Eastern Washington & Oregon
After traveling through the night, we awoke this morning on the stretch of the Columbia River between The Dalles and John Day dams. We left the greenery of Portland behind and found ourselves amazed by the arid landscape on both sides of the river. This region lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, and with 14 inches annual rainfall, or less, represents near desert conditions. Shortly after breakfast, we transited the navigational lock at John Day dam, which, at 105 feet, has the highest vertical lift lock chamber in the world. We learned about the massive guillotine gate, raised and lowered with minimal energy by giant counterweights. The simple engineering of the lock chamber was also described, with gravity doing virtually all of the work. For a ship to go upstream through the lock, the lockmaster must simply close the downstream valve and open the upstream valve. The chamber fills and the ship rises to the level of the lake above. Over the course of this voyage, the Sea Lion will be lifted eight times, then lowered eight times as we travel back down river.
Our day was filled with sunning ourselves on deck while watching flocks of migratory waterfowl and white pelicans, learning about the history of this region and participating in lively discussion, observing our transit through two Columbia River locks and enjoying some of the fruits of the area with a late afternoon wine and food tasting. Not long before sunset, we reached the place where the Columbia River narrows and turns west (and we turned north), passing through the stunning columnar basalt cliffs at Wallula Gap. The prominent rock formation pictured, found just upstream of Wallula Gap, is called either the Twin Sisters, after a Native American legend, or the Two Captains, after Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
After traveling through the night, we awoke this morning on the stretch of the Columbia River between The Dalles and John Day dams. We left the greenery of Portland behind and found ourselves amazed by the arid landscape on both sides of the river. This region lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, and with 14 inches annual rainfall, or less, represents near desert conditions. Shortly after breakfast, we transited the navigational lock at John Day dam, which, at 105 feet, has the highest vertical lift lock chamber in the world. We learned about the massive guillotine gate, raised and lowered with minimal energy by giant counterweights. The simple engineering of the lock chamber was also described, with gravity doing virtually all of the work. For a ship to go upstream through the lock, the lockmaster must simply close the downstream valve and open the upstream valve. The chamber fills and the ship rises to the level of the lake above. Over the course of this voyage, the Sea Lion will be lifted eight times, then lowered eight times as we travel back down river.
Our day was filled with sunning ourselves on deck while watching flocks of migratory waterfowl and white pelicans, learning about the history of this region and participating in lively discussion, observing our transit through two Columbia River locks and enjoying some of the fruits of the area with a late afternoon wine and food tasting. Not long before sunset, we reached the place where the Columbia River narrows and turns west (and we turned north), passing through the stunning columnar basalt cliffs at Wallula Gap. The prominent rock formation pictured, found just upstream of Wallula Gap, is called either the Twin Sisters, after a Native American legend, or the Two Captains, after Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.