The Dalles & Hood River, Oregon
The day dawned a bit overcast, with maybe a spit of rain before anyone woke up. But the day just got better, and by mid-afternoon it was sunny and warm, with a brilliant blue sky: another marvelous day on the Columbia River.
The National Geographic Sea Bird docked at The Dalles, Oregon. Dalles is a French word, meaning flagstones or stepping stones, and refers to the time before dams when huge basalt rocks in the river resembled large stepping stones. Our first stop was the Columbia Gorge Discovery Museum, which is more than its name implies. It’s actually three museums—a history, from mammoths on, of the Columbia River Gorge; a local history of Wasco County, Oregon (once the largest county in America, whose boundaries included Yellowstone National Park); and a Lewis and Clark display, “Cargo”, which replicates the supplies and equipment the explorers brought upriver. Many guests proclaimed the museum the finest they’d seen.
Next, we travelled to the Mark Hatfield entrance to a restored segment of the original Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. The highway, finished in 1916, was the first road (other than a railroad) through the Gorge. It was designed as a parkway with 5-percent grades, smooth curves, and artful bridges, overpasses, and even guardrails. Guests could bicycle the 4.5-mile hiker-and biker-only road, and continue into the town of Hood River, or they could walk the entire 4.5 miles to a waiting bus. Lastly, like your chronicler, they could take a short walk up to the Mosier Tunnels (named after a local town) and return to the bus they came on. On such a beautiful day, any choice was the correct one.
Meanwhile, the National Geographic Sea Bird relocated from The Dalles to Hood River, about 25 miles downstream, and we all clambered aboard for the usual excellent luncheon. We sailed into the Columbia River Gorge on a perfect afternoon with superlative scenery. Hood River is the windsurfing capital of America, and we narrowly missed several. At Cascade Locks, we again boarded busses. (Cascade Locks, one of the oldest towns in the Gorge, was once home to the first set of steamboat locks on the Columbia. They raised, or lowered, the river by 40 feet.)
Some of us journeyed to Multnomah Falls, at 620 feet, the second-highest in America (after Bridal Veil, in Yosemite). Multnomah Falls is a major scenic attraction in Oregon, and we now know why. Others visited Bonneville Dam, with its instructive center and fish ladders. Bonneville was the first great public dam on the Columbia, soon followed by Grand Coulee. Roll on Columbia, Roll on.
Cocktails, recap, dinner, film and conversation ended a marvelous day for all.
