The Dalles, Hood River & Columbia River Gorge
Cold! Ice on the marina dock had to be cleared before we could disembark today at The Dalles.
But what a day to visit the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and get a bit of exercise on the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. Bikers, hikers, leisurely walkers and in town shoppers all got their taste of this beautiful scenic area commonly referred to as The Gorge.
The Discovery Center and Wasco County Museum are housed in a joint facility that is an architectural joy. Taking its cues from nature, it blends in with and takes advantage of the surrounding vistas. Exhibits include interpretations of geologic, native tribal, cultural, hydroelectric, pioneering life and Lewis & Clark subjects. We even got a look at an American kestrel and a peregrine falcon from the raptor rescue center.
Even in a portion of the forest scarred by an earlier-in-the-year fire, nature persists. Small pioneering grasses, plants and ferns are already making their way back into scorched patches. The majority of the forest here survived. Plant species are too numerous to list but the big ponderosa pine and douglas fir abound. Fall is well advanced, as the big leaf maples litter the path with their huge five pointed leaves.
The Gorge lived up to its reputation this afternoon as the breeze was up and the river turned choppy. Luckily the 20 knot westerly was mostly on-the-nose and the National Geographic Sea Bird sliced right through. The bump didn’t stop our guest from shopping at the Lindblad Global Marketplace before we made our final lock transit of the voyage at Bonneville Dam, and for the National Geographic Sea Bird’s season on the Columbia. Everyone was on deck and raised a hot chocolate with schnapps in a toast to a successful passage up the Columbia River to the Snake River and back through eight lock transits.
We’re catching up with Lewis & Clark’s timeline of 204 years ago and should pass through the area in which they camped along the lower Columbia later tonight. By the time we reach Astoria, the Corps of Discovery will have still been making their way toward destiny and being pinned down by the weather at the Dismal Nitch along the northern shoreline. Luckily we can push on in our modern conveyance warm, comfy, incredibly well-fed and safe from the elements aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird.
