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In our continued spring tour of Oregon our next stop after Sunset Bay was the Columbia River Gorge. The wildflowers are usually out early and reliably in the Gorge and this year did not disappoint. For this trip we stayed on the eastern end of the Gorge and camped out of Memaloose State Park. It served as a good base when higher elevation camps further out were still mostly under snow. From there, we were up Saturday morning and off to find a trail to hike. Our first planned stop had an already overflowing parking lot at 9 a.m. Further up the road we found space at the Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail and started up the hill. I still don’t know where the cherry orchard was, but we were successful in our search for flowers.

It was still early in the season, so it may not have been in full grandeur, but we did identify over 10 flowers in bloom, and the grass widows were in their full early spring glory.

We continued up the trail taking in the views and the flowers. Yes we were the lookie lous that had to keep letting everyone go by on their way up the trail.

Up and up we went. I guess when you are in the Gorge, you either go up or you are on the highway. We went up.

Back at camp we went for a short walk at dusk. There, right out of our camp, were some of the best wildflowers of the weekend!

The next day we explored the Hood River. Maybe there is a steelhead in the future there, but first we needed to find some access points. We stumbled on punchbowl falls on the West Fork, and a set of trails that meander around where the forks of the Hood meet.

The water runs clear, or at least it did when we were there, and it looks fishy. There is no fishing on the West Fork or near the falls, but there were spots that look promising.

Yes spring has sprung in the Gorge. Where will we find ourselves next on this tour? We’ll have to contemplate that on our way back over Mt. Hood.