Sailing on the Columbia
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we left Portland at dusk under cloudy skies after early-morning showers dampened the Willamette River waterfront. After making remarkably good time overnight, we awoke to clear skies this morning above The Dalles Dam. We found a different landscape east of the Cascades: basaltic flows scoured by the Bretz Floods and eroded into fantastic formations.
After an excellent as usual National Geographic Sea Bird breakfast, we participated in the ship’s drills, then gathered on the deck to experience locking through the John Day Dam. At mid-morning Smithsonian Study Leader Junius Rochester met with his group while other guests looked for bighorn sheep and other wildlife on the Oregon cliffs south of the Columbia.
Highlighting the morning activities, Staff Historian Jerry Igo gave an informative hour-long introduction to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Following a soup-and-salad lunch, the staff offered the guests a chance in the LEX Global Market. Soon orchards and vineyards began to appear on the north side in Washington as we cruised through the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw great egrets, white pelicans, Canada geese, an assortment of gulls and cormorants, and a lone deer.
After we locked through McNary Dam and identified Hat Rock, Naturalist Verne Huser gave a presentation on the fauna and flora of the Lewis and Clark expedition. We passed through Wallula Gap in the late afternoon; saw the basaltic formation known as the Two Captains or The Sisters before reaching the mouth of the Snake River in fading light. A colorful sunset graced our passage into the Snake River, and during a wine-tasting cocktail hour, we breached Ice Harbor Dam.
At recap, the staff highlighted the day on the mighty Columbia River, during which Rochester discussed Thomas Jefferson’s involvement. He was the driving force behind the Lewis and Clark expedition that lead to our own exploration on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
