Rotary Trip to the Gorge

Yesterday Trista and I went on a guided trip to through the Gorge with my Rotary club. My club's president is a Geology professor at Portland State University and he led the charge. About 50 of us piled into a Raz bus and off we went. The entire tour lasted from 9am to 5pm, so we covered a lot of ground.

Here's a shot of the east end of the gorge looking towards Hood River. I've driven on the scenic highway many, many times but I have never been on the east scenic highway. This is a view that I've never seen before and I found it breathtaking. To me the gorge is the most beautiful place on the face of the earth and I feel so lucky to live within an hour's driving distance. How cool is that???!!!This is the back of Scott Burns, the club president, during his presentation. Here's he pointing out how the town across the river, Lyle, on the Washington side is in a valley created by two faults pressing against each other. Lyle, with it's 300 days of sun, is a town expected to explode with development over the next 10 years.

I've visited the gorge dozens of times but never have I really looked at it from a geology perspective. Yesterday we learned how to "hear what mother nature is screaming at us". We learned how to spot landslides, that the majority of the layers are volcanic basalt and that Missoula floods carved the landscape thousands and thousands of years ago. I love days which are both education and fun.....and yesterday was just that. And top it off, the potluck lunch was fabulous, the people were great, the weather was amazing and I had my good buddy Trista at my side. What more could you ask for?

I had a cute photo of Trista here, but she's requested that I take it down, so being the good friend that I am, I obliged. It was cute though and I'm not sure why she didn't like it, but it means that much to her, then fine! :-)