tonight is the Post and Pint bike ride out of Dirty Fingers Bike Repair. Meet at the shop at 5:30. Ride the trail, and then drink Mitchell’s beer. Just don’t ride Mitchell’s Ellsworth bike, or you’ll want one.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira