Day 144 – Cascade Locks to Forest Road – 10 miles

IMG_1199We had a few chores to finish up today and it took us a long time to escape the town vortex.  When we finally did, we started by crossing the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods. With no pedestrian walkway and an open metal floor that allowed us to see all the way down to the surface of the water, this was one of the scariest sections of trail that I’ve crossed! The upside is that hikers don’t have to pay the toll to cross.  We walked slowly into the oncoming traffic.  When the stiff breeze blew the bridge hummed in the wind.  Soon enough we were over and being welcomed to Washington. Third and final state! The rest of the day was taken up by a steep climb out of the Columbia River gorge. We paralleled the river for a while before striking away from it, rounding the backside of Table Mountain.  We’ve been staring at this towering triangular bluff for the last two days in town.  We hiked up a humid tunnel of green, sweating freely but glad for the shade.  We stopped 2.5 miles before a forest road to fill up on water from a spring, then slowly made our way up the rest of the hill to the road.  We camped there just south of where the trail cut across it. Flat spots get harder to find from here on out…

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