Hat Rock
This morning was at “sea” as we cruised up river through the Columbia River Gorge during the night and headed east to the steppe region or drier part of the Pacific Northwest, east of the Cascade Mountain range. The air was cold but the sun was out as we made our way along the border between Oregon and Washington. The morning was busy with shipboard drills and an introductory talk, by guest lecturer Tracy Leavelle, on the philosophy of why Lewis and Clark were sent west by President Jefferson 200 years ago. For the rest of the morning we enjoyed the sunny decks and stark scenery as we continued east. During and after lunch we traveled through the Blalock Islands and had good views of large groups of waterfowl skittering across the placid lake that is the Columbia.
The afternoon gave us our first daytime lockage at McNary lock and dam. We had a chance to see all the different parts that make up the dams of the Columbia and Snake River system. These included the fish ladders, the spillway gates, and the power generation plant. Once we had successfully traversed through the lock we made an expedition stop at Hat Rock on the Oregon side of the river. This spot, named by Lewis and Clark, is a remnant of the great water floods that occurred about 15,000 years ago at the height of the last ice age on North America. This was a chance to see some of the botany of the east side of the mountains and to stretch our legs. This was followed by a wine and food tasting which sampled the products of the northwest.
We then proceeded on, east to the confluence of the Snake with the Columbia and to another adventurous day.
This morning was at “sea” as we cruised up river through the Columbia River Gorge during the night and headed east to the steppe region or drier part of the Pacific Northwest, east of the Cascade Mountain range. The air was cold but the sun was out as we made our way along the border between Oregon and Washington. The morning was busy with shipboard drills and an introductory talk, by guest lecturer Tracy Leavelle, on the philosophy of why Lewis and Clark were sent west by President Jefferson 200 years ago. For the rest of the morning we enjoyed the sunny decks and stark scenery as we continued east. During and after lunch we traveled through the Blalock Islands and had good views of large groups of waterfowl skittering across the placid lake that is the Columbia.
The afternoon gave us our first daytime lockage at McNary lock and dam. We had a chance to see all the different parts that make up the dams of the Columbia and Snake River system. These included the fish ladders, the spillway gates, and the power generation plant. Once we had successfully traversed through the lock we made an expedition stop at Hat Rock on the Oregon side of the river. This spot, named by Lewis and Clark, is a remnant of the great water floods that occurred about 15,000 years ago at the height of the last ice age on North America. This was a chance to see some of the botany of the east side of the mountains and to stretch our legs. This was followed by a wine and food tasting which sampled the products of the northwest.
We then proceeded on, east to the confluence of the Snake with the Columbia and to another adventurous day.
