Well that makes sense. Thanks for filling in the blank Andrea.

Welcome to Portland, I hope you enjoy your stay.

I think it must have held some sort of wayfaring sign, maybe even recently. There are folks out there who steal such things, sadly.

I would do it again if there was no baggage, ideally on the gravel bike but I don't think Barry would go for it.

It's really amazing. Barry took this awesome photo.

I think they’re actually easier going up.

They’re irksome, for sure. It seems like for all that’s been invested on this trail it wouldn’t be that much more to upgrade this.

I guess I would too if we had to handle them very often, but for a one time deal it was an interesting experience

It seems that most of the extravagant flowers we have seen on this trip are invasive species.

I am so happy we stayed here. We had no idea of the heritage of this place. It was a wonderful experience.

I'm not sure what's harder, going up or down but wrestling a tandem sure sounds like a high wire act. Those stairs were steep!

Many a bike tourist fumes at these stairs.

It's a perennial sweet pea, Lathyrus latifolius, kind of invasive but pretty.

This hotel is an iconic piece of Gorge history. It was closed for 3 or 4 years but has been renovated. That garden is amazing.

I sure remember navigating those steps with our recumbent tandem! Luckily we were coming down them and not going up. But we still had to take off all of the panniers.