Rowena Plateau Floral Display, Columbia River Gorge
Where the River of the West once thundered down Celilo Falls we began our Sea Lion day with bus transport from The Dalles, Oregon, west into the Columbia River Gorge and a series of adventures.
The story of Oregon Trail pioneers who built rafts to float through the otherwise roadless gorge and of Lewis and Clark who were in awe at the gathering here of some 10,000 tribes people highlighted our museum stop. The tribes gathered to trade and to catch and prepare a natural bounty of salmon concentrated below the rapids.
Next we followed the Old Columbia River Scenic Highway upward over figure eight loops onto Rowena Plateau. Here was a massive display of spring wildflowers dominated by acres of yellow balsam root and blue and purple lupine. Western meadowlarks sang in bursts and a prairie falcon wheeled overhead.
The rim of the plateau provided a sweeping overview of the upper Columbia River Gorge and its geologic history of flood basalts and Ice Age floods which formed and shaped this river gateway, the only one to pierce the Cascade Mountains to the sea.
The floral display where we walked is part of The Nature Conservancy’s Tom McCall Preserve. This Oregon governor was a noted environmentalist and land use planning proponent.
Our next bus stop was the entry to the Mosier Tunnels trail section of the old historic highway. We separated into short (one mile) and long (five mile) hiking groups. We rejoined Sea Lion in Hood River and glided through the western end of the Gorge to view the many waterfalls that plunge from dark forested heights and summit snowfields.
Multnomah Falls at 620 feet is the premier falls, but tiny Mist Falls which leaps outward in a double drop from a bluff face is broken into a fine mist. It simply glowed from the backlighting of the late afternoon sun.
The Corps of Discovery wrote in their journals: “Down these heights frequently descend the most beautiful cascades, one of which, a large creek, throws itself over a perpendicular rock….”
Where the River of the West once thundered down Celilo Falls we began our Sea Lion day with bus transport from The Dalles, Oregon, west into the Columbia River Gorge and a series of adventures.
The story of Oregon Trail pioneers who built rafts to float through the otherwise roadless gorge and of Lewis and Clark who were in awe at the gathering here of some 10,000 tribes people highlighted our museum stop. The tribes gathered to trade and to catch and prepare a natural bounty of salmon concentrated below the rapids.
Next we followed the Old Columbia River Scenic Highway upward over figure eight loops onto Rowena Plateau. Here was a massive display of spring wildflowers dominated by acres of yellow balsam root and blue and purple lupine. Western meadowlarks sang in bursts and a prairie falcon wheeled overhead.
The rim of the plateau provided a sweeping overview of the upper Columbia River Gorge and its geologic history of flood basalts and Ice Age floods which formed and shaped this river gateway, the only one to pierce the Cascade Mountains to the sea.
The floral display where we walked is part of The Nature Conservancy’s Tom McCall Preserve. This Oregon governor was a noted environmentalist and land use planning proponent.
Our next bus stop was the entry to the Mosier Tunnels trail section of the old historic highway. We separated into short (one mile) and long (five mile) hiking groups. We rejoined Sea Lion in Hood River and glided through the western end of the Gorge to view the many waterfalls that plunge from dark forested heights and summit snowfields.
Multnomah Falls at 620 feet is the premier falls, but tiny Mist Falls which leaps outward in a double drop from a bluff face is broken into a fine mist. It simply glowed from the backlighting of the late afternoon sun.
The Corps of Discovery wrote in their journals: “Down these heights frequently descend the most beautiful cascades, one of which, a large creek, throws itself over a perpendicular rock….”
