Dan and Hannah Nike, Pickle, then Hike the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon

Staying overnight with our niece Corrie and nephew Karl in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, Oregon, we wonder what are our chances of seeing the Nike campus in town.  Thanks to Wayne who contacted Ron who arranged for Jane to give us a tour, we walk the college-like Nike campus on a 90F afternoon during the first week of June.

Hannah with Olympian Michael Johnson on the Nike campus 400 meter track

Athletic women and men in casual attire seem to be upbeat and happy to be enrolled at the 13,000 employee “Nike University.”   There is a full size 400-meter track here and employees have access to free bicycles to ride from place to place.  With five recreation halls with basketball courts, rooms for yoga, fitness centers, and the like, employees have a sweet place to work up a sweat.

In the Tiger Woods Center made entirely from golf tees

Learning that the campus is scrubbed clean of any mention of Lance Armstrong, we see the Tiger Woods Center standing proudly with this artistic rendering of Tiger, entirely created with golf tees.  It seems Mr. Armstrong lied face-to-face to one-time Nike CEO, billionaire Phil Knight while Tiger fessed up to his misdeeds.

When the business of selling shoes was run out of a Volkswagen van, graphic designer Claire Danielson designed the Nike Swoosh and was paid $35 for her creation.  At the time, Phil Knight said, I am not really sold on it, but maybe it will grow on me.  Upon arriving home, I read the New York Times bestseller, Shoe Dog (2016) by Phil Knight about the genesis of Nike.  Click here to learn more about the book, which speaks to us sports junkies of a certain age.  I loved it.

With an evening red-eye flight from Portland to Boston ahead of us this Tuesday, we have come to play pickleball at the indoor recreation center in Beaverton, not three miles from Corrie’s place.   Like I did recently in Tampa, I use the USA Pickleball site to find venues to play here in Oregon.  Click here to access this site to find pickleball venues.

Pickleball courts in Beaverton, Oregon

Sometimes free, often for a nominal fee, pickleball sites are generally open to anyone traveling throughout the country.  Arriving at 930A, Hannah and I are welcomed immediately into a game of doubles.  Over the next two hours we play spirited games with a variety of skilled opponents.  Pickleball players for the last seven months, Hannah and I have a new love that is both a great workout and a place to meet active, friendly folks of our age.

On the trail to Elowah Falls

Showered and then fed by Corrie, we first nap, then pack up for a late afternoon waterfall hike on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge.

The Oregon (pronounced Or-a-Ginn) side of the Columbia River Gorge has waterfalls without end Amen.   We choose a pair of falls (Elowah Falls and Upper McCord Creek Falls) not far from Portland with 3.4 miles of hiking on the mountainside with just 600’ of elevation gain.

High above the Columbia River looking east on the Oregon side

Leaving the trailhead parking, we have 0.7-mile hike to Elowah Falls.   Climbing quickly into the forest on hard-packed dirt, we rise above I-84’s four lanes of commercial traffic and vacation seekers.   And then without warning, the smooth dirt trail turns mean, with sharply angled rocks.   But no matter, the slope of the trail is not steep, as we climb high above the mighty Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean.

289′ Elowah Falls in June

A series of switchbacks through the rainforest takes us down to an amphitheater canyon where the misty Elowah Falls drops gently off the mountainside, spraying the two of us.

Dan with the Upper McCord Creek Falls in the distance

Hiking back a half mile or so, we turn up the mountain at the trail sign for the Upper McCord Creek Falls.   The steady climb on, again a rocky trail, is easy going without any huffing and puffing.

Around the last turn the voluminous Upper McCord Creek Falls cascades higher up the mountain, above our previously viewed Elowah Falls.   With the trail ending above the falls a short while later, we spot a most appropriate landing spot on this horizantal branch to photograph our grandsons Owen’s Woodstock and Max’s Blue Elephant.  We love the W+L (our son Will and his wife Laurel) in our lives.

PS I emailed Volkswagen to confirm that the van with all the boxes of Nike running shoes was indeed a Volkswagen.  Here’s the response I got.

Reference # 160987898

Dear Mr. Rothermel,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us in regard to your recent visit at the Nike Campus in Oregon.

After researching further into this, I did stumble upon the story of Geoff Hollister traveling to track meets and selling Nike shoes from his van in the 1970s. Regretfully, we don’t have details here at Volkswagen of America to confirm whether Geoff’s van was indeed manufactured by Volkswagen.

I’ve never visited the Nike Museum so it was very cool to see the picture you shared. Additionally, I noticed links to your blog(s) included in your signature and after taking a closer look it seems as though you and your wife Hannah have enjoyed many wonderful travel adventures.

