...Going! Same train, same day as yesterday's picture, but we're seeing the end of the train. Two locomotives in front, and two pushing from the rear.

 

Coming and...

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Inside looking out: One last look at Goodnoe Hills-- Down to the Columbia River and the railroad tomorrow.

 

As the virtual trip to the dry side continues, we are headed South on Goodnoe Station Road. In years past, the trains stopped at Goodnoe Station on the Columbia river about 1500 feet below.

 

Unused for decades, the Goodnoe Hills School was a typical country schoolhouse. There were rarely more than 15 students at a time. In its later years it mostly served children of the Rock Hills Native American People.

 

Thankful...

 

The Goodnoe Hills Hotel, General Store, and Post Office...

 

The tree is as dead as the town, but farming and grazing continues in Goodnoe Hills...

 

The town of Goodnoe Hills was settled in the 1860s. There are just a few deserted buildings left. The windmill that was part of this old homestead looks like it is envious of its cousins on the hilltop. Note the plowed field in the background.

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As we follow the road down from the top of the hills, heading for what used to be the small town of Goodnoe Hills, we can look back to the wind farm where I got the pictures from the last two days. What a sky!

 

From the top of the Goodnoe Hills, looking South toward the Columbia River Nearly 2000 feet below. Can you imagine operating farm equipment on those hillsides!

 

Now high in the Goodnoe Hills (Washington on the right, Oregon on the left) we're overlooking the John Day Dam. The Dalles Dam is about 28 miles toward Mt. Hood in the distance.

 

It's now the Centerville Road as we reach a high plateau of farmland-- more views and a "ghost town" to come...

 

The better to hear you...

 

From what used to be the site of a ranchhouse, looking out toward the city of The Dalles (0n the other side of the river) and Mt. Hood. The Dalles Mountain Road parallels the river way below.

 

In the hills above the Columbia River, the Dalles Mountain Ranch, in operation since 1866 and a part of Washington's Columbia Hills State Park for about 25 years.

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Columbia Hills State Park, near the bridge has wonderful stuff to see along the river. And in the hills above, it includes the Dalles Mountain Ranch which is famous among photographers for its spring wildflowers. Obviously this is not spring.

 I like to think of this as being Ricardo's wagon...

From the same vantage point next to the bridge, here comes a barge boat pushing 4 connected barges into the lock to go around the dam. The city of The Dalles is across the river on the Oregon side.

 

On the Washington side of the bridge, a BNSF freight hurries westbound next to the entrance to the lock that takes shipping through the dam.

 

The Bridge across the Columbia at The Dalles was opened in 1953. This picture is from the same spot as yesterday's picture of the dam-- You can see just a tiny part of it on the far right. The virtual trip to the dry side continues on the Washington side. By the way, those hills are much higher than they look.

 

The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River (At The Dalles, Oregon)

The dam was completed in 1957-- flooding Celilo Falls where for a thousand years Native Americans fished and traded with others from large parts of what is now the US.  The structure in the foreground is one of the remaining buildings from the historic Shaker Indian Fishing Village--Built in the 1890s.  The remains have been listed in the National Historic Register since the 1970's, but there has been no real effort to maintain the site.  Not much is left. Tomorrow -- the bridge over to the Washington side.

Once there was...

 

Tygh Valley. Abraham Lincoln was President when my Great Great Grandfather started farming here. It hasn't been in the family for 50 years, but I still enjoy seeing it when we're on the dry side.

 

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High in the hills on the Oregon side--- The Columbia River is below, and the hills of Washington in the distance.

 

Not far from yesterday's thresher-- this marvelous old house stood for nearly 140 years. The landowners continued to till and harvest around it for decades after it became unoccupied. And it became one of the most photographed abandoned houses in the Northwest. Unfortunately it was destroyed by a wildfire in 2018-- but our virtual trip to the dry side would be incomplete without it.

 

An old horse-drawn threshing machine being photo-bombed by sunflowers!

 

Mt. Hood (named after a British admiral, Lord Hood, who never saw it) looms in the distance and what looks like an old vault is all that's left of what used to be a small town just south of The Dalles--- We have a lot more to see of the Columbia and the hills that rise above it.

 

Left behind...

The next stop on the Columbia River Highway is The Dalles-- A medium size town that was an important stop for settlers in their covered wagons heading west.  They had to head South from The Dalles because there was no way to get their wagons trough The Gorge.  The country South of the The Dalles is mostly farmland-- cattle, wheat, hay-- and lots of sagebrush.

From the same viewpoint on Rowena Crest as yesterday, this is the hillside above the horseshoe--

 

Going down...

From Rowena Crest, the Historic Columbia River Highway between Mosier and The Dalles

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Barge traffic on the Columbia is always keeping the locks on the dams busy. This one is westbound.

 

From the top of the bluffs on the Oregon side, looking across to a westbound BNSF on the Washington Side. Long, isn't it...

 

Back on the historic Columbia River Highway as it winds east high on a bluff on the Oregon side. Some great views ahead.

 

We are continuing East-- the trees are thinning with fewer evergreens. The Columbia River is flowing from the right to the left (West).

 

As we head East in the Columbia River Gorge, we get to Hood River (Oregon). It's almost always windy through a lot of the Gorge due to the difference in climate on the two sides of the Cascades. But where there's wind-- there are wind surfers!

 

Looking West through the Columbia River Gorge-- the direction we came from. Oregon on the left, Washington on the right. As we head the oppostite way, East, the trees will change from Cedars and Firs to Pines and Junipers, and gradually mostly disappear.

 

One last looks-- The top of Horsetail Falls...

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Shepperd's Dell Falls...

From the bottom...

...and halfway to the top

Autumn leaves...

 

Horsetail Falls...

 

Perfectly framed, Latourell Falls is a bit of a distance from the Highway...

 

Vista House on Crown Point on the Oregon Side of the Columbia River--- opened in 1918 on the site where the historic Columbia River Highway was dedicated just two years before. The highway was a marvel at the time-- A European style winding road for vehicle travel through the Columbia River Gorge from Portland to The Dalles. The building has marble floors and even stained glass windows. Unfortunately it is closed due to the pandemic. Things change dramatically as we go nearly 70 miles through the Gorge.

 

In years past October would usually find us on the "dry side" of the Cascade Mountain Range. I thought that for the next few days it might be fun to relive parts of those trips with pictures. We always start with the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway with its incredible views and waterfalls...

 

Let's take a break and think about the beach-- as the sun sets on a beautiful day at Seaside, Oregon...

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Hoffstadt Bluffs in fall regalia!