Hood River to Mosier

We really enjoy Hood River. We went this weekend because we're members of Naked Winery there and they have a pick up party every 3 months. This was our second one. Also, it is our 40th month as a couple (woohoo!)- what better way to celebrate than enjoying the outdoors!? I've been looking forward to today since last weekend's outdoor fun. Thus, it was the longest 4-day week ever. 

Waited all week for this view! (click for a larger version)

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On Tuesday night, we went to a meeting at REI  hosted by Friends of the Columbia Gorge about Fall Hiking in the Gorge. While there, we learned about some really cool places to hike and bike and picked the 5-mile paved Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail between Hood River and Mosier to ride today. We also learned that National Geographic Traveler named the Columbia River Gorge a top destination in 2009 (I think it was tied for 10th in the world of 133). See the article here and an excerpt here. Bonus is that I won an out-of-print comprehensive book of wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge and next year's goal is to start finding, pressing, and framing them. 

The weather was perfect! Not too hot, warm breeze, some sun, and some shade. The trail is easy enough for kids, but there are some long stretches of uphill. I think the uphills were harder on the way back but there was also an equal amount of downhills and flats, and only the far east section was relatively steep. I wore my heart rate monitor and had fun sharing with Matt what my percentages were and whether it qualified as fat burning or fitness. For the most part I maxed out at 88% on the uphills and the high 60's/ low 70's for downhills and flats.  

We originally thought the trail was 7 miles, so when we made it to Mosier we were not the least bit ready to be done. We biked about another mile and a half past Mosier mostly uphill and decided to turn around when we realized the scenic lookout we saw a sign for was another several miles uphill. It was a really nice break to coast down hill for a while! Then we hit the really hard uphill from Mosier to the trailhead and the first mile of the trail is all uphill too! I hit 91% on the heart monitor, but I'm blaming lack of shade trees. 

There are two tunnels about a mile from the east trailhead and there is a carving in the rock wall where two folks were snowbound in the tunnels for several days. One really cool thing about this trail is that you pass cross into a different climate zone. On the west (Hood River) side is a forest of fir trees and other common western Oregon plants. After passing through the tunnels you emerge into a semiarid terrain with ponderosa pines. 

We went a total of 14 miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes (that includes our stops at lookout points and water breaks). Afterward relaxed at the winery and then went to get oven-fired pizza at Double Mountain. I had a nut brown ale that was only 3.5% alcohol but after the wine tastings (which probably amounted to 1 1/2 glasses of wine) I still felt buzzed. This was the first week where we have implemented the new goal of only having alcohol two days a week max instead of our usual glass every night. I wanted to do it in an effort to rehydrate myself, because I don't drink near enough water and I really need to stop drinking things that exacerbate the issue. Matt was gracious enough not just to support the idea, but reluctantly join in. We have spent the rest of the evening downing glasses of water, and watching the semi-finals of the US Open.

Cheers!