8/9 Drive East Along Columbia River

This is really one of the prettiest drives in the west, certainly as pretty as many of the coastal drives.  Interstate 84 goes all the way from Portland on the south side of the river to the Idaho border.  I started from Portland and was headed east to LePage Park Campground, a Corps of Engineering facility along the river. 

As you begin the drive, the land is forested and wet, as shown here, with cliffs along the river.  

You can see some of the areas that were burned last year when the dumb kids threw firecrackers from a lookout into the woods.  

It was hard to take photos as I drove, so I stopped at a scenic area and took photos of the opposite side.

Then I realized I was directly opposite the five tunnels I went through when I drove on the two-lane road on the other side a few weeks ago.  

Once you get past Mount Hood, you are in its "rain shadow" so the land is dryer and less wooded.   

Here is a grassy area that burned last year.  Or maybe this year?? 

I am guessing that the orange area is where fire retardant was dropped by an airplane. 

Almost to the campground, and this is the LePage Lock and Dam.  Going to visit it one day this week. 

I'll publish some photos of the campground tomorrow.