The Columbia River

This river is like no other river I have ever seen. I love the Mississippi, but this one is something special. In fact, it is so special that we decided to take a couple day side trip and cover more of its borders. So instead of heading north from Seaside right up to Seattle, we drove the Oregon side of The Columbia through Portland to The Dalles and then across the bridge to the Washington side and are now camped along this beauty at a WA State Park, Horsethief Park to be exact. But, alas, I get ahead of myself.


When Mike and I were in this neck of the woods many years ago, we went to a lock and dam, and fish hatchery that was about 40 miles east of Portland and we wanted to stop there again. Now remember, we have the motorhomes and we are both towing a car behind. Wanting to be sure that parking would not be a problem, I called ahead and was assured that the parking lot was plenty big to accommodate our rigs at the Bonneville Lock and Dam. They were right, the parking lot was plenty big... But the road getting there was most interesting!


First we needed to cross this bridge.

The view from the center was really very cool. The Columbia is one very big body of water.

And when we got to the area, our rig was inspected at the guardhouse and then we had to drive across this roadway along the 1937 powerhouse which wasn't really designed for big vehicles... I am glad Mike was driving! It seemed miles long, but I think it was only about 2 blocks long.

We get to the other side and I think I can breathe a sign of relief when I see this sign.

And finally, we can see the dam... and the parking lot.

Once we land, we proceed immediately to the "fish ladder". In order for the fish to get "through the dam", they have to swim up this ladder.

When they get to the top, they are diverted to a small opening through which all fish must swim. There is a window on the side of that opening and all fish are counted. Yep, there is a person that sits in a little office, chats with people like me and counts each and every fish. The fellow on duty when we were there was very friendly and answered all of our questions. For example, the biggest fish he has ever seen go through, was longer than this window is across (about 5 feet).

They keep records of all the fish species and number and it is posted daily.

When we left this section, we again drove across the wonderful powerhouse road and went to the hatchery where we had been told, a 400 pound sturgeon was in residence. Sure enough...

There were also trout in the observation tanks. This fellow came by and posed often so I had to take his picture.

The grounds were beautifully manicured, the fish fun to watch and it turned out to be an enjoyable stop for all four of us. Mike talked to a ranger that told us about a place on the WA side where we would be able to camp and where the guys could wet a line, so we headed in that direction.

This is the view as you enter the park.

Once we got set up, we relaxed with a bit of wine, a salad supper and a decadent dessert. Early this morning, the boys headed off in search of a fishing license. But before, they could put a line in the river, Bonnie and I took them along on a guided excursion into the hills to see petroglyphs and pictographs. Mike and I have visited many sites where ancient peoples left pictures, but today we saw some symbols and designs that were unique to this area.



This is "She Who Watches" or Tsagaglalal as she is known to the native people.

Our guide thinks perhaps this is a river snake...

The trains run between our park and the Columbia and make for interesting subjects.

Of course, the guys are ok subjects, too.

By 2:00, they had each caught a fish (bass) or two and it was getting pretty warm so we decided to go for a drive. It was actually nice enough to take the top off; we haven't done that for awhile.

We found a spot where Mt. Hood was clearly visible over the river.

At the same spot, a donkey posed along the hillside for us.

And farther along the route, we saw Mt. Adam (just a shade over 12,000 feet).

And around sunset tonight, I returned to the river to photograph Mt. Hood and wouldn't you know it - I found a train.

Tomorrow, we head west on the Washington side of the Columbia River and by tomorrow night we should be close to Mt. St. Helens which is our next stop. But before that the guys have to fish a little bit more in this pond...