Today was a full one, exploring various aspects of the Columbia River Gorge. We started with a pre-breakfast view of several pictographs from the vantage point of the Ship’s bow. The most dramatic pictograph was of an elk. Later we had an opportunity to stand where the members of the Corp of Discovery stood as we had a brief stop at the campsite called Rock Fort. Here our historian, Chet Orloff, explained the difficulties the Expedition encountered in this area of rapids and waterfalls.
While heading west in the gorge we were experiencing a rapid change in the vegetation, going from the more arid desert steppes with 13 inches of annual rainfall to a temperate rainforest with up to 90 inches of annual rainfall. All of this in 50 miles.
To complete our exploration of the gorge we paid a visit to several of the famous waterfalls, and it was in the stream coming from the plunge pool of Multnomah Falls that we saw several coho salmon coming up the stream to spawn. It was great to see this symbol of the Pacific Northwest, especially since there are far fewer today, than when Lewis and Clark passed this way.
Our exploration of the gorge complete, we returned to the Sea Lion where our Hotel Manager, Judie Blewitt, had a diverse variety of local apples and pears for us to sample. The Corps of Discovery never had it this good.
