Preparing for travel

Hiking at Beacon Rock in preparation for upcoming trip in foreign lands that will involve lots of walking. The day at Beacon Rock was beautiful, mild, and in the 70s. Here we are looking west, down the Columbia River.

Beacon Rock is the core of an ancient volcano. The ice-age floods through the Columbia River Gorge eroded the softer material away, leaving this unique geological structure standing by itself on the banks of the Columbia River.

The trail to the top is an engineering marvel - it crosses 25 bridges and makes 47 switchbacks. It's about one mile one way to the top of the rock, 15% grade, with an elevation gain of 850 feet.

Henry J. Biddle, a Portland businessman, purchased the rock to save it from destruction by the railroad. The trail was built between 1915 and 1918 by Biddle and Charles Johnson. That makes it one of the oldest trails in our area. At the time, Biddle owned the rock, so he had complete latitude to blast and bridge his way to the top. The NP Railroad, had slated Beacon Rock for demolition (!!), the rubble would have been used for railroad beds. In 1935 Biddle's heirs turned the rock over to the state for use as a park. Additional development was done by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Beacon Rock served as a landmark for river travelers for hundreds of years. The Indians knew it marked the last of the rapids on the Columbia River and the beginning of tidal influence from the Pacific Ocean, 150 miles away. Lewis and Clark were the first white men to see the rock. They camped at its base in November of 1805, noting the rock in their journal and giving it its present name.

Here is a view looking east towards Bonneville Dam area.