Columbia Gorge Hotel

With wildfire smoke choking our area we decided to take a little trip to escape the foul air. After consulting the air quality map shown below we decided to book our first stay at the Columbia Gorge Hotel which sits on the cliffs in Hood River, Oregon overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.

Here you can see the reason we left. We currently live in the heart of the purple and red area as seen in this air quality index map (AQI). We decide to head north to where the 1 and 2 are.

We woke up the next moring to a beautiful sunny day.

We had a nice room with a great view of the Columbia River.

Here you can see a tug boat pushing a barge upriver.

You'll notice these shots were taken through the window screen causing a bit of a mesh effect on the images. I thought about trying to take the screen out but really didn't want to drop it three stories onto the head of anyone that might be below. 😜

Right before we were heading down to breakfast I got a quick glimpse of one of the river cruise ships that ply the Columbia River.

There used to be a stern wheeler or two but I think they are all retired now.

Sitting Outside for Breakfast.

Although there was no outside service for breakfast we were able to order it to go and sit down right outside the dinning area.

The outdoor area was adorned with these beautiful hanging baskets...

And landscaped areas.

Of course the view past the flowers was quite spectacular also. 😀

A Tour of the Gardens.

One of the highlights of a stay at the Columbia Gorge Hotel is tour of their magnificently maintained grounds and some of the views from those grounds.

We started at the front of the hotel and then worked our way around back.

A shot of the stream that eventually turns into Wah Gwin Gwin Falls and plunges some 200 feet over the cliff to the Columbia River below.

Wild life is abundant...

and places to sit and enjoy the beauty are numerous.

We came across this feeding frenzy of ducks. There was something about this area that had them clustered together diving for food.

Below is but a small collection of the many roses in the garden.

A hedge sculpted into the hotel logo. Could have used a drone to get a better shot of this.😉

Two different shades of purple on the same plant.

Some of the unique architecture on a bridge over the stream.

Some views of a statue near the front entrance.

A conk covered stump.

A lot of people have their wedding at the hotel and this is one of the wedding areas.

Here is the view from the stage platform.

A last look at the stream as it plunges over Wah Gwin Gwin Falls.

As the tour nears its end a look up at our breakfast spot.

Please feel free to make comments or ask me any questions about this post.

Photos taken by me, @oldmans, with a Nikon D3300 and some Lightroom post processing.
Please visit Pinmapple to see the locations of some of my other posts.
Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!