Columbia River Gorge
You’re not truly on vacation unless the weather is absolutely perfect. We are and it was. In the morning by motorcoach and in the afternoon by ship, we traversed along the basalt fringes of the Columbia River. We enjoyed a leisurely stop and gazed upon the misty silver ribbon of Multnomah Falls. The conifer covered hillsides were punctuated with the yellows and oranges of big leaf maple cloaked in fall color. Three Coho salmon were found placidly sculling in the plunge pool at the base of the falls.
A little later in the morning we had an opportunity to view salmon and steelhead eyeball to eyeball as they maneuvered through the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam. Their journey seemed quite daunting to us. Here they were at their first dam passage system, and depending on the location of their natal stream, perhaps seven more concrete ladders to negotiate.
After lunch, we locked through Bonneville, our last lock and dam on our voyage west. Our purser, Jo, performed the last lock toss of the trip, securing us to the floating bollard. She was closely supervised and coached by our Third Mate, Stacie, and deckhand David stood at the ready as well. Does it seem odd to have such a crossover in work? Not at all. Look at the Corps of Discovery and how the members were selected. Men were chosen for their talents and skills in hunting, blacksmithing, carpentry, and language interpretation. The other talents such as Toussaint Charbonneau’s cooking skills and his superb recipe for boudon blanc were noted in Lewis’s journal. Celebrated as well was Pierre Cruzatte, master boatman, and his penchant for playing a lively fiddle.
We continued downstream and then upstream, up the Willamette River and under the St. John’s bridge towards Portland. Will this balmy weather continue? It’s not historically authentic according to Clark’s journals, but we’re still on vacation, so we’ll keep the sunscreen at the ready and hope and wait and see.
You’re not truly on vacation unless the weather is absolutely perfect. We are and it was. In the morning by motorcoach and in the afternoon by ship, we traversed along the basalt fringes of the Columbia River. We enjoyed a leisurely stop and gazed upon the misty silver ribbon of Multnomah Falls. The conifer covered hillsides were punctuated with the yellows and oranges of big leaf maple cloaked in fall color. Three Coho salmon were found placidly sculling in the plunge pool at the base of the falls.
A little later in the morning we had an opportunity to view salmon and steelhead eyeball to eyeball as they maneuvered through the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam. Their journey seemed quite daunting to us. Here they were at their first dam passage system, and depending on the location of their natal stream, perhaps seven more concrete ladders to negotiate.
After lunch, we locked through Bonneville, our last lock and dam on our voyage west. Our purser, Jo, performed the last lock toss of the trip, securing us to the floating bollard. She was closely supervised and coached by our Third Mate, Stacie, and deckhand David stood at the ready as well. Does it seem odd to have such a crossover in work? Not at all. Look at the Corps of Discovery and how the members were selected. Men were chosen for their talents and skills in hunting, blacksmithing, carpentry, and language interpretation. The other talents such as Toussaint Charbonneau’s cooking skills and his superb recipe for boudon blanc were noted in Lewis’s journal. Celebrated as well was Pierre Cruzatte, master boatman, and his penchant for playing a lively fiddle.
We continued downstream and then upstream, up the Willamette River and under the St. John’s bridge towards Portland. Will this balmy weather continue? It’s not historically authentic according to Clark’s journals, but we’re still on vacation, so we’ll keep the sunscreen at the ready and hope and wait and see.
