Hood River, 10/28/2021, National Geographic Sea Lion
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Lion
Pacific Northwest
Morning dawned with great colors and a rainbow over the ship – what could start a day better? We embarked for Rowena Crest and Mosier tunnels where we hiked to the tunnels and generally had a grand time. We observed hundreds of bird life such as black capped chickadees who were out in their large numbers and a peregrine falcon.
In the afternoon, we visited Draper Girls Farm and Western Museum of Automobiles and Aeronautics. We had a great visit to the museum greatly enjoying the displays and the interpretation from the volunteers. We also had a huckleberry milkshake. How could it be better!
Owen B Walker was born in Moab, Utah and raised in very rural North Idaho. He graduated high school in Palmer, Alaska, where Northwest Native Art first stirred his soul. After achieving a degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Western Washington Unive...
Steve began watching whales in 1986 off the California coast, far from his North Dakota homeland. A long the way he studied natural history at the Evergreen State College in Washington state (1982) and has been busy ever since working as an environme...
Enter travel details to receive reports from a single expedition
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Send Daily Expedition Reports to friends and family
*By clicking the submit button, I authorize Lindblad Expeditions to email me; however, I am able to unsubscribe at any time. For more details, see our Privacy Policy.
Please note: All Daily Expedition Reports (DERs) are posted Monday-Friday,
during normal business hours. DERs are written onboard the ship only and do
not apply to land-based portions of expeditions.
Our morning began alongside the dock in our final port of Clarkston, Washington with a glowing sky and flocks of migrating waterfowl inscribing Vs through the air. After breakfast, guests boarded 34-foot-long jet boats for an excursion along the Snake River to its confluence with the Salmon River, fondly known as the River of No Return. Along our journey we saw bighorn sheep, great blue herons, common mergansers, belted kingfishers, Canada geese, petroglyphs, wild turkeys, columnar basalt, swimming mule deer, and a bald eagle flying with a large salmon. We also enjoyed fortuitous timing and witnessed a fisherman hook an eight-foot-long sturgeon. After a long battle, he finally pulled it to the shallows for his whole family (and us) to see. As evening approached, we settled into the lounge for our final series of educational talks, featuring Nez Perce storyteller James Spencer and winemaker Coco Umiker, both of whom illuminated important contexts of the beautiful basin. Following our wine tasting with Coco, guests set off for their final on-board dinner. After dinner, we bid farewell through photos. Our photo instructor showcased a mosaic of moments from the week, otherwise known as the Guest Slideshow. Included in the slideshow were praying mantises, birds of prey, sunsets, and staff members being goofy, as per usual. We couldn’t be more grateful for our time together, all of us, during this last week of October 2022.
A foggy morning greeted National Geographic Sea Bird as it sat along the Lyons Ferry State Park at the confluence of the Palouse River. After breakfast, guests departed for the shore to transfer to a shuttle to Palouse Falls State Park. The remaining guests departed for a Zodiac tour of the river and canyonlands below Palouse Falls. To access the river system, skilled drivers were required to navigate through a series of shallow areas created by the deposition of loess from the Missoula floods. Before entering the tributary, Zodiacs passed by the site of a major archeological discovery within North America. The excavation of Marmes Rockshelter revealed evidence of human occupation from as many as 11,230 years ago, including evidence of extensive trading and a cremation hearth, a common burial practice for Stone Age peoples. As Zodiacs quietly moved up the river system, several animals were discovered throughout the riparian zone, including golden eagles, porcupines, waterfowls, woodpeckers, pheasants, and even mule deer. After lunch, groups switched locations to give everyone a chance to explore the surrounding area. When guests arrived back at the ship, National Geographic Sea Bird pulled anchor and departed for the Clarkston location with only three bridges and two dams left along the journey.
National Geographic Sea Bird climbed up the Columbia River. The ship made its way from the temperate rainforest across the deep and narrow basalt cliffs of the Columbia Gorge and into the dry sagebrush-steppe landscape of Crow Butte. The transformation took just a few hours. As the sun rose across the sharply edged riverine lines, guests sipped coffee and enjoyed breakfast. Afterwards, we enjoyed an expert talk on “Soils and Raptors” by naturalist and “Raptor Extraordinaire,” Zoey Greenberg. Emerging from Celilo Falls and the Long Narrows, we shuttled upstream to Crow Butte Island. Guests enjoyed aerobic nature walks around the island in the morning. Returning to National Geographic Sea Bird , guests enjoyed an afternoon of cruising through the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge and educational presentations on “Salmon, Dams, and the Columbia River Treaty,” by Patrick MacQuarrie, river historian, and “Geology of the Columbia River Basin,” by the multitalented naturalist wizard, Jesse Humbert. Crow Butte and the refuge offered a plethora of birdlife for the guests’ enjoyment, including grebes, great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, American white pelicans, bald eagles, northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, kestrels, and several types of geese, including snow geese, cackling geese, and Canada geese. We also spotted buffleheads, widgeons, mallards, coots, gulls, and several sparrows. While naturalists wooed the “Sea Bird Nation” with natural science and history stories, the ship transited McNary Lock. The lock lifted National Geographic Sea Bird up 75-feet into Lake Wallula, eventually passing Wallula Gap and entering the Snake River by dinner. Once again, National Geographic Sea Bird made the once impossible journey possible. This was first accomplished by Lewis and Clark in 1805 and 1806 on their historic journey to open the West to a young and eager country. Photographers: Patrick MacQuarrie, River Historian and Naturalist ; Dr. Robert Jason, Guest ; and Kim Nesbitt, Photo Instructor
