Oregon Columbia River Gorge at Hood River

On the way to a family reunion in Southern Oregon at Lake of the Woods I decided to fly into Portland and pass by Hood River for a couple of days to windsurf.  First lets decipher the name.
The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River that stretches for over 80 miles as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range forming the boundary between the State of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south.  Hood River is a city and is named for the nearby Hood River that runs into the Columbia River.   Hood River the city is a city that eats and breaths windsurfing (and kiting, and SUP and much more).   When you enter the city welcome sign has a windsurfer on it.

In fact, they even have a windsurf sail in Safeway.

So why is this river such a popular place?  Rivers don't seem like a common place to windsurf.  Here's a little history.

In short:

• Frequent strong winds (July is historically the best month with 25+ days over 20mph)
• The river flows the opposite direction of the wind so you can sail a broad reach or do down winders to get back to the launch
• Over a dozen sailing sites in the Gorge to choose from for different styles and levels (As seen on the wall from the nice folks at Big Winds shop where I rented).

I sailed the Hatchery (aka Swell City) on Friday the 13th but I was in luck with the wind and on a 4.7 all day!  At first it was similar to Kalmus in Hyannis MA but later the swell was waist to chest high and you could swell ride or get air.  It's a little rocky to launch then deep then a wind shadow then swell so it's more advanced but the far side is waist deep which is nice.   I'd guess 30-50 folks out (doesn't look like it in the picture many folks upwind)!  

I then ran into Wyatt Miller who's sponsored by Slingshot who was doing big airs and even forward loops with his gang.   Here's an example:

I then drove down the river to Doug's another launch (named after the State Park) and the wind had died by the time so I sat on a picnic table and saw CAN-9 come sailing in which turned out to be Philip Stolciac.  It's that kind of place.

The next days had lighter wind predicted due to a heat wave (was over 100F and water 67F).  So I rented a Slingshot Dialer Windsurf foil.

It was windy in the morning so I only caught the tail end from 10:30 to 11:30am on a 5.2 with foil.   About a dozen windsurfers at Viento.  Then it died and I hiked Mitchell Point took a nap, then at 3pm time it was blowing 14mph - plenty for a foil so it was back to Viento.   I sailed 3 more hours and made two near flying gybes (touch and go but was able to fly out)!  I recently bought a Fanatic Stubby foil so I've been out a half dozen times.

Not all ramps were liquid and this site being never board on all type of boards I stopped at some local skateparks, this one by Doug on the Washington side, in Hood River by Walmart was a great park.  Look at the kid doing a headstand!  Why not?

After two days of thoroughly wearing myself out I headed South to the family reunion.  If you find your way out West in Oregon (Portland, OR is the largest airport and is only an hour away) make time to stop by this amazing place.