I apologize I didn’t have more information to share with you in regard to the van Geoff Hollister owned. However, you’re welcome to let me know if you have any other questions or need further assistance – I’m happy to help in any way that I can. 

Have a great weekend and I wish safe travels on the road ahead for you and your wife!

Kind regards,

Brittany A.
Customer CARE Advocate 

 

Dan and Hannah Hike Beacon Rock on the Columbia River Gorge

With our ten days of hiking in Washington and Oregon drawing to a close, we land at Vancouver, WA, just across the Columbia River from Portland on a hot Sunday afternoon in early June.  Here at the prelude to the dry season in the Northwest, we get a dash of Arizona heat as the temps are in the upper 80s and going to 100F in the interior.

Walking less than a mile for Subway subs, we find the main drag quiet with just a few restaurants having outside patrons; but really very little is going on.  Our attention is caught by a jovial young man with a marijuana leaf on this tee-shirt outside of Main Street Marijuana, I ask if I can take a picture of the window sign; I am reminded purchasing Mary Jane is legal in Washington, but I wonder how discrete folks are when buying their weed. He says, You can take pictures inside if you want.

Never having been in such a store selling pot, we see a bustling crowd of folks in what looks like a jewelry store.  No one pays attention to my iPhone picture taking; perhaps the smell of weed has something to do with that.

We pass on the $10 special marijuana oatmeal cookie and the $10 for o.75 of a gram of Indonesian Haze. All deals, or excuse me, transactions are cash only.  Forgoing on all of the 50 cannabis strains under $25, we slip out pleased that the country mice from Maine are a little more ganja hip.

We head to the left

Inland near The Dalles, OR the temps are going to 100F. Phoenix in the Northwest is not what we expected.  After rain and hiking in the 40s and low 50s last week in Mount Rainier, today is an adjustment.  After living ten years in the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix metro area), Hannah and I moved to Maine 33 years ago to escape the neverending late spring/summer/early fall heat. The relentless 100s and 110s from May through September just got to us.  And the highs for the day weren’t the worst of it.  It was the morning lows in the 90s that made for one long hot day, day after day.  And don’t get me started with it’s a dry heat.  It’s like an oven; full body sweating begins as soon as you’ve taken twenty steps.

Tooling down route 14 on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, 50 miles later we enter the roadside parking lot for the Beacon Rock State Park on the right. Across the highway is the trailhead for the Hamilton Mountain Trail, which we hiked just one week ago. (See my blog.  Go to the left side, click on the “Oregon” category to find that entry).

Beacon Rock along the mighty Columbia River

Beacon Rock, so named by Lewis and Clark, is a monolith that gives off a vibe of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. The guidebook promises 870 feet of elevation gain over just a mile.  Looking at the mountain core left from a volcano, it looks like there is no way, Jose up this mountain.  That’s where Henry Biddle comes in.  Back in 1915 Hank purchased the rock for a dollar; during the next three years he constructed a trail with 51 switchbacks, handrails and bridges.

Let the summiting begin

Immediately as we enter the lush forest on the banks of the Columbia River itself, we see a 1937 stone dedicated to Henry Biddle, the architect and trail designer.  We have no idea how impressed we will soon be with his handiwork as we enter the forest on a gentle grade to the mountain.

We spot a confounding sign. The loose rock trail is open; the paved trail is closed?  Being the rebels that we are, and having at least a lick of common sense, we opt for the paved trail.  Soon we are on the Columbia River facing side of the monolith.

And then there are Henry’s beloved switchbacks.  Up this sheer wall he has built switchbacks into and on the edge of the mountainside for, our and your, hiking pleasure. With wire fencing at the curves and two-bar metal handrails all the way up, they take all the steepness out of the climb.

Looking east to the Columbia River

Having arriven (Microsoft Word claims that’s not a word! – must be an abridged version of their dictionary) a little after 9A on this preseason Monday, we pass a few others who are also out early on the trail.  This signature hike on the state of Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge must be swarming with people throughout the summer, and especially on weekends.

In no time the back and forth-ness of the switchbacks takes us high above the Columbia River Gorge. Though I wouldn’t take our preschool grandsons Owen and Max on this trail, school age children with their parents would enjoy this family hike.

 

Near the top, the trail wraps inland, though still paved with metal handrails as protective fencing.  In a mere 25 minutes we are at the top with views east and west to the Gem of the Ocean, the Columbia River.  It is amazing how easy this “steep” assent is.

