February 22: Over The Mountains We Go

With temperatures thawing over the last several days I set my sights on the mountains to the east for today’s adventure. There’s something about rugged, white, snowcapped peaks bursting through layers of fog and overcast skies that causes my heart to sing with joy.

Heading north on 205 and then east on 212 through Damascus, I gazed up at the dark storm clouds looming over the countryside. Farm supply stores, barns, fields, and pastures dotted the landscape, providing occasional peeks of Mount Hood appearing in the foreground, its majestic lava domes towering at a height of over 11,000 feet.

Turning east on highway 26 past Government Camp, I road through the Mount Hood National Forest, admiring the vast expanses of lush emerald and forest-colored evergreen trees covering the foothills. Hoping the weather would remain mild, I drove between the layers of gravel in my lane while also skirting the slush on the side of the road. My tires kicked up red granules from the mountain’s andesite and dacite lava rock mixed with melting snow, covering my boots, pants, and bike with sludge.

Temperatures dropped considerably as I rounded Mount Hood and made my way north on highway 35 past Mount Hood Meadows. Rounding a bend in the road, I gasped in admiration as the tall, jagged ridges and glaciers of Mount Adams materialized out of the gloom, the stunning peaks of Washington’s largest active volcano making a grand appearance through the bright verdant forest all around.  

Descending towards Hood River, I passed delightful orchards in beautiful colors of brown, grey, pink, and purple, with trees neatly lined in rows sporting naked branches underneath the wisps of mist hovering over them. Turning west on highway 84, I took in yet another magnificent sight – the silvery blue and green waters of the Columbia River running through the cleft of snow – covered foothills. What an amazing day on the bike!