We convinced Subaru to loan us a Crosstrek to fuel some adventure at Leatherman. Handing the keys to some of our employees, we’ll be sharing why we love calling the Pacific Northwest home. Introducing the first story, The Columbia River Gorge.

We started the day driving from Portland to Hood River, OR. Hood River is one of those towns that you walk around day-dreaming of living in, with little boutiques, breweries, and book stores that have been around longer than most of us have been alive. We parked up and headed into Doppio Coffee to grab some coffee, answer a few work e-mails, and plan out our day.

On the way to Hood River you’ll drive down Interstate 84 passing waterfall after waterfall to the right and enjoying the Columbia River to your left. Not long after leaving Portland, you’ll hit one of the PNW hotspots, and rightfully so, Multnomah Falls. It’s a breathtaking 620-feet tall waterfall with two levels and a quaint little bridge making it photo-ready 365-days a year.

Although a huge tourist attraction, if you’ve never seen Multnomah Falls you really should see it at least once in your life. It’s also a quick stop, right off Interstate 84, you can park, see it, snap some shots and even do a short hike up to the bridge in about an hour.

After our quick stop in Hood River for breakfast, we headed over the bridge to Washington State. We drove down WA-14 to Klickitat County (yes, that’s the real name) where we stopped at Horsethief Butte for a quick hike around the butte, some stunning views of Mt. Hood, and fresh air.

Horsethief Butte is well known for a variety of top rope climbs and boulder problems. It’s a picturesque place that’s easy to get to. From the parking lot to your climbing area, you’re talking about a 10-minute walk, if that. We took the long way around the butte, taking in the views and doing a little fun scrambling down the loose blocks on our way out.

After our little walk (it’s barely a hike), we drove the 10-15 minutes down the road to Maryhill, Washington. Maryhill has a lot of history for Washington, but only holds a population of about 98 people according to the 2000 census. In the tiny town you can find a Stonehenge replica—and of course, a winery. And well, that’s what we were after.

Maryhill Winery is a beautiful winery located along the Columbia River Gorge with a stunning backdrop of Mt. Hood, and the Columbia Valley. We popped in for some snacks and a round of wine-tasting for the non-drivers. Maryhill is one of Washington State’s most-visited wineries, capturing the hearts of wine-lovers from both Oregon and Washington. And in the summer, the venue has a beautiful outdoor amphitheater looking over the river for concerts and outdoor events. So…we’ll be back for that.

On our way back to Portland, we wanted to capture a few more spots on our luckily sunny day, so we thought we’d take the round-about way back to head over to Mt. Hood to get some shots and see some more of small-town Oregon.

One of the stops we did was at another well-known and well-visited place in Oregon, but a place someone in the car had never seen, Rowena Crest. It’s popularity at the viewpoint is because of the mesmerizing horseshoe curve that you can see from up above, then you look to the left and you’re staring down the gorge at sweeping views of the area. So for fun we dropped someone off at the top and drove the Subaru down to get some shots of it driving around the crest.

Back on the road, we drove up to Mt. Hood on our way back to Portland. It’s wasn’t the most direct way home, but only added another hour or two onto the day. Plus, it was so sunny, a rarity this time of year in Oregon, we had to take advantage.

Mt. Hood is best known as our dreamy backyard to play in. About an hour to an hour and a half drive from Portland, you can be hitting the slopes in the winter and hiking in the summer. From backpacking, to rock climbing, skiing, and adventure parks, the mountain has anything an outdoor lover could ask for. We drove up to Timberline at a 5,960 feet elevation to take some images from the top of the peak. The sunny day and warmer-than-normal temperatures weren’t great for snow, but made for pretty pictures. Don’t worry though, as I write this we’re having a storm bringing in plenty of powdery-white stuff on the mountain to finish off winter.

And then of course… we ended the day at Mt. Hood Brewery for a cold one before heading back down the mountain home.

Stay tuned for our next Pacific Northwest adventure, fueled by the Subaru Crosstrek, written by our employees, coming next month!