Submitted by NWbearbeard t3_12636n0 in Washington
I’m going to be camping on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge over Memorial Day weekend. I’ve read many reviews complaining about it being windy. What is your personal experience? Should I plan to not be able to set up my normal camping gear such as tables, a pop up canopy, camp chairs etc? I don’t mind wind. But wind gusts over 40-50 mph could throw stuff all over the place.
And getting worse because of the Republican-created global climate change.
Hmmm…”plan accordingly” is a phrase I’ve read repeatedly. Hoping for a bit of elaboration. Stake down stuff, ok. Use rocks to hold down anything light, ok. Bring warm clothes, ok. Keep fires small in an enclosed fire pit even if allowed. Anything else a person not used to camping in windy conditions should know?
Don’t take stuff that is likely to fly off in the wind. use your common sense etc
If you're going to use a pop up canopy, consider skipping the stakes and instead use sandbags or five gallon buckets full of rocks or concrete. When we use them at work, we always sandbag the canopies down, and that's not even in the gorge.
Yes. I’ve had a staked tent roll away with the people in it! We woke up sleeping on the opening, whole tent a couple camp sites away. I can’t imagine what that looked like in stop action mode.
So, yeah, buckets of sand to hold tent in place windy.
In that wind rocks and stakes aren’t really going to do much. I sleep in my car when it’s that windy.
No matter what you steak a pop up canopy with when I’ve camped at Maryhill state park our canopy stayed in place but poles were bent and ruined from the wind. If not sitting in camp chairs fold them up and place inside tent or vehicle. I’ve been and everything is susceptible to blowing away. I love the Gorge and it’s so beautiful but because of the wind I probably won’t camp there again.
I didn’t get cold the air feels nice usually when temps are warm, depending on seasons. But for me the chaos of the wind feels chaotic and difficult to relax and enjoy calmness because it isn’t ever calm. It’s almost like constant chatter going on in the background. And then there’s the chasing after anything you forgot to weigh down.
I have camped at Lincoln rock state park and it was calm during the day but when the evening rolled around the voracious crazy winds came and taught us a lesson or two about wind and camp set up.
Take down the canopies before bed. They will be gone in the morning.
The Columbia river is a world famous windsurfing mecca for a reason
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Ha I saw a chunk of manufactured home blow off a truck in the gorge just yesterday! Story checks out.
Yikes!
It VERY much depends on where you camp. If you camp near the water, or on some exposed hillside, you may very well get some strong winds. Otherwise you are most likely very much sufficiently wind shaded. This is not something you should worry about.
I’ll be camping in Horsethief State Park. Near the water for sure.
Well then, yep, it could be quite windy.
I'm curious, any particular reason you chose to camp there? Having been coming to the Gorge for two or three decades, not only have I never stayed there, but I don't recall ever hearing of anybody staying there.
Petroglyphs, hiking, and mostly it’s just an area of the state I have not explored before.
Horsethief can get very windy and it has been lately but nice today lol. It really depends on the day.
It is windy. 35 mph gusts aren’t in the least bit notable. The chairs and table will probably be fine, the canopy might not be- certainly plan to sand bag it and know you could end up with a ripped top. Hazards of the gorge.
Whatever you think is staked down enough, double it. And take canopies down if you’re not using them. My last time at gorge was a couple years ago but I had JUST gotten a new car the day before and drove it to the gorge. A wind gust came out of nowhere and picked up our canopy (that was staked down) and smashed it against the windshield of my car, shattering it.
If possible, sleep in a car/camper. We slept in a tent and kept our cooler and bags in it so the tent was fine but the wind was super loud. In my experience, it wasn’t constant wind but it came in random gusts. Sand bags are the best for holding things down! Bring a hoodie and a beanie
Tent camping can be really miserable but if in an RV it's definitely better. On very windy days going for a walk is hard. Just a heads up there's a train that goes through horsethief that blows it's horn at a nearby crossing, even at night
Thanks for the heads up!
You don't need to expect something like this but it can get bad.
Good to have goggles on hand, extra tie-downs for tents.
Ended up with my tent wrapped around a tree the first time I tried to camp in Vantage. Seemed still during the day, and when I got back from a concert at the gorge my tent went flying. Heavy, sturdy, all of our stuff in it.
Sometimes it’s not windy at all. Other times I’ve seen canopies fly hundreds of feet in the air and land on cars. When it’s that windy, stakes don’t do anything. My friends tent had a couple gallon jugs of water in it and the wind took it. Tents usually do okay but canopies are like parachutes. What I have found to work is to take the corners off of the canopy and if you want extra security, loser the canopy when leaving the site. You could probably look up predicted weather beforehand but most people camp with normal tents and canopies
rosesandpiglets t1_je7agql wrote
It is very windy, so yes, plan accordingly