Hood River - The Gorge is my Gym

This week’s forecast is brought to you by Cascade Acupuncture Center in Hood River and The Dalles, where the team of 3 acupuncturists (with a whopping 26 years of combined experience) will get you back on the water or trail or horse sooner and better! CAC is credentialed with more than 20 insurance agencies and offers sliding scale treatments and massages so you can spend more money on toys, so you can beat yourself up more and need more acupuncture and massage. =) Until the end of July, bring in 10 cans of food, and get a free Happy Hour acupuncture treatment. Call 541-387-4325 to schedule an appointment. CAC has kindly donated a massage for this week’s giveaway on the email version of this forecast, so somebody out there is going to be one happy Gorgie.

Now, your forecast:

Wow. Did anyone else see the lightning over Mt. Adams around 4am? The radar image implies we still have thunderstorms going in Portland and over Adams if you feel like you missed out.

The Clymb: free membership.
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Before I get to the forecast, I’d like to share a story with you. There’s a bike shop in town called Dirty Fingers. It’s become more than a bike shop; it’s a community of friends who ride together and drink beer together and just happen to get their broken bikes repaired in the same place. In Sandpoint Idaho, there’s a new shop called Greasy Fingers. This shop’s imitation goes far beyond flattery. (warning, story contains profanity)

Okay, now on to the forecast. The gradient from PDX-DLS this morning is a stunning .18. See, we topped 90 degrees yesterday, and now the cool air is back with only 75 degrees forecast for today. That cooldown is a recipe for wind. As of 5am, it was already blowing in the upper teens through the Gorge. We’ll see a quick pickup to 23-26 from Hood River to The Dalles this morning, building to 28-33 from Hood River to Arlington this afternoon. This whole high cloud/thunderstorm problem could be an issue today (mostly because I can’t peg where the marine layer ends), but I don’t think I’d be wrong sending you to the Doug’s/Mosier/Maryhill sections of river if you’re looking for 30+.

Cool air sticks around in the western Gorge tomorrow. Morning wind speeds will be 17-20 or so from Hood River to The Dalles, picking up to 24-27 east of Mosier in the afternoon. The westerlies keep blowing through the Gorge on Wednesday, with 19-23 pretty much all day long.

If you’re a mountain biker, the news today is that the High Prairie trail is now open with all downed trees cleared, so you can now link High Prairie, Knebal, the Da Kine trail, Surveyor’s and Oak Ridge for 25 miles of singletrack, all of which I rode yesterday and am suffering from with sore legs now. I’d like to point something out: Riding up Oak Ridge at 2:30 in the afternoon on a 90+ degree day is a dumb idea. I don’t usually judge people for foolish recreating, but the two pairs we saw riding up in the blazing sun yesterday are going to end up with a Darwin Award. Ape Canyon update: Open, BUT snow at the top, a few downed trees, and snow starting at 3700’ on Abraham Plain. Smith Creek is still no-go due to snow at 3500’. Who wants to be the guinea pig?

Coming up this evening, you’ll find free Tai Chi at Wilson Park in Hood River at 5:30. Also this evening, the Alternative Ride leaves Mountain View Cycles for a slow, casual ride to the Thirsty Woman for drinks and dinner. Everyone is welcome on this ride – it’s not competitive – but you will need a helmet and some sort of light, as you’ll be coming back along the twin tunnels trail after sunset, and you’ll probably have a buzz on, and we all know that beer and bikes don’t mix.

Oh, and the White Salmon is down to 3.25 feet.

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.

Now, your forecast:

First off, thank you to everyone who has emailed me about Subaru dealers and thank you to everyone who answered yesterday’s survey. I am clearly going to have to do a better job of saying “Dick Hannah Subaru” on the snowphone. Not enough of you think it’s hot. 😉

When I looked at the models yesterday, it looked like the marine push was going to happen pretty early today, but now we’re starting off with a light east gradient and it looks like we won’t see the wind pick up until later in the day. We should still see 15-18 late this afternoon from Stevenson to Hood River with less wind further east. If you want it, Stevenson will be the first place to have it.

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Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.
A strong marine push tonight sets up a windy day tomorrow. With deep clouds in Portland and plenty of sun in the desert, we’ll start off with 22-24 from Hood River to Doug’s, picking up to 25-29 near Hood River by midday and going to 28-33 from Doug’s to Maryhill in the afternoon.

Tuesday’s setup looks pretty good too, with a start in the 17-21 range from Hood River to Mosier, picking up to 24-27 from Hood River to Maryhill in the afternoon.

If the wind sports aren’t your cup of tea, you can get your mellow on tomorrow evening at Wilson Park in Hood River with free Tai Chi starting at 5:30. And if that’s a little too mellow, join the Mountain View cycles crew for the Alternative Ride. It’s still pretty mellow, with a no-spandex, no clipless pedals, 14-mile cruise to Mosier and back with a very long stop at the Thirsty Woman. Helmets and some sort of lights are required for this ride. The only not-mellow part of this ride is the beer drinking, so please be over 21 if you’re coming along.

Finally, the river levels: The White Salmon’s at 3.4 feet and the Klickitat’s at 1680 cfs.
Have an awesome day today!

Temira