Pendleton, Portland - Lewis and Clark Caravan - Part 11 (STR-2022…

Thursday, 16 June - Day 37

Today was another travel day - from Clarkston, WA to Pendleton, OR. We departed early to play golf enroute at Touchet Valley Golf Course in Dayton, WA. In trying to arrange getting to play with the brother of one of our caravan mates, we knew it was not much of a course. It is a county nine hole course, but when we arrived, we learned holes 3 and 4 were closed due to standing water, and the Par 5 hole 5 was reduced to a 105-yard Par 3. They suggested we play hole 7 & 8 twice to make nine holes which were laid out on the infield of the adjacent horse track - we had to cross the horse track to the infield to play them.

Although a rinky dink golf course, we enjoyed getting out to play for the first time in over two weeks. And despite its rinky dick nature, it was better than the last course we played in Fort Pierre, SD.

We enjoyed a scenic drive - wheat and canola fields - as we made our way to Pendleton, OR.

In Walla Walla, WA, we stopped at the Fort Walla Walla Museum. We learned there were three fur trading Fort Walla Wallas, and three military Fort Walla Wallas.

Much of the main exhibit halls were focused on farming. Mechanical reapers and threshers made wheat farming on the sloped fields possible. One of the more interesting exhibits was a 1919 combine, hitch and 33-mule team.

33 Mule Team

After getting settled at the Wildhorse Resort RV Park in Pendleton, OR, Darrell helped Bob in troubleshooting his converter, a project from last evening. After poking around, we determined the converter was defective.

While Bob and Jean ran into town to get a new converter, an impromptu gathering of the caravan developed. Someone said it would be nice if we had a drone shot - which Darrell was happy to oblige.

Friday, 17 June - Day 38

Last night was Sprinty's first night in Oregon, earning him his 48th state camped in.

Today was a ride-share day in Pendleton, OR. First up was a visit to the Pendleton Woolen Mill store. As a precautionary measure against COVID-19, Pendleton Woolen Mill has suspended tours at both of their mills. So we had to settle with a visit to their mill store. While Pendleton Wool is nice, neither of found anything to buy.

After lunch at Sister's Cafe, we did a group tour of Pendleton Historic Underground. Offbeat described the tunnel network as a Chinese secret, only discovered in the 1980s (www.offbeatoregon.com/H1001e_Pendleton.html). That description differed from our tour guide.

Pendleton Underground Tours started in 1989 giving tours of Pendleton's red light district. The tour was very controversial because part of the subject matter is about gambling, the Chinese, bootlegging and prostitution. In 1990, after opening the "Cozy Rooms" bordello, jails and the Opium Den, the tour became even more questionable. The history of legal and illegal businesses operating in the same area for over 100 years makes the tour unique and like no other tour anywhere. The history of the Chinese in Eastern Oregon and their role in building the west is also unique.

Pendleton Underground Tours claims to be Eastern Oregon's #1 year around tourist attraction. Our docent, Kricket, who has been a guide for Pendleton Underground Tours for 30 years, was a hoot. A common theme with Havre Beneath the Streets was the use of basement spaces for speakeasies during prohibition, Chinese laundry and homes for Chinese to avoid confrontations with liquored up Cowboys.

The city of Pendleton was known as a place to have a good time, with 33 saloons and 18 bordellos located in just a few city blocks. 

An interesting tidbit we learned about was Operation Firefly. In 1944-1945, Japan launched incendiary balloon bombs across the Pacific to set US west coast forests ablaze and cause civilian panic. In May 1945, the military ordered the African-American 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (a.k.a. Triple Nichols) on a classified mission, "Operation Firefly," to find and disarm the balloon bombs. 300 "Triple Nichols" were stationed in Pendleton.

The tour included a tour of the Cozy Rooms, a bordello in operation until 1953. We later learned that one of the ladies that worked in the Pendleton Historic Underground was related to Stella Darby, the madame of the Cozy Rooms (www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-cozy-rooms).

We finished our Pendleton exploring with a visit to the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute located near the campground. The museum exhibits provided an insight into the history, culture and hospitality of the people who have lived on this land for more than 10,000 years. The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute celebrates the traditions of Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes. And how their way of life was altered by the settlers.

Our travel brief this evening morphed into a potluck as Dan and Sheila had a lot of brats that needed to be cooked up as they transitioned from the large residential refrigerator in their 44 foot motorhome to the smaller refrigerator in their Class C rental. And Dan hinted of a future cookout as well.

Saturday, 18 June - Day 39

Today was a travel day to Portland, OR. Reviewing the route, we saw that we were passing right by Multnomah Falls. Like some National Parks, the waterfall corridor near Corbett, OR (east of Portland) is being loved to death, so a time entry permit system has been instituted. As our visit to Multnomah Falls on Sunday with our caravan group would not allow for some waterfall hikes, we decided to do some waterfall hikes enroute.

We secured a 9am timed entry pass for the Multnomah Falls parking lot. We hit the road at 5:30am to try and arrive as close to 9am as possible to be able to get Sprinty parked and hoped to beat some of the forecast rain.

