Columbia Gorge

Amethyst surprised me with a weekend in the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge.  We visited one of my favorite out of the way antique stores in Lyle, Washington where I found some wonderful Gil Elvgren pinups (he is my favorite 1950s pinup artist).

Then she surprised me again (!) with a visit to Carson Hot Springs. The last time we were there it was still a dump – the old owners had let it fall apart. This time I was so delighted that the new owners have remodeled. The room we stayed in was very nice. But the best part of course are the healing mineral baths. We soaked for a half an hour then were wrapped up in a sheet soaked in mineral water for another half an hour. There is nothing like it! And since we spent the night we got to do it again on Sunday morning. I was so relaxed.

Sunday morning after breakfast we hiked up the path behind the resort. It is usually inaccessible this time of year. In fact there is frequently so much snow that it is a challenge getting to Carson Hot Springs. The path was a bit treacherous (reminded me in places of my Nepal Himalayas journey) but we were able to make it to a lookout point on a bridge to see beautiful falls.  The photo at the top is Amethyst at the end of bridge surrounded by ferns. Looks like the Amazon to me. The video of the falls is below.

On Sunday we went to another antique shop we visit a few times a year. Didn’t find much. But the hunt is always fun. Then Amethyst got us up to a high point to watch the sky colors at sunset behind Mt. Hood. We don’t often get to see the north side of Mt. Hood. It was very special.

Gallery

Click the images to see them enlarged or start a slideshow.

Here is a 25 second clip of Wind River Falls. Click HD to see it in high def.