Gorge Weather: Cloudy Day or Sunny Day?

People considering moving to the Washougal-Skamania area often ask us how our weather compares with Portland's weather 25 miles to the west. That question can be answered in one single word: More. We get more rain, more sun, more snow, more warm, more cold, more starry nights, and more wind. And it varies depending on where you are. We took this picture from Cape Horn last weekend. What kind of day would you call it? Sunny? Cloudy?

100 Year Old Columbia Gorge Farmstead

We've just listed a remarkable piece of real estate for sale: 31 acres with a cute old farmhouse little changed from the time it was built. The setting is spectacular, with views of the Columbia River, Horsetail Falls and the mouth of Oneonta Gorge in Oregon. Nestled at the base of Archer Mountain and overlooking Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge, the property has rich soils, a well and a natural year-round spring, a combination of fields and woods, and backs up to National Forest.  The location is close to Portland (31 highway miles from PDX) in the heart of the the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in rural Skamania County.  The asking price is $350,000 and seller financing is available. For more information call Dan at 360-253-1120 or email us at CapeHornLand@gmail.com

Dinner at Amnesia Brewery

Yesterday we visited the newly opened Amnesia Brewery in downtown Washougal. The menu is limited (starters and sandwiches) but the food was good and the beer was outstanding.

22 Acre Farmstead in the Columbia Gorge

Close to Portland (about 30 minutes in fact) this old farm on Mt. Pleasant overlooks the Columbia River and Rooster Rock State Park. The cozy and inviting old farmhouse can be replaced if you want a new home.

This part of the Columbia River Gorge is rich with natural beauty yet is very close to Portland and Vancouver. Though surrounded by large blocks of protected land and national forest, shopping is just 6 highway miles away.

21 Acres in the Columbia River Gorge

We've just listed a stunning property in the Columbia River Gorge that has just about everything a nature lover can ask for. This property near Portland, Oregon adjoins National Forest, has a crystal clear creek, stately trees and an expansive view.  It is inside the National Scenic Area where the landscape will remain protected from excessive development.  The parcel is in southwest Washington about 30 miles east of Vancouver, at the end of a private road.  There are several outstanding home sites and ample ground for gardens, pasture, and forest.  Nearby are hiking trails and fishing for salmon, sturgeon, steelhead and trout. Skiing and snowboarding at Mt.Hood is an hour away; world class windsurfing is minutes away.  For real estate for sale in the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area, visit CapeHornLand.com.

Cabin on the Washougal River

Nestled among stately fir trees is a 1940's-era getaway on 1.24 acres along the Washougal River. This quiet retreat sits directly above the river far back from the road.  It is about 45 minutes from Portland International Airport and less than an hour from downtown Portland and Vancouver. Kayaking, hiking, skiing, fishing and windsurfing all are close.  Check out the neighborhood by booking a stay at this airbnb rental nearby.

Midwinter in the Columbia River Gorge

Yesterday morning was cold and overcast in the west end of the Columbia River Gorge.  We showed a beautiful home in Washougal before heading up to Skamania to show another view home on acreage there. We decided to head a few miles east to Stevenson for a late lunch at Skamania Lodge, where we were greeted with clear skies and a great view. 

About half an hour east of Portland, on the bank of the Columbia River across from Multnomah Falls, is a 3.9-acre parcel with a stunning home and spacious studio. 

Amnesia Brewing coming to downtown Washougal

There was more good news for downtown Washougal last week.  Thanks to the efforts of Adam Taylor at Lone Wolf Investments, Amnesia Brewing will be opening a new brew pub in Washougal this summer.  Amnesia has a brewery and pub in north Portland.  This will be their first foray into the Columbia River Gorge and southwest Washington.
Lone Wolf is also responsible for Washougal Town Square, home of The Hearth, a fine eatery that is becoming a destination for food lovers throughout the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area.

This building on Main Street in Washougal, formerly occupied

by a pawn shop, will house a new brew pub.  

Wide Open Spaces

Much of the property we sell in this area (rural acreage in Washougal and Skamania County, about 30 miles east of Portland, Oregon) has something special going on: A crystal clear creek, river, or lake.  Mammoth trees perhaps. We listed a hot springs once (fortunately for posterity, that land was bought by the U.S. Forest Service.) This photograph was taken last summer on 10-acre piece that has an exhilarating top-of-the-world feeling with views of city lights, the Columbia River Gorge, and Mt. Hood.

Beacon Rock State Park

We have listed for sale on CapeHornLand.com 10 acres next to Beacon Rock State Park. In the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, it backs up to National Forest on two sides. 3000-foot high Hardy Ridge rises directly behind it. It's got power, phone service, and a well. And a year-round creek:

This would be an incredible getaway 45 minutes from downtown Portland.  Imagine having a retreat in the mountains of the Columbia Gorge with hiking and equestrian trails right out your back door!
Call Dan & Kathy Huntington at 360-253-1120 or email us if you'd like more information.

Misquoted...

The front page of yesterday's Sunday Columbian had an interesting article about the Cape Horn Trail and the Columbia Gorge. U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley both spoke, as did Friends of the Gorge director Kevin Gorman, Scenic Area Manager Dan Harkenrider and Nancy Russell's son Aubrey.

I also was at the podium, but when I read the article I was surprised at the words attributed to me, so I decided to post the transcript from my speech here:

My involvement with Cape Horn began one February day in 1996 when a man named Wayne Maxwell called me. Wayne wanted to sell 67 acres near Cape Horn. A few days later he took me on a tour of his land, which extended to the edge of the cliffs a short distance from here. As we neared the cliffs I was amazed by what I saw: a promontory with one of the best views of the Gorge I had ever seen. I listened in disbelief while Wayne explained to me that the Forest Service had acquired the promontory (now known as Pioneer Point) from him without any access. Here was public land, potentially an extraordinary public asset, that could only be reached by crossing private property. That day I became an activist. 18 months later, in the field next to us, then US Senator Slade Gorton held a press conference announcing a large appropriation for acquiring land for the Cape Horn Trail and the Washougal to Stevenson corridor. I thought the work was over. It wasn’t.

While the Forest Service put that and subsequent appropriations to good use acquiring land throughout the Gorge, including the piece we are gathered on today, it would be another dozen years before the Cape Horn Trail would become an official trail. As the years went by more and more hikers became familiar with the bluffs, meadows, viewpoints, and waterfall of the Cape Horn Trail, yet the Forest Service seemed to be making no progress at all. I and other trail advocates were concerned that an official trail here would never become a reality. We could not have been more wrong.

It has been about a year and a half since the Forest Service completed the environmental assessment for the Cape Horn Trail. In that short time the Forest Service has coordinated an extraordinary effort involving staff, Forest Youth Success and partnerships with Washington Trails Association, Cape Horn Conservancy and Friends of the Gorge to transform this crude trail. Where the trail formerly went straight up steep slopes, carefully laid out switchbacks with new vistas now greet hikers. Where hikers have had to dodge speeding cars and trucks, handsome pedestrian underpasses will soon lead them under SR14. And of course here, where a large home once dominated the landscape, hikers gather and admire the farmland and forests below – farmland protected by Forest Service easements and forests owned by the National Forest.

While we can thank the Forest Service for executing an excellent plan, it was Nancy Russell who set the wheels in motion and kept those wheels turning right up to her final days. Unlike large agencies, Nancy could make decisions quickly. Very quickly. For example, in early 2002 a small parcel of land along SR 14 came on the market. The former site of a tavern, it was an ugly gravel strip next to a hole in the ground covered with blackberries. For years people had found it to be a convenient place to toss garbage when no one was looking. It also was a convenient place to park if you wanted to hike up to the top of Cape Horn. I called Nancy and asked her to buy what I felt would make the ideal trailhead for Cape Horn. Nancy didn’t visit the property. She didn’t need any more information. She didn’t have to consult a board of trustees. At once she authorized me to negotiate for its purchase. A few years later the Skamania County Board of Commissioners recognized the site’s potential as a combination trail and transit parking area and bought it from Nancy.

25 years ago the rim of the Gorge between Washougal and Stevenson was unprotected, destined for clear cuts and view home sites. The best views would inevitably become the exclusive domain of those privileged enough to afford the price tag. Thanks to the vision, passion, and generosity of people like Nancy Russell, and massive land acquisition efforts by the Forest Service, that future has been avoided. On this foggy ridge a 14-lot subdivision has been replaced by a popular hiking trail.

But this is only the beginning. We have protected the rim of the Gorge from the chain saw and the bulldozer, but thousands of acres of now public land between Washougal and Stevenson still remain functionally off limits to the public, just as they were 25 years ago. We can change that. Imagine destinations equal to the Cape Horn Trail every few miles along the highway from Washougal to Stevenson. These trailheads would connect to a linear trail following the rim of the Gorge between the two towns. Here, in this terra incognita, cliff top viewpoints, plunging waterfalls, wildflower meadows, and stately forests await discovery by the public. The raw material for such a trail system already belongs to us. All we need to complete the vision is the same cooperative effort, effective partnerships and can-do attitude exhibited by the Forest Service at Cape Horn. I believe it can and will be done and that Skamania County will in turn become a shining example of how land conservation can contribute to healthy, thriving communities.

Dan Huntington

Silver Star Hike

One of the great things about living here is how close we are to the mountains. Not only are they visible from all over the place, they are so very accessible. The picture below was taken from high on Silver Star Mountain during an impromptu afternoon hike last Christmas Eve. That's me (Dan) and my son Tim (yeah, he's tall) looking across the Columbia River Gorge to Mt. Hood. If you like a panorama then you'd love Silver Star - from the top you can see Mt. Olympus, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters, the Columbia River, downtown Portland, Saddle Mountain down by the Pacific coast, and a great many other Pacific Northwest landmarks.

Yesterday we listed for sale some off the grid acreage hugging the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in an isolated wilderness community directly below the Silver Star summit. Looking up at the barren snow-covered alpine ridge from one of the homesites, I imagined how free it would feel to live up there. We will be posting information about the properties at www.CapeHornLand.com.

Oregonian Writes About Cape Horn Trail

The cover photo for this blog was taken from the Cape Horn Trail. Today's Oregonian has an article about the Forest Service's plans for the trail. We look forward to seeing this trail become part of the official inventory of trails in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.