Why the Gorge earns its reputation
The Columbia River Gorge is one of the most reliable wind corridors in the country — cool marine air from the coast gets funneled through the basalt walls and collides with the warmer air of the interior, producing steady, predictable wind almost every afternoon in summer. It's the reason Hood River became a windsurfing and sailing capital in the first place.
Sailors on the Columbia deal with a strange mix of conditions most freshwater sailors never see: real current, a narrow channel, barge traffic, and gusts that can jump ten knots in a matter of minutes as they funnel between the cliffs. It rewards people who pay attention and humbles the ones who don't.
Glass-flat water, light thermal wind starting to build off the eastern basalt walls.
Wind hits its stride. Whitecaps by early afternoon most days May through September.
Wind drops off with the sun. Channel goes quiet, current does the rest of the work.