Friday was something of a decompression day after the big race, and the wind abated some in keeping with that. I did two runs from the Skamania County Fairgrounds to Home Valley, and while I caught some decent action out there, the conditions were not nearly as big as they'd been Wednesday and Thursday.
By yesterday morning the wind had died almost entirely. After checking out of our rental house, Michael and I decided to try some surfing behind the sternwheeler that takes customers on a tour of the river in the vicinity of Cascade Locks. When we got out there for the 11 o'clock outing, we discovered that many other paddlers had had the same idea. As the vessel headed upriver toward Home Valley I managed to position myself on the fourth wave back from the paddle wheel, but before long a couple of outriggers slipped off their waves in front of me and took me out with them. I decided to cool my heels and wait for the big boat to make its return pass, and that's when I really had some fun. I grabbed the fourth or fifth wave back once more and got a great ride as the sternwheeler's wakes clashed with the very small wind-driven conditions moving up the river.
And with that, my paddling in the Columbia River Gorge came to an end for this year. I spent last night back at the campground at White Salmon, and this morning I got an early start back east. I drove across eastern Washington, north-central Idaho, and western Montana before stopping in Missoula for the night. The skies grew increasingly smoky as I went along, apparently the result of fires in central Idaho.
My nephew currently lives in Missoula and I'm bunking with him for the night. I hope to make it into eastern Montana or the Dakotas tomorrow.
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