Columbia River
At long last the expedition reached the Columbia River, the major river of the northwest. Near Pasco, Washington the Snake River joins the Columbia from the north, at the top of the picture. The Columbia is flowing to the east, from the left, and bends around to the south and then the west shortly after the confluence. Then the Columbia becomes the border between Washington and Oregon.
The salmon trying to swim upstream to spawn must climb a "fish ladder" like this one at McNary Dam whenever they come to a dam.
Mount Hood, in the Cascade Range, dominates the scene as the Columbia continues towards the town of The Dalles, Oregon. The unusual name of the town is taken from the original French trappers' name for the place. "Dalles" means either ‘gutter' or ‘flat-iron' depending on whom you ask. In either case, the work described the bed of the river in this area, which was ribbed with long flat-iron shaped rocks running in parallel and separated by deep gutters. When the river was flooded by dams downstream, the rocks became deeply submerged and it became far easier to navigate.
In the foreground is the airport at The Dalles, and the town is across the river. Mount Hood is about thirty-five miles in the distance.
When Lewis and Clark spotted Mount Hood, they knew the Pacific was near. The mountain had been named and by a member of the party of the sea explorer Vancouver.
A very sudden and distinct change in vegetation occurs where rain falls on the western slopes of the Cascade Range and a "rain shadow," a much drier area, is created beyond across the eastern part of the states of Washington and Oregon. Here, looking east, the last of the rain moving east from the Pacific falls on the foreground slopes. The slopes are much more arid.
Lush forests and gardens at the town of Hood River demonstrate the benefits of abundant rainfall in this region of the Northwest.
The diaphanous sails of windsurfers skim the waters like Technicolor fireflies on every warm day. The technology for windsurfing and the engineering of the river would have astounded Lewis and Clark. The river was very different 200 years ago, swift, shallow and treacherous.
The majestic Columbia River Gorge is formed where the river cuts through the heart of the Cascade Range.
The Corps thought they saw Mount St. Helens, but geographers are not sure that they did. In the background of this photo Mount St. Helens is unmistakable now that the conical top is missing, since the massive 1981 eruption.
Just past Bonneville Dam on the right bank of the Columbia is Beacon Rock, named by the Corps of Discovery.
A cloud bank spills into the gorge ahead of us and we climb and fly above it for about 25 miles. The city of Portland was obscured on the day of our passage.
A massive tanker bound upstream for Portland dwarfs homes and farm buildings on the bank of the river.
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