** A piece of information has been added to this story. Friends of The Columbia Gorge brought their fundraising efforts for The Hood River Search and Rescue team to an end last Thursday, having raised "far more, far faster than expected." **
Although the smoke has cleared from The Bluff, seniors Ariel Graves and Katherine Soldwedel know that their favorite place, the Columbia River Gorge, will never be the same. To cope, they created a GoFundMe account to help the Hood River Search and Rescue team working on helping those stranded by the Eagle Creek fire.
The Gorge was engulfed by flames last week after a teenager allegedly tossed illegal fireworks off the Eagle Creek Trail, and the fire grew quickly, burning more than 35,000 square acres as of Tuesday, including Pilot favorites like the Oneonta Gorge tunnel and Punch Bowl Falls.
Graves and Soldwedel said they were shocked by the devastation in the Gorge, and wanted to help but didn’t know how. After brainstorming and doing some research, the two discovered non-profit organization Friends of the Columbia Gorge, and started a GoFundMe account to help support the “unsung heroes” of the Eagle Creek Fire, the Hood River Search and Rescue team. The search and rescue team are part of the Hood River County Sheriff's office and have already helped rescue 153 hikers who were trapped by the fire.
“We figured, why not support our local community?” Graves said. “Because it makes a lot of impact for us and generations to come, because the Gorge is amazing, it’s gonna take years for that to grow back.”
As of Tuesday, the GoFundMe had garnered some campus support, and had raised $255 of the $5,000 goal. Soldwedel said they didn’t really know how much to ask for, but they figured they should aim high, as they know the damage is huge.
“We don’t know how much of an impact we’re gonna make, but we figure that anything helps,” Graves said. “No matter how much money we raise, it feels good to be doing it.”
Graves and Soldwedel met their freshman year when they were roommates in Shipstad Hall, room 213. They’ve been taking day trips to the Gorge ever since — they took their last trip to the untouched Gorge in early July, when they hiked Eagle Creek Trail to Punchbowl Falls.
Soldwedel said she is disappointed and annoyed because she knows that the Gorge won’t look the same, at least for a long time. The two have sought refuge in the Gorge throughout their college years, and know they’re not alone. In their adventures over the past three years, Graves and Soldwedel said they have both met tourists and locals alike who have said the same thing.
Pilots who are interested can click here to donate.
