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Welcome
to my website.
One
of my favorite things to do is to take a drive out the Historic
Columbia River Highway up the Columbia River Gorge. As a scenic
drive, the Historic Columbia River Highway cannot be beat.
It is beautiful any time of year. I have probably driven it
a thousand times and each time I see something new. It may
be historic, but it never gets old.
It's
Winter in the Columbia River Gorge!
Winter
is an interesting time to drive the Historic Columbia River
Highway in the western part of the Columbia River Gorge. The
leaves are off the trees and many views hidden by summer foliage
come to light. This lush vegitation was not always there.
Prior to the construction of the Historic Columbia River
Highway several fires had swept through the western part
of the Columbia River Gorge. If you look at some of my
Postcards you can see that the views from the highway were
much better then than now. The Highway Department even trimmed
the undergrowth to preserve the views until it was deemed
"unnatural."
If
we are lucky enough to get a really good ice storm (sometimes
referred to as a "silver thaw") in the Columbia
River gorge the waterfalls can be spectacular. These
pictures don't do them justice. If you do head out on
the Historic Columbia River Highway after an
ice storm do it in a four wheel drive vehicle with studded
snow tires. Anything else is suicide. I've seen many wrecks
and stranded cars because some fool thought his/her subaru
with summer tires could make the trip.
The Good Stuff:
Plan
a drive along the Historic Columbia River Highway this weekend
with this map of the Highway from Corbett to Dodson.
Historic
Columbia River Highway Map (Corbett to Dodson)
(requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Cool
off with a Columbia River Gorge hike through the rainforest
this weekend with this map of hiking trails around Multnomah
Falls.
Multnomah
Falls Areas Hiking Map
(requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
For
a longer drive, try the Mount Hood Scenic Loop.
Mount
Hood Scenic Loop Map
(requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Check
out the new additions to the History section under the About
menu:
Highway
Bridges
Shepperd's
Dell Bridge
Benson
(Multnomah Falls) Footbridge
Multnomah
Falls Lodge
Oneonta Tunnel
Recreational
opportunities abound along the Historic Columbia River Highway.
Hiking, biking,
sailing, windsurfing, fishing, photography...the list is virtually
endless.
There
are also many fine museums,
shops, restaurants and lodgings along the Historic Columbia
River Highway.
Slowly
but surely (well, slowly anyway) I'll be adding information
on the Historic Columbia River Highway, the Columbia River
Gorge and activities associated with them to this site.
A
few years ago I bought a set of 1920's vintage Columbia River
Highway (it wasn't yet historic) Postcards on eBay. Little
did I know the enormous piles of Postcards, books, maps, brochures,
ephemera and artwork that one set of Postcards would grow
into. You can see some of this stuff in the Historic
Columbia River Highway Postcards and Historic
Columbia River Highway Ephemera areas. I'll be adding
more from my collection as time and initiative permit.
If
you have a suggestion to improve the site you can email
me here.
About
the Historic Columbia River Highway
History
History
of the Columbia River Highway
Geologic
History of the Columbia River Gorge
Historic
Columbia River Highway Photos
Historic
Columbia River Highway Postcards
Historic
Columbia River Highway Ephemera
Historic
Columbia River Highway Links
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