Cascade Locks, Multnomah Falls & Bonneville
Mists outlining mountains and twining among evergreen and autumn-yellow big leaf maple trees is a truly spectacular way to view the coastal rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. After awakening in a downpour, the morning respite from the rain was quite a bonus; our morning excursion in the lower Columbia Gorge couldn’t have been more beautiful. We started our day in the Cascade Mountains, on the eastern edge of the temperate rainforest that characterizes this strip of Pacific coast from northern California into Southeast Alaska. Great Douglas firs interspersed with golden maples decorated the landscape while sheer dark cliffs of Columbia River basalts draped with low white clouds added drama to the scene.
The hatchery near Bonneville Dam is raising some incredible fish. In one pond, a 70-year-o ld , nine-foot, 450-pound fish named Herman cruises slowly past the viewing platform; white sturgeon are the largest fish in North America and have modified scales or “scutes” along their bodies for protection. They look quite prehistoric and have relatives dating back 200 million years!
Nearby, large adult rainbow trout crowded another pond, and, in the back part of the property, adult Coho salmon were nearing the end of their life’s journey; the eggs and milt of those that swim up the small channel leading to the hatchery will be collected, hatched and raised for the next season’s release into nearby rivers and streams. Hatcheries were mandated for mitigation of salmon habitat and accessibility lost by the building of the many dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Our mid-morning stop at Multnomah Falls was perfect. A few Coho salmon in spawning colors were meandering in the small stream that leads from the plunge pool of the tremendous 620-foot falls above us into the Columbia River. Beautiful autumn light filtered through the leaves drifting gently to earth. Mists from the falling water create an ideal habitat for the lichens and mosses that soften the tree trunks and cover almost everything.
In the afternoon we visited the powerhouse at Bonneville Dam, then resumed our upriver journey, passing under the Bridge of the Gods and beyond, for adventures yet to be revealed.
