Today was our 2 year wedding anniversary. As usual we wanted to head out to Hood River to pick some berries and get some dinner but this year we invited Eric along. We chose not to tell him it was our special day because we knew he wouldn’t go! On the way we stopped to explore Oneonta Gorge as well. Read on…
Emily and I had been dying to walk up Oneonta Gorge for some time, especially after finding nearly 100 year old photos of my grandfather exploring the gorge himself in the forest service! It was supposed to be in the high 90’s so what better time to walk up a cool river in the Columbia Gorge. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea and it was extremely crowded. It took us forever to drive the old historic highway and find a spot nearby the trailhead, then it took some time to push through the crowds of city folk and tourists struggling over a big log jam. Being a human billy goat I hopped through it in less than a minute but Eric and Emily chose a different route that took them a bit longer waiting for others. 
Once in the gorge it was actually super cool. It felt like being in a massive crack in the earth with 200+ foot towering walls on either side of us. If for any reason a flash flood had occurred everyone would surely die. Thankfully, it’s summer time and the water coming over the falls wasn’t much more than a trickle and we only needed to wade through a few spots to get back to the falls where we found a crowd of people hanging out. 
After chugging a beer Emily had packed for us I ventured out into the cool water below the falls and swam over to where I saw a guy struggling to climb up on the rocks. He moved aside for me and I pulled myself up easily onto a ledge next to the falls. I had seen people jumping and diving into the water but with the splashing of the falls I couldn’t tell the true depth or if there was anything under the water so I decided to do a cannonball into the waterfall and pool rather than my traditional back flip (maybe I’m getting old).
After making our way out of the gorge through the crowds and back to the car we drove to Hood River to the White House again like last year to pick some berries. Once again I think we were a bit late as all the good red raspberries were dead and only blueberries remained to be picked. We each grabbed some buckets and picked under $10 worth then saddled up to the bar to try out some of their hard ciders on tap. After drinks we headed back to town to luckily get a table at the Solstice Wood Fire Cafe & Bar along the waterfront which Emily and I had been dying to try out. We had a few more beers and some amazing pizza then headed home. Happy 2 years my love!
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