Trail to ale.

Last weekend we set off on one of our favorite weekend activities; hiking in the Columbia River Gorge and eating our weight in pizza at Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River. 

To plan our hike, I visited Friends of the Columba Gorge. This website is a great resource. You can use their “Plan Your Own Hike” search function to explore over 100 Gorge hikes. My favorite thing to do is search by trail feature. We usually go with the waterfall options. You can also search by length of hike or look for “family friendly” routes. 

We decided on hiking to Wahclella Falls. This waterfall was easily one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in Oregon.  The trail itself was like Disneyland for adults, including a bridge over a huge fall that you could reach out and touch, scary stairs (thankfully Brent is in charge of wearing Carson) and a beautiful grotto with a full view of Wahclella Falls. 

After the hike, we continued on to Double Mountain for pizza and beer. 

Lastly we stopped by Springhouse Cellar Winery (where they serve wine on tap!) to pick out a bottle to go with our Valentine’s dinner later this week. 

Springhouse Cellar has a really cool sustainable model. In order to use fewer resources they sell 1 liter refillable growlers. The growlers cost $5 plus the cost of wine the first time you purchase one but when you refill it, you get 30 percent more wine for the same prices as a standard bottle would cost you. This means you get more wine, for less money and you are doing something good for the environment. Triple win.  I’m in.