Columbia River Gorge - July 11, 2009

(l-r) Patrick, Tollie, Kevin and Greg

(l-r) Patrick, Tollie, Greg and Russ

Patrick riding a Honda 750 Shadow ACE, Tollie riding a Kawasaki 500 Vulcan LTD, Kevin riding a Honda 1100 Shadow, Sabre Greg riding a Kawasaki 900 Vulcan Custom, Russ riding a Honda 750 Magna started out at 7:30 am from Salem, Oregon. We rode east on State Street to the Cascade Hwy then north into Silverton. Then followed Hwy 213 to Scott Mills and back roads to Kokel Corner, Dickey Prairie, Fernwood until we arrived at Hwy 211 just west of Colton, Oregon.

We met up with Eric, riding a Honda 1100 Shadow Sabre, at the Colton Market around 9 am.

Colton Market

Colton Market

The weather forecast said temperatures in 80's but for the first three hours I don't think we broke 60 degrees. We rode to Estacada through Boring, Oregon then on 282nd Ave up to Gresham to the Stark Street Bridge, where we crossed over the Sandy River. We then stared heading east and followed the Historic Columbia River Highway as much as possible.

Our first stop was the Vista House where we had some great views of the Columbia River Gorge.

Vista House

Columbia River Gorge from the Vista House looking east (up river)

Vista House parking lot

Kevin at the Vista House parking lot

Next we stopped at Horsetail Falls.

(l-r): Russ, Patrick and Kevin at Horsetail Falls

Patrick checking out the old car.
I wonder if this car has been on this route a few times before?

We stopped in Hood River to top of our fuel tanks and then rode I-84 for a few miles where we exited at Mosier, Oregon to get back on the old highway.

Break in Mosier, Oregon

The ride from Mosier to The Dalles, Oregon is outstanding. Along the way we pulled off at the Rowena Crest Viewpoint to look over the gorge and the road below. Behind me are the Rowena Loops which have to be one of the best stretches of road you'll ever ride your motorcycle on.

Stopped at Rowena Loops

Kevin with the Rowena Loops in the background

View looking east from the Rowena Crest Viewpoint parking lot

Rowena Crest Viewpoint

Here we are riding the loops. Thanks to Eric for hanging back to take the photo.

We pulled into The Dalles, Oregon around 1 pm where we had lunch. The temperature was now in the upper 80's. I thought it felt good but Russ said it was hot and he was glad to cool off inside.

Lunch stop in The Dalles

Next we crossed over the Columbia River into Washington to follow Hwy 14 back to Vancouver, Washington. The Columbia River Gorge is renowned for it's wind surfing and for good reason. The wind can and does blow in this area as we found out once we started heading west on Hwy 14. For about 50 miles we had a headwind of 40+ miles per hour. Going through some of the tunnels created a vacuum and you needed to be prepared for the sudden wind speed change.

We took a break at Beacon Rock to give our arms a rest from holding on to the handlebars so tight. The scenery was so beautiful along this stretch it was worth it even with the wind blowing in our faces. We talked about how nice it must have been for those traveling east to have it at their backs.

Beacon Rock rest area

Beacon Rock rest area

We arrived in Vancouver at 4 pm and stopped for fuel.
From there Eric split from the group and took I-205 towards Colton while the rest of us worked our way over to the St. Johns Bridge in NW Portland.

We then took Germantown Road, off Hwy 30, to West Union then West Union Road into North Plains. Next we followed Hwy 219 south to Hillsboro leading us over Chehalam Pass to Newberg. After a quick stop in Newberg to get something to drink, we continued on Hwy 219 through St. Paul on our way back to Salem.

The entire trip was 392 miles and took 13 hours including all our stops.

Here is a map of the route we took:


View Larger Map

If you want to read more about the route we took through the Columbia River Gorge, the Oregon Department of Transportation has a very good booklet that shows the route: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/HCRH/images/HCRHbikemap.pdf