Columbia River Gorge
Our day began with the magnificent light of dawn over the Oregon side of the Columbia River. Shafts of gold shot out of the south and onto the glistening water that lay before us. The sun would occasionally peek its way out of the trees that lined the ridges over the waterfalls that line the sheer cliffs of the western side of the gorge. The light changed quickly as we approached the first of the many dams we would transit through during our trip, Bonneville Dam. This is the oldest of the dams but paradoxically has the youngest lock. This is because the original lock was smaller than the others built subsequently and had to wait some 50 years before the locks were all standardized to their present size. The bold presence of Beacon Rock, on the Washington side of the river, told us that Bonneville would be near. We transited through the lock and continued east to Hood River, a Mecca for extreme sports in North America.
After lunch and after the height of the midday sun we began to travel along the old Columbia River Historic Highway among the fall colors and then later the lengthening shadows of the afternoon solar dance. We stopped to visit the Gorge Discovery Center and witnessed the passing of the Sea Bird in a brilliant afternoon reflection of the setting sun.
We reboarded the ship and quickly went through The Dalles Dam only to bear witness to a spectacular sunset with the magnificent Mt. Hood silhouetted to our west. A dark sentinel of volcanic architecture standing guard over the only gap in the Cascade Range. The Gorge.
Our day began with the magnificent light of dawn over the Oregon side of the Columbia River. Shafts of gold shot out of the south and onto the glistening water that lay before us. The sun would occasionally peek its way out of the trees that lined the ridges over the waterfalls that line the sheer cliffs of the western side of the gorge. The light changed quickly as we approached the first of the many dams we would transit through during our trip, Bonneville Dam. This is the oldest of the dams but paradoxically has the youngest lock. This is because the original lock was smaller than the others built subsequently and had to wait some 50 years before the locks were all standardized to their present size. The bold presence of Beacon Rock, on the Washington side of the river, told us that Bonneville would be near. We transited through the lock and continued east to Hood River, a Mecca for extreme sports in North America.
After lunch and after the height of the midday sun we began to travel along the old Columbia River Historic Highway among the fall colors and then later the lengthening shadows of the afternoon solar dance. We stopped to visit the Gorge Discovery Center and witnessed the passing of the Sea Bird in a brilliant afternoon reflection of the setting sun.
We reboarded the ship and quickly went through The Dalles Dam only to bear witness to a spectacular sunset with the magnificent Mt. Hood silhouetted to our west. A dark sentinel of volcanic architecture standing guard over the only gap in the Cascade Range. The Gorge.