Atop Beacon Rock

We bid our good-byes to a Texas couple with whom we exchanged picture-taking.  In 20 minutes we are back at the trailhead.  With only 45 minutes of hiking in the books, we opt for the Rock to River trail which is three quarters of a mile to the Columbia River waterfront from the same trailhead parking lot.

Leafy trail to the Columbia

Descending gradually, our trail has ferns and wide green leaf plants brushing against our legs as we head riverside. There, we climb down on a river dock with a front door view of the Beacon Rock monolith itself.

After a couple hours of hiking, we want more on this our penultimate hiking day in the Northwest. For us that means driving five miles east on route 14 where we will channel our inner Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild.   We’ll figuratively hike with Reese Witherspoon, the star of the movie version of Wild, as we make our first steps on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada

The PCT is a 2663 mile trail from Mexico to Canada through the Left Coast of California, Oregon, and Washington.  While the PCT is some 400+ miles longer than the Appalachian Trail, today we will sample only a few miles of its challenging path north to Canada.

Dan and Hannah Hike Multnomah Falls on the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon

Over the past week in the northwest in early August, Hannah and I have been to Mount St. Helens in Washington and Crater Lake in southwestern Oregon.  And yet it’s today’s hike on the Columbia River Gorge that is the most spectacular.

Multnomah Falls lies some thirty miles east of Portland, OR along I-84.  It’s a perfect location for the last hike of our vacation in the Northwest since we leave from Portland (PDX) tonight at 11P on a red eye non-stop flight to Boston, MA.

With such easy access, the falls are mobbed on this first Thursday in August.  Mobbed is no hyperbole.  It’s Disney World during school vacation crazy; it’s Jersey shore in August nuts.  At the base of the falls we step around tourists to view the falls in the distance.  The good news is that 99% of the throng has no interest in hiking the Multnomah loop trail with us.  I guess, in this case, we are the 1%.

The Multnomah Falls Loop Trail

Beginning by walking  for 100 yards west along Oregon state highway 30, we soon step into the forest and climb the rocky trail towards Wakeena Falls.

The Multnomah Loop Trail begins

And just like that we are up and away from the crowds.

At the start the trail parallels State route 30

Our loop hike will go from Wakeena Falls to Devil’s Rest and back by Multnomah Falls today; it will take nearly four hours over some nine miles of mountainside hiking.

In another 0.4 of a mile we are at the Wakeena Falls, which both fortunately and unfortunately, has a parking area nearby.

As such, the crowds return.  And that’s fine.  There’s a fiesta buzz to the air.  We remember that this natural wonder is not only for the uber-fit and half-crazed hikers.

Wakeena Falls

The spectacular falls are just the first taste of the five falls we will see today.  Enjoy this 26 second video of Wakeena Falls.

Once we leave Wakeena Falls, the crowds disappear again.  We resume our loop hike heading for Fairy Falls, our next aquatic attraction.

Multnomah Falls Trail Map

In short order we are high above the Columbia River

Columbia River

The trail is a pleasing and certainly demanding set of switchbacks shaded by the summer forest.

Another 0.8 of a mile we come to Fairy Falls.

Fairy Falls along the Columbia River Gorge

Mother Nature has presented us with another natural gift.  Check out this 37 second video of Fairy Falls.

The loop trail climbs through a rain forest of dense growth.  These summer months are the dry ones here in Oregon.  Come October, they will get the rain that they are known for and it will last til spring.

Water falls across our trail

Though not often, but regularly enough, we catch a glimpse of the Interstate 84 below us.

I-84 heading East

Still just 3P in the afternoon and having hiked three miles up the mountain, we choose to hike on another 1.6 miles to the Devil’s Rest viewpoint at 2400 feet.

It turns out the trail is dirt packed and easy on our feet with convenient switchbacks to take us up to Columbia River vista.

Two hours in, we hike back onto the Multnomah Falls loop and head for Ercola Falls.

Ercola Falls

After two miles of hiking, we pick up other trail loopers at Ercola Falls.

Descending to Multnomah Falls

The trail remains rocky, but it’s all downhill from here.  And then the crowds pick up; soon the trail is paved and leading to a view from the top of Multnomah Falls.  The back and forth switchbacks allow many to scale this mountain side facing the Columbia River Gorge.

Cool, cool, cool

When on a hike, if at all possible, hike with someone who is cool.  Shades make this woman.

After nearly four hours of hiking we arrive back at Multnomah Falls

We are now asking sightseers to wait just a minute as we snap the multi-wonderous Multnomah Falls.

A tad weary we sip red wine from our water bottles at the stone patio as the base of the falls.  We are not in a hurry to have our vacation end any time soon.

Journey’s End