Hood River

For years, the incessant easterly winds blowing through the town of Hood River were nothing more than a nuisance. Then somebody bolted a sail to a surfboard, waded into the fat part of the gorge, and a new recreational craze was born. A fortuitous combination of factors—mainly the reliable gale-force winds blowing against the current—has made Hood River the self-proclaimed windsurfing capital of the world. Especially in summer, this once-somnolent town swarms with colorful "boardheads" from as far away as Europe and Australia.