Two hundred years ago, Captain Meriwether Lewis, Captain William Clark, and the Corps of Discovery were at Canoe Camp on the Clearwater River recovering from a long and incredibly difficult trek through the Bitterroot Mountains. Those men who were not ill were making dugout canoes to carry them down the wild Columbia River on the last leg of their westward journey to the Pacific Ocean.
Today, we travel up the tamed Columbia River with ease; our comfortable ship is lifted one hundred feet at a time by huge navigation locks. The Sea Lion takes us near the ghosts of waterfalls, and over rocky places where rapids once made the river impassable. We talk of the days when the river ran free, and the salmon were more abundant as we enjoy the fruits and wines of this dry land made available to us by irrigation and a complex navigation system.
The narrow passage called Hell’s Gate pictured here is an example of the flood-sculpted basalts that comprise the substrate of this region; much of the scenic wonder that we viewed today is a result of this unusual story of catastrophic geologic process. Our journey together takes us further up the river tonight as we anticipate the adventures before us in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. Bette Lu Krause, Expedition Staff
