hiking - The Gorge is my Gym

Ever try to get in to see your chiropractor, only to be told you’re waiting a few days? Every been hurt on a Saturday? Hood River Chiropractic, located downtown above Flow Yoga, can help you out. Docs Michelle and Alex (who rips Post Canyon all the time) can get you in, even on a Saturday. These two understand you don’t want to slow down because you’re hurt. They’ll work with you to formulate a recovery plan that allows you to keep doing the things you love (like ride Post). They take insurance, they offer cash discounts, and they’ll make sure you get the treatment you need. Finally, if you need some supplements (no, not EPO or HGH), they’ll do customized nutritional analysis to make sure you’re only getting the supps you really need. To book an appointment, give them a call: 541-406-0849. Two of the lucky people on the email version of this forecast will win free chiropractic appointments this week.

Every two weeks your forecaster gets a couple of days off from the radio. When that happens, she sleeps in. Sleeping in is a lovely activity. It’s almost as much fun as windsurfing, kiteboarding, mountain biking or kayaking. Unfortunately, it means you get a late forecast.

But in exchange, I did the drawings this morning. Congrats to Jon C. and Stephen S. who won Henni’s gift certificates. And… (drum roll) congrats to Emily P. for picking up a kiteboarding lesson from Cascade Kiteboarding (oh look, there’s Emily!!!). And… if you’d like to experience Crossfit free for two weeks, email me today and I’ll draw a name. Deadline is 8pm.

It doesn’t help that one of the weather models I use is currently down, which means there’s even more guessing thrown in that usual. The gradients this morning are .10/.05, and there’s a front approaching from the coast and marine clouds west of Hood River. However, there’s not much in the way of offshore support for today. So, let’s call it 19-23 this morning from Hood River to Mosier. Then how about 90 minutes of decent wind in the Corridor. Then, if the clouds burn off in Stevenson, we’ll see 24-27 there, and then the wind will get gusty near Hood River (this is a frontal system, after all), and fill in at Maryhill (gusty) and Arlington (less gusty) in the 24-27 range. Doug’s and Rowena will probably be gusty today too.

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

Mother Nature brings in more clouds tomorrow, but she throws a monkey wrench in the works in the form of an upper low off the coast. We’ll see light wind early and 5-10 late. The front finally starts to clear the area on Wednesday, with light wind in the morning picking up to 15-18 late in the afternoon. At this point, the wind looks light after that for a couple of days as high pressure builds across the Cascades.

If you’re bored this evening, don’t forget about the Alternative Ride out of Mountain View Cycles at 6:15. Please guys, helmets and lights if you’re going on this one.

In continuing PSAs, it’s time for the CGWA yearly windsurfer awards. You can send in your nominations here. I’m suggesting everyone nominate Dave Brown for the Dale Cook award. Dave’s the one out there on the 1990-something Hot Sails throwing huge port jumps. Other awards: Most stoked, most selfless, best grom and windsurfer of the year.

Also, if you’re around September 5th, you can help CGWA get some cash by volunteering as a semi-lifeguard for the Roy Webster Cross-Channel Swim. CGWA gets $50 for each of you who signs up to volunteer.

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 link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til August 2012, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors. If you don’t PayPal, you can send a donation to PO Box 841 in Hood River, 97031.

If you want to learn to kite, you want to learn from the best, and around here, that’s Cascade Kiteboarding. Why? On-the-water lessons take place at the west end of Well’s Island, away from the chaos of the sandbar. Your lesson will be one-on-one, with radio helmet instruction, this year’s gear from Da Kine and Liquid Force, and dedicated jetski assistance. And let me point out that Cascade Kiteboarding is the ONLY school with those radio helmets, so it’s the one school where you won’t have an instructor yelling at you while you’re learning. One of the lucky people on the email version of this forecast will win a two hour kiteboarding lesson later this week.

As expected given the kiteboarding event going on, the wind is holding off again this morning, although they did get some heats off in yesterday’s east wind. We’ll see light westerlies slowly building today, picking up to 15-18 in Stevenson mid-afternoon and filling in towards Hood River in the early evening. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the wind picks up early enough to get all the heats done.

Tomorrow looks a bit stronger as a system makes its way inland. The wind should be out of the west at 15-18 early, picking up to 22-24 by early afternoon. Because there’s a cold front in the picture, we’ll probably see a couple of hours of steady wind at Hood River before the focus shifts to Stevenson and the eastern Gorge.

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

We’ll have low pressure off the coast on Tuesday – yes, the dreaded upper level low – so we’ll start off with light wind. At this point, it’s looking like all we’ll see is westerlies in the 5-10 range in the afternoon.

In events, the Bridge of the Gods kitefest continues today, but the kiteboard blowout is cancelled. The Gorge Paddle Challenge also continues today. If you’re a dirt biker, you’ll want to make the Joe Lawry memorial ride today, meeting at the Mud Lot at 10:30. Everyone will be celebrating Joe’s life and his contributions to trails all over the Valley.

Coming up tomorrow, it’s free Tai Chi at 5:30 at Wilson Park and the Alternative Ride leaving Mountain View Cycles at 6:15.

And finally, in the “just plain interesting” category, the Western States Blacksmith Conference is going on in Government Camp today. Head on over for the blacksmith wars this morning, starting at 9am.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira