Hood River OR #49 - Gorge yourself

 

August 30 2023

The plan was to drive three and a half hours from Wenatchee WA and play pickleball in The Dalles OR that evening and then drive to Hood River the next morning for some play at Golden Eagle Park. Perhaps it was the blustery wind, but not one player showed up at Sorosis Park in The Dalles.  We were starting to get concerned about playing in OR in our limited window of time. Would anyone show up at Golden Eagle Park? Would we have to alter our schedule and head to Portland? Hoping to get some assurance, we posted on the Hood River Valley Pickleball Community FB page that we would be there the next morning. There was one response, and it wasn't from someone who would be playing. He wished us well, but had some concern that the courts might have puddles from a recent rain. Fortunately, there was only one small puddle on one of the three courts when we arrived. That one small puddle was the only thing on the courts at 8:30 am which was the time we understood play generally started. At about 8:35, David showed up. His wife Carlean was in the car on a phone call. It was going to happen! Hood River was going to be the location in OR that would complete the 49th state in our Pickleball the States tour.

Barb began warming up with David and immediately they were in lengthy dinking volleys back and forth. Both are excellent and patient dinkers.

We were looking forward to playing mixed doubles with David and Carlene, but Edwin showed up before Carlean finished her call, so we got in a game with Edwin and David. It was a good warm up game. As soon as that game finished, we were able to get in our mixed doubles with David and Carlene. It was a delightful game and we would have loved to have played more games with them, but our schedule was not going to allow it.

David and Carlene spend three months of the year in The Columbia River Gorge area near Hood River OR and nine months in Mexico where they play pickleball on an almost daily basis and it sure does show in their level of play. Many times husbands and wives minimize their play together for the benefit of their marriage, but this couple is great together on the court.


Our final game was with Erwin and Mike. Erwin is always smiling even when he has a bad shot. There should be more players like him in pickleball. "Have fun, it's only pickleball." 

We were disappointed we didn't allot more time for pickleball in Hood River. There were many more skilled players we would have enjoyed playing with that morning. I guess we will just have to return to Hood River someday and resume play. 


The reason our schedule didn't allow more time to play pickleball is because we had a Timed Use Permit for Multnomah Falls at 10:00 and the falls were 30 minutes away. The Timed Use Permit for parking is a way to minimize crowding at the falls. Multnomah Falls is the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest. It is extremely easy to access. Parking is between the lanes of I-84 and you walk under the Eastbound lane and there it is. 

Most visitors only go as far as the bridge you see in the photo. We chose to hike the trail to the top. The distance was a mile and included 11 switchbacks. You don't get a good view of the falls from the top, but there are other scenic vistas to enjoy.  
Location: Golden Eagle Park, Indian Creek Trail, Hood River, OR 97031, USA

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