Passage To Beauty

Cut by ancient waters, the Columbia River Gorge leads to a paradise of cliffs and waterfalls.

- David Jensen

Recently a photographer friend who had just returned from Costa Rica confessed to me that the trip had increased his appreciation for a place much closer to home. “In just 10 miles of the Columbia River Gorge, there is vastly more to see and photograph than in all of Costa Rica,” he told me. The precipitous canyon separating Oregon and

Washington contains one of the world’s great rivers and 85 rugged miles of incredible things to see and photograph. At no time of year is the gorge more spectacular than in October and November. Then, the bigleaf maples in the west and the oaks in the eastern savannas turn yellow and gold. The towering, glacier-clad volcanoes of Mount Hood and Mount Adams are framed by the brilliant reds of vine maple and dusted with fresh snow. But the gorge is a premier place for photography any time of year.

And it is also a paradise for just about every form of outdoor recreation, including white-water rafting, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, birding, skiing and mountain climbing.