The Columbia River Gorge is an area of abrupt transition and today we explored its wet western half.
Just after breakfast we approached Bonneville Dam. The dam is built across Bradford Island, part of a huge landslide that once blocked the river, giving rise to the old story of “the Bridge of the Gods.” Entering Bonneville lock, we were lifted 76 feet. It is impressive to see the tremendous engineering that has made this “Great River of the West” into such a productive power-generating resource.
Bonneville Dam flooded the Cascades of the Columbia, a ferocious set of rapids that were the final hurdle for many following the Oregon Trail. In the late 1800’s a lock was built to lift steamboats around the rapids and a town developed there. We stopped at Cascade Locks and boarded busses for Multnomah Falls. This is but one of many falls that scatter the Oregon side of the Gorge, but it is the highest. Together a couple of stacked falls make a 620 foot drop! The falls in fall are perhaps at their best, when maples make yellow highlights in what is generally a shadowy scene. Some of us strolled the base of the falls, others climbed to the bridge spanning the space below its upper and lower halves, and an intrepid few switch-backed up the trail for a loftier view of the waterfall and the river.
After lunch we docked at the town of Hood River, were the eponymous waterway and valley join the Columbia. By bus we visited a few Hood River Valley sites. At Draper Girls’ Farm we admired colorful dahlias, handsome pigs, and charismatic pygmy goats. At the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum we saw… well, you’ll just have to guess. Many of us finished at the Cathedral Ridge Winery were we sample the blends of this boutique winery.
The Columbia and Snake Rivers tie together a remarkable variety of natural and cultural histories. The Columbia River Gorge is a distillation of this, and today’s sights, sounds and flavors were a fine sampling of all.