We enjoyed light traffic and arrived about 8:30, so our timed entry permit was not needed. Parking was not an issue for Sprinty as there was only one other RV in the RV/bus parking area when we arrived.

As we reviewed our hiking options, we decided on the Wahkeena Falls Loop Trail starting at Multnomah Falls and hiking the loop clockwise.

Multnomah Falls is impressive - 630 foot drop and the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States.

We started at the base.

And started the long climb. As we climbed up, the Pacific Northwest welcomed us to their climate with drizzle and rain. Or maybe Saturday is the day they recharge the waterfalls?

From the bridge partway up, it is an impressive waterfall.

We continued up the path to the top of Multnomah Falls.

Columbia River from the Multnomah Falls Trail

The trail had 11 switchbacks as we climbed up to elevation 800 feet.

The trail continued up to elevation 1,565 feet, and for most of the climb, the trail followed along the stream feeding Multnomah Falls.

We passed other waterfalls, such as Wiesendanger Falls

After reaching the top, we started the descent to Fairy Falls and Wahkeena Falls.

Wahkeena Falls was impressive as well.

After the hike, we stopped into the Information Center which was not open when we arrived. There we learned out the formation of the Columbia River Gorge - ice age floods.

"We passed several beautiful cascades which fell from a great height over the stupendous rocks. The most remarkable of these cascades falls about 300 feet perpendicularly over a solid rock... on the south side."

Meriwether Lewis, April 9, 1806.

This is the first written record of the falls of the Columbia River.

Quite the workout - our hike wound up being 6.15 miles and 1,716 feet total elevation gain.

After our hike, we made our way to Portland to the Jantzen Beach RV Park on Hayden Island.

Sunday, 19 June - Day 40

This morning was a 8:15 start for a Guided Columbia River Motorcoach Tour. Our guide for the day was a forensic geologist.

Our first stop was Chanticleer Point, Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. It was supposed to be a fantastic view - most photographed view in Oregon according to our guide. Not today - it was socked in with clouds and raining. Visibility was only about 1/4 mile. So we had to look up the view on the internet.

Photo from Internet

Our guide said that this section of the Columbia Gorge had the highest concentration of 200' waterfalls in North America. Many of them are spring fed, so they are not reliant on rainfall.

Our next stop was the Crown Point Vista House built in 1916.

Like the last stop, it was also socked in.

Several exhibits on the design and construction of Historic Columbia River

Highway. Samuel C. Lancaster laid out the Historic Columbia River Highway in 1911-12 to take travelers to the largest concentration of waterfalls in the world.

Apparently the bus is not permitted to drive the Historic Columbia River Highway - maybe because it was too twisty-turny, or they don't allow buses to hold up traffic to disembark/embark passengers. 

As we headed to Multnomah Falls via I-84, we got to take a couple photos of other waterfalls.

We enjoyed our second visit to Multnomah Falls in two days. The weather had cleared up a bit, and was certainly better than yesterday. And it was more crowded - maybe due to better weather. Maybe due to Fathers Day?

We had Sunday Brunch at Multnomah Falls Lodge. After lunch, we went upstream to the Bonneville Dam Visitors Center and Fish Hatchery. Our guide said the Bonneville Fish Hatchery is the largest in the country. At the dam visitor center, we watched the fish swim up the fish ladder, and a movie about the dam.

An interesting exhibit in the Visitors Center was showing the transition of climates along the Columbia River. 

And an exhibit on the geology. The Columbia River Gorge is the only low-level crossing of the Cascade Range.

We drove to Cascade Locks, where the first lock on the Columbia River was installed so that people could navigate upstream and downstream without running the Class V rapids. We crossed over to Washington on the Bridge of the Gods, then turned west. We stopped at Beacon Rock, one of the most prominent and distinctive geological features in the Columbia River Gorge. It is an 848-foot landmark that was once the core of a volcano; what remains is what was not washed away by the massive force of ice-age flooding. It is one of the tallest monoliths (singular piece of rock) in North America, along with California's El Capitan, Georgia's Stone Mountain, and Wyoming's Devils Tower.

Beacon Rock

Monday, 20 June - Day 41

Our 41st day of the caravan was a free day in Portland. As Darrell picked up a cold, it was nice to have a down day with nothing scheduled. We did some minor shopping in the stores across the street - amazed at the security each store had. Makes us wonder what sort of City Portland is that just about every business has a security guard.

One factor that was visible was that Portland has a major homeless situation - seems like we saw evidence of homeless "camps" everywhere. We even saw tents set up right on the sidewalk along a busy road. A check of internet news stories found that Portland saw 100 consecutive nights of riots and protests in 2020 following the death of George Floyd. Amid the rioting and protests, the city voted to slash its police budget. For example, nine officers used to be assigned to Portland's nightlife scene, but now, only two officers patrol the area.  One article said business owners were having to take matters into their own hands by hiring private security firms over their concerns on the insufficient number of police in the city. 

Sprinty got a bath. And Dan and Sheila barbecued some chicken for another pot luck dinner.