The Columbia and Snake Rivers
Spattered across the morning sky, puffy lamb’s-wool clouds blushed with a peachy-cantaloupe hue. This was a colorful contrast to the stark hillsides of dried grasses and crumbling basaltic cliffs flanking the series of lakes of today’s lower Columbia River.
In a historical sense, the Corps of Discovery is ahead of us. On this date in the fall of 1805 as the Expedition headed west, they were further down the Columbia, in the Columbia River Gorge near the Wind River. They wrote of seeing “large buzzards” of which Meriwether Lewis shot one, examined, described and sketched an image of in his journal. This was a California condor, the largest of all American birds with an impressive wingspan of nine feet. David Douglas wrote of the condor in 1820 as being so plentiful he observed nine birds in one flock. Today they are a relic of the gorge with various programs in other states attempting restoration of the condor populations.
Around the Blalock Islands this afternoon we observed gulls, snow geese, herons and American white pelicans. A few pelicans stood in rocky shallows and preened. The Corps described this bird in their journals as well, having met a molting flock on the Missouri River earlier in their voyage. Lewis shot a pelican, which was difficult as the mosquitos and eye gnats did not allow him a clear view, and recorded that the pouch below the bill held 5 gallons of water.
Our passage up river is smooth and effortless as a series of dams and their associated locks assist us up river, uphill and eastward. During the night we navigated Bonneville and The Dalles locks, early this morning we lifted another 109 feet in John Day Lock, and this afternoon McNary, our last lock as we head east towards the Snake River for four more lockages, the first being Ice Harbor during our cocktail hour.
Further upstream we found patches of verdant green along the river; orchards and vineyards dot this landscape. As part of our guest experience, we strive to include the regional foods and beverages of areas we visit; we accomplished that deliciously this evening with a wine and cheese tasting at sunset. Reflected in our glasses of merlot and pinot gris a double rainbow shimmered to the east while the setting sun set the calm river waters afire.
