Wallula Gap, Columbia River, Washington
Curling green water and whitecaps accompanied Sea Bird as she sped up the mighty Columbia River with a 30 knot wind astern.
We covered 110 miles from John Day Dam ship lock at daybreak to Snake River at sunset.
From the sheltered bow position we listened to clashing waves and wind, soaked in the mellow fall sunshine and enjoyed a fast changing landscape. We entered an arid land of 10-inch annual rainfall, but because of abundant Columbia flow and low power rates this is the richest diversified agriculture in the Pacific Northwest.
On the south facing Washington slope we saw vast new vineyards and peach, pear and apricot orchards protected by tall poplar windbreaks. On the Oregon shore was a potatoplant where the specialty is French fries for Japan where they are wild about this import. Irrigated circles of field corn and alfalfa, a variety of melons, Walla Walla sweet onions, safflower and asparagus fields sweep over the land near the river. The dry uplands beyond are covered to the horizon with winter wheat.
Migrant waterfowl sought shelter in back pockets and channels along Lake Umatilla where we normally see great rafts of ducks and geese in the fall. A lone white pelican hunkered ashore in the lee of a small island.
Mew, Bonaparte and ring-billed gulls struggled close to the wave tops as they followed the Columbia out to the coast. The river is a natural migration corridor for a host of waterfowl coming out of the interior. A pair of tundra swans launched easily into the wind and passed close along our starboard side.
Because of wind and wave we cancelled our landing and hike at Hat Rock State Park. This striking monolith was named by Lewis and Clark because it reminded them of the plugged beaver hats then in fashion.
At Wallula Gap the Columbia made a 90-degree turn north through the Horseheaven Hills. More sculpted columns appeared, the most dramatic being The Two Captains, side by side columns. Successive Pleistocene floods sweeping down the Columbia molded this landscape, and at this gap the water was briefly penned and rose 1,200 feet in elevation.
Atop the Horseheaven Hills was Stateline Wind Energy Center which takes advantage of the prevailing westerlies that sweep up the Columbia before the river turns north at this point. It is the largest installation in the United States with 454 Danish designed wind turbines that have the capacity to power 72,000 homes.
Curling green water and whitecaps accompanied Sea Bird as she sped up the mighty Columbia River with a 30 knot wind astern.
We covered 110 miles from John Day Dam ship lock at daybreak to Snake River at sunset.
From the sheltered bow position we listened to clashing waves and wind, soaked in the mellow fall sunshine and enjoyed a fast changing landscape. We entered an arid land of 10-inch annual rainfall, but because of abundant Columbia flow and low power rates this is the richest diversified agriculture in the Pacific Northwest.
On the south facing Washington slope we saw vast new vineyards and peach, pear and apricot orchards protected by tall poplar windbreaks. On the Oregon shore was a potatoplant where the specialty is French fries for Japan where they are wild about this import. Irrigated circles of field corn and alfalfa, a variety of melons, Walla Walla sweet onions, safflower and asparagus fields sweep over the land near the river. The dry uplands beyond are covered to the horizon with winter wheat.
Migrant waterfowl sought shelter in back pockets and channels along Lake Umatilla where we normally see great rafts of ducks and geese in the fall. A lone white pelican hunkered ashore in the lee of a small island.
Mew, Bonaparte and ring-billed gulls struggled close to the wave tops as they followed the Columbia out to the coast. The river is a natural migration corridor for a host of waterfowl coming out of the interior. A pair of tundra swans launched easily into the wind and passed close along our starboard side.
Because of wind and wave we cancelled our landing and hike at Hat Rock State Park. This striking monolith was named by Lewis and Clark because it reminded them of the plugged beaver hats then in fashion.
At Wallula Gap the Columbia made a 90-degree turn north through the Horseheaven Hills. More sculpted columns appeared, the most dramatic being The Two Captains, side by side columns. Successive Pleistocene floods sweeping down the Columbia molded this landscape, and at this gap the water was briefly penned and rose 1,200 feet in elevation.
Atop the Horseheaven Hills was Stateline Wind Energy Center which takes advantage of the prevailing westerlies that sweep up the Columbia before the river turns north at this point. It is the largest installation in the United States with 454 Danish designed wind turbines that have the capacity to power 72,000 homes.
