September 20 – Cruising the Columbia River Gorge

Today we are cruising all day.  Photos of the American Empress.

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Video 1 of Paddle wheel
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Video 2 of Paddle Wheel
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Video 3 of Paddle Wheel
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Once we got to Portland the boat took a detour up the Willamette River.  It isn’t a huge river so we didn’t go too far in. 

Cruising the river was relaxing and enjoyable. 

We passed a number of unnamed falls...

and we had good views of the Multnomah Falls.  

We sailed through the Columbia River Gorge.  This area was very difficult for early explorers and settlers to navigate as it was the site of the Columbia River Cascades, a particularly brutal set of rapids.  While the gorge is lovely it was probably more dramatic before the river was dammed by the Bonneville dam.  Now this stretch is more of a reservoir/lake. 

Some sights we saw were the Vista House,

Beacon Rock.

Basalt rock formations,

and the burned trees from forest fires. 

The mountains come right to the river’s edge so parts of the main road hang right from the side of the mountain.

We passed through the locks of the Bonneville dam near the end of the day and there was lovely, soft, orange light illuminating the scenery. 

September 21 – Stevenson, Washington, Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood

Waterfowl along the river. 

The river in early morning.

Today was an early start and a long shore-excursion.  We were off the boat by about 8:00am.  First stop was at Multnomah Falls.  Jim and Phyllis walked to the base of the falls and then headed back to the visitor’s center.  

We walked up to the bridge over the falls and then a bit farther to see the views.  We could see only a short distance in both directions along the river. 

When we got back down, we found Jim and Phyllis in the visitor center café and joined them for a hot chocolate. 

Then we headed out for a long drive up to Timberline Lodge on the side of Mount Hood.  The drive through the countryside and up the mountain gave us good views of the countryside.

Timberline lodge was built in the 1930’s as part of the Works Progress Administration.  The program was designed to give people jobs during the great depression by creating construction projects.  Many of the workers were unskilled but learned skills like woodworking, brick and stone laying, stained glass work, and construction.  It is a very beautiful building with some wonderful features.

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More Timberline Lodge
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Mt. Hood towers over the back of the building but the top was covered with clouds during our visit. 

On the way back we stopped at Bonneville Dam to see the fish ladder.  The Chinook salmon were running, and we were able to see them through underwater viewing windows. 

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Video of fish ladder
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And we had some views of Bonneville Dam itself. 

Some more photos of the American Empress.