Appeal tribune., August 11, 2021, Page 5, Image 5

Appeal Tribune
| WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021 | 1B
OUTDOORS
A N G E L’ S R E S T
Hike in Columbia River Gorge boasts waterfalls, views
Mark Morical Bend Bulletin | TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
BEND, Ore. – Hiking in the Columbia River Gorge is similar to hiking in Central Oregon: So
many options exist, it is hard to know where to begin. h I find it’s best to rely on the locals. h
On a recent visit to see my family in Vancouver, Wash., I spent a day hiking with my sister,
Cindy Morical, and her adventurous boyfriend, Tony Barnes. h Barnes has spent lots of time
on trails in the Gorge and southwest Washington. His first recommendation was Silver Star
Mountain in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest east of Vancouver. But we agreed that the
1.5-hour drive to get there was too long. h Other waterfall hikes in the Gorge we deemed too
short to be worth a drive. h Eventually we settled on Angel’s Rest, a moderate 4.8-mile
round-trip hike with nearly 2,000 feet of elevation gain. It is located on the Oregon side, but
was just a 30-minute drive from Vancouver along Interstate 84 (about a three-hour drive
from Bend). See ANGEL’S REST, Page 2B
The view from the top of Angel’s Rest Trail on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. PHOTO BY MARK MORICAL/THE BULLETIN; USA TODAY NETWORK PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
Honoring a very special outdoors volunteer
Fishing
Henry Miller
Guest columnist
Nothing succeeds like excess.
Case in point: Dick Wasson.
After 19 years of organizing and
ramrodding classes, clinics and
events during which he’s taught
thousands of kids shotgun safety and
shooting skills, Wasson was honored
for his service by induction into the
Oregon Sporting Clays Hall of Fame.
The presentation, fittingly, was
July 31 during the Oregon State
Championship Shoot at Creswell,
where the former Salem resident put
the cherry on top by finishing third in
Class D at the event.
In the interests of full disclosure,
Wasson is a longtime friend and in-
termittent fishing buddy who I first
met through the shotgun accomplish-
ments of his son, Tom.
By the numbers, he helped orga-
nize and run 19 annual youth shotgun
clinics and fun shoots at Mitchell’s
Clay Target Sports, which since has
become Mid-Valley Clays & Shooting
School, in Gervais.
“During those 19 years worth of
youth events we had something like
between 35 and 135 kids (annually),”
Wasson said about the clinics and
shoots originated by Dan Mitchell,
the then-club owner.
“We had to scramble sometimes,”
he added about a rotating cast of vol-
unteer coaches and instructors from
organizations such as the Capitol
Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Asso-
ciation
His son, Tom, often was among
them.
“It was all about shotgun shooting
and introducing them to clay target
shooting,” Wasson said. “We got it
done. And out of those 19 years (with
kids as young as 10), we never had
anybody hurt.”
The events were free, and every
participant was fed lunch and went
home with a raffle prize, regardless of
how many targets they hit.
Wasson made sure of that, shut-
tling between his current, post-re-
tirement home on the Siletz River
south of Lincoln City and Salem to fill
shopping-cart-loads of prizes, food
and beverages for the shooters and
their parents.
“And then I did 20 of the adult
events the next day to help pay for the
kids’ (events)” he said about the
sanctioned fund-raiser shoots at the
Gervais shotgun fields on the Sun-
days after the Saturday youth events.
Applying his too-much-is-never-
enough principle, Wasson also put in
14 years as one of the organizers and
frequent ringmaster at the shotgun
skills clinics and shoots during annu-
See MILLER, Page 2B
Dick Wasson with his induction award
into the Oregon Sporting Clays Hall of
Fame. PHOTO COURTESY OF DICKS WASSON