Dalles Mountain Ranch in the Gorge

On Saturday we drove over to Dalles Mountain Ranch at Columbia Hills State Park. It's about 80 miles east of Portland and looks like a different world, more like the west you'd associate with New Mexico or Arizona. The area we went to is a former ranch of 3,300 acres which is full of lupine and arrow-leaf balsamroot flowers this time of year. They were everywhere we looked. Gorgeous!! There are no trails through the open meadows, creeks, and stands of scrub oak so people are allowed to walk where ever they please. Parking is a little tricky as there is no designated parking along the narrow dirt road but there are areas wide enough to allow for a car to be parked off road and we took advantage of that. We met a fellow from the Ukraine who was there wandering about taking pictures of all the flowers as we were. He was on his own and requested that we take his picture so we got to talk with him a bit.

We walked through the meadows, taking lots of photos. It was hot out there in the bright sunshine and we slathered on the sunscreen. After we had taken in all the beauty we could handle, we drove over to Horsethief Park which was just down the road. We found a picnic area with lots of trees that was down near the lake and we settled there with the provisions we had brought and had a restful lunch in the same general area where Lewis and Clark camped on their journey westward. http://www.stateparks.com/horsethief_lake.html As part of the park, there is an area of petroglyphs and we stopped and looked those over before heading to Hood River.

At Hood River, we stopped at a couple of wineries and sampled their wares at both places. Some we liked; some we didn't. My favorites included the Halbtrocken (a red/white blend) from Cathedral Ridge. http://cathedralridgewinery.com/store/product-info.php?pid127.html
From the Hood River Vineyards, I liked the dessert wines (which you sip like a liqueur) and we got some raspberry and marionberry to take with us. http://hoodrivervineyards.us/home/?page_id=4 At both places we got some pinot and other reds to take with. Spent our monthly wine budget in two brief stops. :)

On our return, we stopped at New Seasons and got some cheeses and salads and enjoyed them for supper with some of our new wine.