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For 20 years, a generation of intrepid Northwesterners has explored the Gorge through a series of eccentric and highly personal books. Aimed at the kind of people who prefer “hidden,” “secret,” and “little-known” to “best” or “top 10″ for their hikes, waterfalls, caves, bike trails, and swimming holes, the Curious Gorge guidebooks are legendary for their intimate knowledge of the landscape and culture.
They’re the work of adventurer, writer, editor, publisher, and distributor Scott Cook.
First published in 2002, the guidebooks received regular updates until 2017. Since then, people whom Cook introduced to the Gorge have wondered: Where did he go?
It turns out he didn’t go anywhere. He’s still in Hood River. And still curious about new experiences. But he’s left the guidebook business behind.
Cook came to Oregon in the 1990s. In love with the Great Outdoors and laid off from his corporate job, he received a generous severance bought a camping van, and explored the West. He bought stacks of maps and guidebooks, but they all had only part of what he wanted.
Rather than 100 Great Waterfalls, he wanted something that put together everything he loved: windsurfing, rollerblading, hiking, snowboarding, mountain biking, caving, rambling around in a van. “I got the idea to write a travel book for people like me,” he says.
Traditional publishers weren’t interested, so he figured he’d do it himself. Cook distributed his first Curious Gorge by taking it to cafes, windsurfing stores, and bookshops where it was sold on consignment.
In subsequent editions, he perfected the formula that’s made the books invaluable to anyone looking to discover places that aren’t on an internet-generated best-of list. Rather than Multnomah Falls, for example, Cook wanted to help folks leave the beaten trail for places like Panther Creek Falls. It’s harder to find—and that’s exactly the idea.
“Most people don’t want anything beyond the greatest hits,” Cook says. “My books exist for people who crave a deeper dive.”
The Gorge books became cult classics and led to several more: about Bend, the North and South Islands of New Zealand, Portland weirdness, and, most curiously, Pokin’ Round the Gorge: A Sexy-Romantic Guide for Gorge Lovers.
“Researching the books sent me into a vortex of learning and self-discovery,” he explains. That sentiment led him to produce what he affectionately calls “pokin’.”
Cook was about to go to his first Burning Man with friends for whom the pairing of historic exploration and sex in nature sounded like peanut butter and jelly. When they found the ruins of a mansion Sam Hill built for his mistress (see page 62), “they knew what to do: take their clothes off and cavort,” he remembers fondly.
If you spot a copy lingering at a garage sale or in a free library, snap it up. Used copies sell for up to $100 on eBay.
Despite that demand, Cook, now 59, says he has hung up his publisher’s tools.
But while Hood River isn’t exactly off the beaten path these days, there are still adventures out there to discover. Even if you have to find them yourself.
This story is part of Oregon Summer Magazine, Willamette Week’s annual guide to the summer months, this year focused along the Columbia River. It is free and can be found all over Portland beginning Monday, July 1st, 2024. Find a copy at one of the locations noted on this map before they all get picked up! Read more from Oregon Summer magazine online here.
