2010-07-10 45 -122

Location

In a side channel of the Columbia River near Hayden Island.

Yes: IN the Columbia River.

Participants

Jim

Plans

Jim is headed to the Farmer's Market, and then thinks he'll try and see what the area looks like. He doubts he'll have access from the Marine Drive side, due to the rail yard, but is going to see if it looks better from the Hayden Island side. If nothing else, he gets to look at this off-ramp of Hwy I-5 which he's driven by, but never visited.!

Sounds like an adventure.

Expedition

I finally finished up the stuff I was working on at home and headed out. It was a little warm, but it was supposed to be much cooler than yesterday, so that was nice. It was nice and clear, so I got to see Mt. Hood on my way out.

So, I first headed to the Farmer's market to get stuff for the coming week. After finding berries and beans, I was talking to the gelato folks and they mentioned that they were going to have sailing lessons in a month or so. I asked about what sort of craft, and they said it was a smaller sailboat on the Columbia. My ears perked up, and then they said that the dock was located on Hayden Island!

Clearly the universe wanted me to try for the hashpoint and was going to provide lots of reminders! I let the gelato folks know where I was planning on heading and they were amused. They wanted to know how I was going to get out into the channel, and I said I didn't think I'd get any closer than the shore, but it would be an adventure.

After finishing up visiting with folks and getting things, I headed east. I happened to check the GPS before I got too far out and was astonished at how much the hashpoint was north rather than east. I went into Portland and headed up towards the Oregon-Washington border on Hwy I-5. I exited right before crossing. The streets weren't quite as clear as I had hoped, but eventually I managed to find the road that would get me close to the shore. However, halfway down the road, a fence showed up, and a couple of train tracks, one with a moving train.

Prior to getting to that point, I had ended up near a private marina that I couldn't access either, so clearly the shoreline on Hayden Island was inaccessible. I took a few pictures and went back, trying to get close to the shore from the Portland side, but that didn't prove successful either.

So, I went home, doing a little more grocery shopping on the way.