In August I completed the Bridge of the Gods Half Marathon. It was an event I’d heard about and thought about doing. So, when my friend, Molly, asked if I would do it with her for her first half marathon, I said, “Of course!”

The actual Bridge of the Gods spans the Columbia River connecting Washington & Oregon. Recently the bridge has gained popularity due to Cheryl Strayed ending her Pacific Crest Trail journey here as she describes in her book, Wild.

THE SHUTTLE

Parking for the event was on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. However, the start line was on the Washington side. Near the parking areas were buses to shuttle us across the bridge.

THE START

The start line, in Washington. We met Molly’s cousin there and gave our well wishes and awesome race vibes to each other.

This was a first sight for me. There was a drone taking pics at the start line.

THE COURSE

And, we’re off.

The openness of the metal grates while running across the bridge was an odd feeling. It was my favorite part of the race.

That small island off to the left is the finish line location.

Running past the Bridge of the Gods Trailhead along the Pacific Crest Trail.

I wasn’t aware there was such a nice trail along this section of the Columbia River. It was great.

We made it to the Stairway of Heaven. Not gonna lie, this was about the point where the fun ended.

The trail was well marked and well maintained. But, I was just not feeling it that day. Well… I should say I was feeling it too much. I’d been hill training, but those elevation changes hit me hard. I didn’t sleep well the night before. I didn’t eat quite as many calories that morning as I typically do on race days. I started my period that day. Possibly a combination of all these things contributed to the rougher than normal race. I’m not sure. But after the first few miles, it sucked and my body was paying for it.

The view of the Columbia Gorge was beautiful. The weather was perfect.
In the top photo you can see I-84 & the powerhouse at Bonneville Dam.

Oh, thank goodness we made it to the half way mark! I’m smiling, but cringing inside.
I did/do love the new tank I bought from Sparkle Athletic. I don’t often run in tanks, but I kinda liked it.

I didn’t take any photos on the way back to Cascade Locks. I was too busy struggling to get myself up and back down those damn hills.

Once, though, we saw the bridge it was such a beautiful sight I had to snap a pic.

This place has the best ice cream cones. It’s a must to stop and enjoy one anytime you travel through Cascade Locks. I absolutely thought about getting one and continuing the race with it. I wasn’t going to get a PR. I might as well have enjoyed some ice cream. But, I didn’t.

Crossing the pedestrian bridge to Marine Park and the finish line!

THE FINISH

I always run across the finish line, but this time I was too tired to even care.

It was a challenge, but we did it!

This event goes down as my worst half ever. I felt horrible and my finish time was slower than even my first half at Disney.

The good news is that we never gave up and we finished.

I’m so ticked off at my performance that I want to go back and kick this course in the ass next year.

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On a fairly sunny day in May, the kids and I spent the day exploring sites in the Columbia Gorge.

COLUMBIA GORGE INTERPRETIVE CENTER

Although I wanted to see other things, my main reason for going to The Gorge that day was to visit the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center. So, we went there first.

The Interpretive Center is on the Washington side of the Columbia River, but I had planned to drive most of the way on the Oregon side, up I-84. Even though, for the most part, I knew where to go I still turned on Google navigation. When I got closer to Portland, Google Maps changed my route. I don’t know why, but I followed it. It now had me crossing the Columbia River in Portland and driving the rest of the way on the Washington side, on SR-14, part of the Lewis & Clark Highway. This was my first time driving up The Gorge via Washington.

BRIDGE OF THE GODS

After touring the Interpretive Center, we drove over the Bridge of the Gods to get back to Oregon. As well as being a cool looking bridge, it is also part of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Cheryl Strayed ended her PCT travels here, as she tells in her book Wild. She was a nut & probably never should have hiked that trail as inexperienced as she was. But, it is a great story about not only her journey on the PCT, but also her journey through life getting her where she is now. It’s inspiring. I can’t wait until the movie comes out.

PACIFIC CREST TRAIL

Just over the bridge, in Oregon, is the little town of Cascade Locks. Here, we hiked a short way on the Pacific Crest Trail in search of a letterbox. Which, we found. Yay! One day we will hike more of this trail.

CASCADE LOCKS

We found another letterbox not far from the sign.

I’ve only been to Cascade Locks once or twice before, and I remember getting ice cream cones from this place. So in adding to that memory, I treated the kids. It was a warm day, perfect for licking ice cream.

BONNEVILLE DAM

BONNEVILLE FISH HATCHERY

From the dam, we went to the Bonneville Fish Hatchery.

MULTNOMAH FALLS

Our last stop of the day was a quick visit to Multnomah Falls.

Multnomah Falls is the highest year round waterfall in Oregon. Second largest in the US. The Upper Fall plummets 542 feet. The Lower Fall is 69 feet.

A few months prior a boulder fell through the Benson Bridge. This bridge allows you to continue your hike across the Falls and up to the top. The bridge was being repaired, so it and the trail were closed. It is now open, though.
The furthest we could go up the trail was to this observation point, which was fine since I didn’t want to spend a long time at the Falls anyway.

Excerpt from the journals of Lewis & Clark, April 9, 1806
“we passed several beautifull cascades which fell from a great hight over the stupendious rocks & the most remarkable of these casscades falls about 300 feet perpendicularly over a solid rock into a narrow bottom of the river on the south side. . . . several small streams fall from a much greater hight, and in their decent become a perfect mist which collecting on the rocks below again become visible and decend a second time in the same manner before they reach the base of the rocks.”

It was a long, fabulous day. I don’t even remember the kids arguing much.

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