Cruising up the Columbia
Today was our first full day in this magical part of the world. Our mission was to get as far up the Columbia then Snake Rivers as we could, in order to awake in Clarkston the following day, at over 350 miles inland still considered a seaport thanks to these rivers.
The Columbia, known as the Great River of the West, is the fourth largest river in North America and now completely unrecognizable from the times of Lewis and Clark. Its power has been harnessed by a total of 14 dams on its main stem and approximately 250 on its tributaries. The free-flowing river has been transformed into a vast series of reservoirs that have been the driving force behind the development of the Pacific Northwest. In total during our trip we go through four of the Columbia dams, and four more on the Snake River, and so become familiar with the workings of these great feats of engineering.
Even though sailing conditions on a river seem relatively calm, navigating these waters need even more continual care and watchfulness on behalf of our Captain and Officers than sailing the oceans, due to the lock-and-dam systems, drifting sandbars, material flowing down river and sometimes heavy river traffic. One of the great things about traveling upriver on a ship is to learn about how they achieve this, the instruments they use, how our crew ties up in a lock or at a dock and all the other ins and outs of fluvial navigation. As on all Lindblad Expeditions ships, we have an open bridge policy and love for everyone to come up and visit — at any time of the day or night, someone is always there! Our Deck Officers are always willing to teach about the complex navigational instruments used on the Sea Bird, show our position on the GPS and charts, or even just exchange sea-faring tales.
During the morning, Smithsonian guest lecturer Dr Andrew Gulliford invited us into the lounge for the first of a series of talks he is scheduled to give. We were privileged to receive great insights into an important aspect of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s voyage into the great unknown: the medicine available to them back then, that available to the American Indian tribes they encountered along the way and how this all-important discipline molded the relationships between the natives and the Corps of Discovery.
As we proceeded on upriver, we made such good time that we anchored at Hat Rock, a landmark named by Clark in 1805 and now declared a State Park, where we lowered our Zodiacs and enjoyed a couple of pleasant walks before returning to the ship for a wine and food-tasting session prepared by our Hotel Department.
Today was our first full day in this magical part of the world. Our mission was to get as far up the Columbia then Snake Rivers as we could, in order to awake in Clarkston the following day, at over 350 miles inland still considered a seaport thanks to these rivers.
The Columbia, known as the Great River of the West, is the fourth largest river in North America and now completely unrecognizable from the times of Lewis and Clark. Its power has been harnessed by a total of 14 dams on its main stem and approximately 250 on its tributaries. The free-flowing river has been transformed into a vast series of reservoirs that have been the driving force behind the development of the Pacific Northwest. In total during our trip we go through four of the Columbia dams, and four more on the Snake River, and so become familiar with the workings of these great feats of engineering.
Even though sailing conditions on a river seem relatively calm, navigating these waters need even more continual care and watchfulness on behalf of our Captain and Officers than sailing the oceans, due to the lock-and-dam systems, drifting sandbars, material flowing down river and sometimes heavy river traffic. One of the great things about traveling upriver on a ship is to learn about how they achieve this, the instruments they use, how our crew ties up in a lock or at a dock and all the other ins and outs of fluvial navigation. As on all Lindblad Expeditions ships, we have an open bridge policy and love for everyone to come up and visit — at any time of the day or night, someone is always there! Our Deck Officers are always willing to teach about the complex navigational instruments used on the Sea Bird, show our position on the GPS and charts, or even just exchange sea-faring tales.
During the morning, Smithsonian guest lecturer Dr Andrew Gulliford invited us into the lounge for the first of a series of talks he is scheduled to give. We were privileged to receive great insights into an important aspect of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s voyage into the great unknown: the medicine available to them back then, that available to the American Indian tribes they encountered along the way and how this all-important discipline molded the relationships between the natives and the Corps of Discovery.
As we proceeded on upriver, we made such good time that we anchored at Hat Rock, a landmark named by Clark in 1805 and now declared a State Park, where we lowered our Zodiacs and enjoyed a couple of pleasant walks before returning to the ship for a wine and food-tasting session prepared by our Hotel Department.
