Little evidence of raucous rock fest

WASHOUGAL - A controversial rock festival complete with sex, drugs and nudity brought nearly 20,000 people to Clark County 30 years ago.

Today, the only evidence of the Sky River III Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair is the occasional old garbage pit or bottle discovered among the farms and country homes.

From Aug. 28 to Sept. 8, 1970, the area was filled with bands, festival participants, nude swimmers and concession stands selling such drugs as marijuana and LSD. Three babies were born during the festival and one person drowned in the Washougal River.

"It was like a big concert, a rock 'n' roll event," said Bud Harris, a Washougal real-estate broker who attended Sky River when he was 17.

As the 30-year anniversary rolls around, the Two Rivers Heritage Museum has issued an open call for photos or artifacts to remember what they call Clark County's greatest rock festival. Old newspaper articles are among the few remaining objects from the event.

"It just wasn't the kind of thing (previous historians) wanted to keep," said Betty Ramsey, director of the museum run by the Camas-Washougal Historical Society.

But since the museum's announcement, someone has already called about a bus with Sky River painted on the side.

Thirty years ago, Sky River organizers set out to challenge the state's strictest anti-festival ordinance in Clark County. They secretly negotiated with a Mount Norway farmer to use 160 acres two miles north of here.

The information was leaked to county officials, who tried to stop Sky River. By then too many people had arrived. During the festival, a court battle was waged to shut down the event.

While many parents prohibited their teenagers from attending the rock festival, enough showed up to briefly make Sky River the second largest community in Clark County.

"It was real difficult to get in," Harris said. "You had to park a long ways away."

Hundreds of people went skinny-dipping in the Washougal River. Local historian Curtis Hughey said residents would spy on the swimmers with binoculars, although some homeowners were enraged.

"I'd like to see the truth about these rock festivals get out," one homeowner told The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver on Sept. 1, 1970. "I'd like the people to be able to see what goes on. They should see the mass nudity, the fornication on the beach, the drugs, the pollution of the river."

County church groups who sold concessions at the festival backed out when drugs appeared and people started taking off their clothes.

"That was one place they didn't want to be," Ramsey said.

Labor Day weekend rain and resulting mud ended the festival. While Sky River organizers hoped the site would become a permanent commune, long lines of cars deserted the area by Sept. 11.