Columbia to the Snake River
Just before sunrise, we approached the imposing lock at John Day Dam. It’s entrance is formed by a massive guillotine gate which lifted out of the water to admit the ship and lightly dripped upon us as we trustingly transited beneath. The deckhands did the “lock toss” and secured the ship and we watched as the gate dropped closed behind us, enclosing us in the deepest single-chambered lock in the world at 105 feet. It was dark down there! But the onrushing water moved us up quickly and after about 25 minutes, the ship cruised out into Lake Umatilla and all of us cruised downstairs for breakfast.
The day was a pleasant mix of cruising in bright sunshine and perfectly calm waters interspersed with talks on Lewis and Clark and some other prominent naturalists who first explored the “Oregon Country.”
Some of us were surprised to discover that the Pacific Northwest is just as much a dry, near-desert landscape as the densely forested rainy terrain we experienced yesterday in Portland. As we transited through the Columbia River Gorge during the night, we also experienced the greatest contrast in ecological zones found anywhere in the world. One guest remarked that she felt she had woken up on another planet.
The clouds and storms from the Pacific back up against the mighty cascades and drop most of their moisture on the west side of the mountains. That creates a rain shadow effect and a dry east side with a near desert landscape of shrub-steppe country. Most of our day was spent cruising along tawny hillsides of grasses and shrubs under perfectly clear and sunny skies. It was a classic “dry side” day.
Just as the sun dipped below the horizon, we approached Ice Harbor Dam and completed the day’s journey where we had begun – in the dark depths of yet another spectacular lock on the Columbia and Snake River systems.
Just before sunrise, we approached the imposing lock at John Day Dam. It’s entrance is formed by a massive guillotine gate which lifted out of the water to admit the ship and lightly dripped upon us as we trustingly transited beneath. The deckhands did the “lock toss” and secured the ship and we watched as the gate dropped closed behind us, enclosing us in the deepest single-chambered lock in the world at 105 feet. It was dark down there! But the onrushing water moved us up quickly and after about 25 minutes, the ship cruised out into Lake Umatilla and all of us cruised downstairs for breakfast.
The day was a pleasant mix of cruising in bright sunshine and perfectly calm waters interspersed with talks on Lewis and Clark and some other prominent naturalists who first explored the “Oregon Country.”
Some of us were surprised to discover that the Pacific Northwest is just as much a dry, near-desert landscape as the densely forested rainy terrain we experienced yesterday in Portland. As we transited through the Columbia River Gorge during the night, we also experienced the greatest contrast in ecological zones found anywhere in the world. One guest remarked that she felt she had woken up on another planet.
The clouds and storms from the Pacific back up against the mighty cascades and drop most of their moisture on the west side of the mountains. That creates a rain shadow effect and a dry east side with a near desert landscape of shrub-steppe country. Most of our day was spent cruising along tawny hillsides of grasses and shrubs under perfectly clear and sunny skies. It was a classic “dry side” day.
Just as the sun dipped below the horizon, we approached Ice Harbor Dam and completed the day’s journey where we had begun – in the dark depths of yet another spectacular lock on the Columbia and Snake River systems.
