Hood River, Oregon
Just speaking the name Columbia River brings to mind Lewis and Clark, the Pioneers, the American Spirit, Manifest Destiny, Westward Ho! Today, perhaps we take it somewhat for granted, but for many years this was the highway through the western mountains. That fact was brought home to us today as we sailed easily through the great river valley that transects the North Cascades range. This famous stretch of the river has significant cliffs and tree-covered steeply sloping hills lining both sides of the waterway, which are backed by mountain peaks that reach 4,000’ in elevation and other geological landmarks. The great river cut exposes the ancient geological history to us. Over the past 40 million years, a series of no less than 16 major volcanic eruptions have repeatedly blocked the river, but each time the erosional processes of water pressure broke through the blockages and reestablished the river run. The North Cascades Range was the last big obstacle to the American settlers making their way to the promised land of Oregon in the mid-19th century. They either had to brave treacherous rapids or make a difficult overland trail through the mountains. However, in modern times, a series of dams and their resultant lakes have been constructed beginning in the 1930s making travel through the North Cascades Range safe and easy and rapid. To me, the most amazing aspect of today’s part of the voyage was that in just a matter of a few hours, we left the lush, evergreen world of dense growths of spruce, hemlock, and cedar on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains and made our way through the ecological transition to the dry, grass-covered, rocky terrain of the eastern slopes with scattered growths of pines and deciduous oaks and maples. The mountain range creates a classic rain shadow effect, which greatly affects the flora and fauna.
We disembarked for several hours this afternoon in order to explore the historic town of Hood River and make a scenic drive on the Oregon side of the river and visit the superb Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center. The highlight of our land excursion was watching the Sea Lion sail by far below us as she repositioned to a position farther up the river where we rejoined her above The Dalles with an impromptu Zodiac operation.
