Some time ago I bought a contour/trail map of the Columbia Gorge. dw and I have just used it once when we hiked in and near Catherine Creek S.P. (this area is on the Washington side of the river, about 10 miles east of Hood River) But in looking for interesting hikes, I noticed Major creek -- the next drainage east of Catherine creek. The map shows Major creek's head water to be in a steep, deep and narrow canyon that I thought would be an interesting and scenic place to hike but there didn't appear to be any access. Yesterday I decided to explore the area myself -- perhaps to discover a hither-to unrecorded scenic wonder. I drove to the area, ending on a two mile one lane gravel/dirt road that dead-ended at an off-the-grid house. I talked with the guy who lived there, and he was friendly enough, but he said the road was impassible from that point on, and he didn't offer to let me proceed on foot. I retreated to a wide spot, parked, crossed the creek (knee deep) to National Forest land and started up stream. (Actually, I was already thinking the project was a bad idea). I went on for an hour+ -- bushwhacking, animal trails, mud and poison oak working up and down low cliffs -- finally
admitting to myself that at the rate I was going it was going to take two or three days, AND IT WASN'T ANY FUN, so I returned to the car. (stripping down to my skivvies and washing up a bit when I re-crossed Major creek)
Rather than wasting the drive, I parked near Catherine S.P. and hiked up the west top-side of Major Creek canyon. And that hike was wonderful. The weather was ideal: cool (low 70's) with a light breeze. I went about 5 miles round trip, gained and lost 1500 feet, all through an oak savanna with a great view of the river, snow covered Mt. Hood, capped with a lenticular cloud, looming in the background. There were lots of wild flowers (particularly lupines) but no clusters that were worth photographing. At the top of the hike, I topped out of the gorge and had a view of Mt Adams. I saw a couple of deer, some coyote poop, a leg of a killed/winter-kill (?) deer (probably three weeks old) and on one section of the trail a lot of bear poop. And for a quarter of the hike, both up and down, some sort of bird was twirping his little happy song. (that's sappy enough to require a towel)
On the way back home, I met a new Mustang convertible, top down, with something sticking up above the windshield. When we passed I could see it was a black lab, feet on the dashboard, chin resting on the top of the windshield, and looking like the happiest dog in the world.
A couple of days ago, fairly bored, I turned to the web to see if there is somewhere close that is worth a visit. Close, and someplace we haven't explored before. Reading about Longview and Kelso Washington, I discovered that Kelso is the Smelt Capital Of The World! Thus The United States is neatly bracketed by fish: Waddington, N.Y. in the east -- the Carp Capital Of the World -- and Kelso, WA. in the west -- the Smelt Capital of the World. DA
admitting to myself that at the rate I was going it was going to take two or three days, AND IT WASN'T ANY FUN, so I returned to the car. (stripping down to my skivvies and washing up a bit when I re-crossed Major creek)
Rather than wasting the drive, I parked near Catherine S.P. and hiked up the west top-side of Major Creek canyon. And that hike was wonderful. The weather was ideal: cool (low 70's) with a light breeze. I went about 5 miles round trip, gained and lost 1500 feet, all through an oak savanna with a great view of the river, snow covered Mt. Hood, capped with a lenticular cloud, looming in the background. There were lots of wild flowers (particularly lupines) but no clusters that were worth photographing. At the top of the hike, I topped out of the gorge and had a view of Mt Adams. I saw a couple of deer, some coyote poop, a leg of a killed/winter-kill (?) deer (probably three weeks old) and on one section of the trail a lot of bear poop. And for a quarter of the hike, both up and down, some sort of bird was twirping his little happy song. (that's sappy enough to require a towel)
On the way back home, I met a new Mustang convertible, top down, with something sticking up above the windshield. When we passed I could see it was a black lab, feet on the dashboard, chin resting on the top of the windshield, and looking like the happiest dog in the world.
A couple of days ago, fairly bored, I turned to the web to see if there is somewhere close that is worth a visit. Close, and someplace we haven't explored before. Reading about Longview and Kelso Washington, I discovered that Kelso is the Smelt Capital Of The World! Thus The United States is neatly bracketed by fish: Waddington, N.Y. in the east -- the Carp Capital Of the World -- and Kelso, WA. in the west -- the Smelt Capital of the World. DA
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