Columbia River’s John Day Dam to Snake River’s Ice Harbor Dam
This morning we awoke with overcast skies and mild temperatures in the mid-50s. We had departed Portland’s city lights and many bridges at dusk last night, and this morning we were greeted by a dry, golden landscape. The Columbia River cuts right through the Cascade Mountains, and overnight the National Geographic Sea Bird had traveled through the Columbia River Gorge. Today’s scenery was so different! Grassy hills were layered, high ridges of basalt, and atop them there were hundreds of new, tall, white wind turbines.
Towards the end of breakfast we arrived at John Day Dam, and we entered the lock to be lifted to the next level in the river. As we cruise up the Columbia River this voyage we will go through four locks, and we’ll go through four more locks as we cruise up the Snake River. The gates of this lock closed, and the ship was slowly lifted by rising water in the lock chamber. Many birds flew near the ship, hoping to find small salmon in waters near the dam.
Late in the morning, Junius gave an interesting talk about the origins of Lewis and Clark’s expedition. As the day went on, we watched the landscape: always dry, but windy today, on our westward journey. Trains were visible near the river, and, at times, a highway, but mostly we saw rocky land that had been smoothed by something big . . . really big, millions of years ago. Now and then we passed a small town with big grain elevators.
In the afternoon, after passing through McNary Dam, Berit gave a presentation about salmon on the Columbia River. We then transited through Wallula Gap, a narrow place on the river with beautiful rock formations. At dusk, we turned right, onto the Snake River.
