Snake River to the Columbia Gorge
Early this morning the Sea Lion passed the Snake/Columbia River confluence and aimed westward toward McNary Dam, the first of four dams we passed through on the Columbia River. After breakfast we passed through a landscape of arid buttes dotted with fruit farms and vineyards. This portion of eastern Washington is far more arid than the land west of the Cascade Mountains (receiving only one tenth the rainfall that falls at the mouth of the Columbia River). Extensive irrigation here allows orchards to bloom.
When Lewis and Clark paddled into the Columbia River they were surprised by the clarity of the water and the quantity of salmon. After Celilo Falls, they passed two sets of rapids they named the short and long narrows. The whitewater was so intimidating that Clark wrote that the water was "agitated gut swelling, boiling & whirling in every direction." They portaged valuables around the falls and then paddled through what would now be considered Class V rapids. Today, because of impoundment by dams, the water that once rushed through the Columbia River flows at a mere one mile per hour.
In the afternoon we listened to a presentation about how President Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory – making the United States the first ever nation to expand its size by using its wallet rather than military might. While the Sea Lion passed through locks at the John Day Dam, we sipped drinks in sunshine on the deck. We then listened to a presentation about bird habitat in the lounge while watching slides of curlews, avocets, grebes and other birdlife. Finally, we enjoyed Captain's Farewell in the lounge while the Sea Lion cruised above those once “gut swelling, boiling” waters of an earlier Columbia River.
Early this morning the Sea Lion passed the Snake/Columbia River confluence and aimed westward toward McNary Dam, the first of four dams we passed through on the Columbia River. After breakfast we passed through a landscape of arid buttes dotted with fruit farms and vineyards. This portion of eastern Washington is far more arid than the land west of the Cascade Mountains (receiving only one tenth the rainfall that falls at the mouth of the Columbia River). Extensive irrigation here allows orchards to bloom.
When Lewis and Clark paddled into the Columbia River they were surprised by the clarity of the water and the quantity of salmon. After Celilo Falls, they passed two sets of rapids they named the short and long narrows. The whitewater was so intimidating that Clark wrote that the water was "agitated gut swelling, boiling & whirling in every direction." They portaged valuables around the falls and then paddled through what would now be considered Class V rapids. Today, because of impoundment by dams, the water that once rushed through the Columbia River flows at a mere one mile per hour.
In the afternoon we listened to a presentation about how President Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory – making the United States the first ever nation to expand its size by using its wallet rather than military might. While the Sea Lion passed through locks at the John Day Dam, we sipped drinks in sunshine on the deck. We then listened to a presentation about bird habitat in the lounge while watching slides of curlews, avocets, grebes and other birdlife. Finally, we enjoyed Captain's Farewell in the lounge while the Sea Lion cruised above those once “gut swelling, boiling” waters of an earlier Columbia River.
