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  • The ride of life with a dog
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Dog Diary

The ride of life with a dog
  • Surf Dog Diaries - dog blog
  • The ride of life with a dog
  • HANG 20 - DOG BEACH, CA
  • HANG 20 - DOG RIVER, OR
  • ABOUT US
  • BarbAyers.com
  • GIVING BACK
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Dogs ride the ups and downs with us. Real life Surf Dog Diaries

Meet writer dogs. Rider dogs. Best dog friends. Surf the couch, the www, or a wave. Wave back at us!

It's all about the ride. The ride of life with a dog.

The Hook - where beginning surf dogs learn. And where all species are drawn back each sunset. Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

The Hook - where beginning surf dogs learn. And where all species are drawn back each sunset. Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Dog River surf dogs - windsurfers, kite surfers, SUP pups, 4-legged, 2-legged and salmon surfers. Farewell to summer in Hood River, Oregon

Barbara Ayers October 28, 2017
That pioneering woman, Lady Columbia roams wild and free. She wanders through manly mountains and secret Sasquatch forests on her way to Mother Ocean at the Oregon coast.
Long before Lewis and Clark, her Columbia River curves coaxed an Oregon Trail through the Pacific Northwest.
Craggy cliffs. Diamond river sparkles. Freckle-faced wildflower slopes.
Tyson Poor surf dogs The Hatchery.    Photo by Trudy Lary

Tyson Poor surf dogs The Hatchery.    Photo by Trudy Lary

 

 

Dinky dog towns of the Columbia River Gorge. 

As Gorge summers heat up, raging wind whips river surf, miles from the ocean.
Hood River, Oregon - windsurfing capital of the world.
Wind junkies return each year, braving long voyages back to secret spots, across the miles - up hill, up river, migrating like salmon friends do.
Our magical Hood River hometown. Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Our magical Hood River hometown. Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Hood River, Oregon comes alive with cab-over campers, Sprinter vans and beat-up SUV’s, packed street-light high with windsurf boards, mountain bikes, snowboards and SUP’s.
Over sized, over stuffed rigs overflow small town roads, bulging with racks and stacks and trailers of gear.
Fall in Hood River - my dog son Doodle, October 27, 2017.   Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Fall in Hood River - my dog son Doodle, October 27, 2017.   Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

 

 

 

And dogs!

Gorge road trips mean tail wagging adventures and big happy dogface grins. On all kinds of species.
In summer, all roads lead back to the Columbia Gorge.
Hood River - small in size, huge in spirit – home of extreme athletes, entrepreneurs and community-minded creatures.
Surf dogs fill our beaches.
Windsurf central is The Hatchery, where salmon too, are reborn.
From Doug’s Beach, you can sail across from Mt. Adams to Mt. Hood and drop in at Rowena on the Oregon side.
The Wall. Mellow Mosier.
The Hook brings up next gen surf dogs.
The Event Site overflows with water dogs from local to global beaches. The sandbar shrinks and swells with river flow, where the Hood meets Columbia. Surf dog central - where canines and kiters roam.

Long before the name Hood River - this river, this town - was Dog River.

Guess who's coming to town? Downtown Hood River, winter 2016.     Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Guess who's coming to town? Downtown Hood River, winter 2016.     Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Here in small town America, people give back and help out with their whole hearts, like nowhere else on Earth.

Mt Hood old barn ParksdaleSMALL.jpg
Manly mountain, Mr. Hood.  Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Manly mountain, Mr. Hood.  Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Dog River rushes down from Mt. Hood to the Columbia as snowmelt and salmon migrate.

Salmon surfers sail beneath our toes and our towns and our paws and our sailboards.

Fish ride river surf, over locks, under flocks of eagles and fishermen. Drawn like sunset, and Lady Columbia, to Mother Ocean.
Then, turn around and swim another 100 miles back home.
Salmon sunset - in more ways than one.  Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Salmon sunset - in more ways than one.  Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Salmon surfers - surf dogs and Oregonians at heart.  Photo: US Fish & Wildlife

Salmon surfers - surf dogs and Oregonians at heart.  Photo: US Fish & Wildlife

Up a creek, uphill, over rocks, crossing currents and swells, riding against tide and rational thought - returning to spawn in dinky dog ponds fed by the tiniest trickle.

Like the rest of us surf dogs, they are drawn here each year.

Together, we migrate and mingle.
Share a home and a life and a season, a reason. 
With river and forest and land and all creatures in it.
Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org

 

- Barb Ayers, DogDiary.org, home of the secret    Surf Dog Diaries

From "Writing Up the Gorge" exhibit at Columbia Center for the Arts, Hood River, OR

 

RELATED POSTS:

Fall is my favorite season of all
The magical beach at Dog River
Yahooo! Surf dog summers are here!
Tags Hood River waterfront park, Hood River Event Site, Hood River OR, Visit Hood River, Surf dog diaries, surf dog mom Barb Ayers, Barbara Ayers, Dog diary, Dogdiary.org, dog blog, dog river, Dog Beach, dog thoughts, Portland Oregon, Columbia Center for the Arts, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Friends of the Gorge, windsurfing dog, kite surfing, SUP dog, pup SUP, standup paddleboard dog, stand up paddle boarding, Mount Hood, nature lover, writer dog, best dog friend, Pacific Northwest, I love dogs, Oregon, surf dog diary, diary memoir, outdoor adventure, Tyson Poor, photo essay, small town diary, small town USA, rescue dogs, dog days of summer
← This fall, we almost took the fall. THANK YOU first responders on the Eagle Creek FireDoxie Doodle, river rat - jump on board with us! →

Surf Dog Diaries.com

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Surf Dog Diaries  |  Barb Ayers, San Diego, CA and Mosier OR.  |   All content and images (c) Barb Ayers, copyrighted, all rights reserved