The Final Miles

Native American fishing platform, The Dalles, OR

Native American fish platform, The Dalles Dam in the background

Maya Lin's Confluence Project, Pasco, WA

Columbia River Reach near Hanford

Columbia River near Wanapum Dam

September 9 and 10, 2010

Near Dalles, Oregon

During the last two days of our trip we saw the Columbia River “wild” at the Hanford Reach National Monument, the confluence of it and the Snake River at Pasco, and finally watched it get wide and lazy from all the damn control. Pun intended.

Because we wanted to avoid construction delays we drove home on the Oregon side along the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. At the Dalles, OR we discovered many Native American fishing platforms and climbed over jumbles of rocks and skinny trails to photograph them.

Here are some photos from the last two days of our trip.

I’m going to write an article about this trip for the “Columbia River Reader”. It will be published in the Nov. 15 edition. Wish me luck!

Religion and a Restaurant

Waiting for funding for a new cupola

Message from the Presbyterians across the street

Keeping cool in summer and warm in the winter

Hardware and Cafe Entrance

Hunters Cafe and Hardware with a little church thrown in

September 8,2010

Moses Lake, WA

Today we traveled along Lake Roosevelt that was created by the Grand Coulee Dam. It is 129 miles long ,beautifully serene with sagebrush and golden bunchgrass covering the shores. It is designated a retirement/recreation area, and 54% of the population in this area is over 65.

We stopped at Hunters, WA, population 305. We wanted coffee, and saw a sign advertising espresso. I saw a white building that looked like a church with lots of cars parked next to it. I said, “must be a funeral today.” Nope. It was the Catholic church transformed into a hardware store/ restaurant/coffee bar. I heard a new trinity: bean, bolt, bowl of soup. According to the locals the church had been “decommissioned” (I think he meant deconsecrated) in the 1970’s, when the Catholics built the “old stone church” up the hill.

Some part of me did appreciate the bad, cheap remodel, and I laughed at the air conditioner sticking out of the top of the arch in the church window. The espresso machine sat exactly where the altar used to be, and to the left of it was the restaurant’s stove. Puts a new twist on hell’s fire, doesn’t it! Are the wages of sin decaffeinated coffee? The woman who owns the restaurant told us that she is convinced that that place where her espresso machine sits is still holy, and I believe it, too! God works in mysterious ways.

Today’s Route: WA Highway 25 to Miles, then WA Highway 17 to Moses Lake.

Rivers Like Conceptual Art

Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia at Castlegar, B.C.

September 7, 2010

Kettle Falls, WA

Here is a link to the 1,242 mile journey the Columbia River takes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Columbiarivermap.png

In 50 degree temperatures and rain we left Balfour and drove south following the west arm of Kootenay Lake with the Silkirk Mountains and Kokanee Glacier on our left and the Purcell Mountains beyond them. There was more housing, more traffic, and more commerce as we neared Nelson, B.C., a town proud of its heritage and historic character. At Nelson we crossed the bridge where the lake severely narrows and becomes Kootenay River. Now the Kootenay is poised to meet the Columbia 30 miles south at Castlegar.

Let me brag. I am such a good navigator and so proud of my skills. I took a local map and got us to Silkirk College in Castlegar where I could see there were hiking trails down to the river, and I was sure we would be able to see the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia from that point. Bingo! We pulled the truck and trailer into a far parking lot on the college campus, saw a break in the grass, inspected it and decided this was indeed the trail, and started walking. Bingo again! This well maintained path took us to the exact point where we could see the meeting of these two rivers not too far in the distance, and I was pleased all around.

Dale is a wonderful traveling companion, and some of our best travels have been road trips. He maneuvers the truck and trailer like they are ballet dancers, and he is patient and likes my mission(s). I understand him better and appreciate him more each day of our journey. We have our moments, however, but not today.

I’m beginning to think that headwaters and confluences are like conceptual art because the beauty, grandeur and understanding is more in the idea than it is in the tangible thing. At the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia there was no fanfare, no bright lights, no geological or historical markers, just the simple union of two bodies of water, but I was both exalted and moved to see what had become of the marshy, spongy, water I saw at Canal Flats. I was quiet and contemplative at the headwaters, and now at this major meeting place I was thrilled and breathless by the power the river had gained.

My sister and I both say that we are such sentimental fools that we even cry at grocery store openings. When we crossed the border back to the U.S. today the customs official welcomed us home, and although we’d been in a “not so un-American Canadian province” for only 7 days, my face got hot like it does just before I cry. I’m glad to be home.

Today’s Route:

Canada highway 3A from Balfour to Castlegar, Canada 22 to the border and it become Wa Hwy 25 that is a scenic highway along the Columbia River to Kettle Falls, WA

I

Columbia Lake and The Source

The Columbia River begins at the south end of Columbia Lake at Canal Flats. There the lake is spongy and marshy and fed by underground streams. The lake is eight miles long and a little over one mile wide and only about 15 feet deep. The altitude at Canal Flats is 2650 feet. At the north end there is a depression where the water from the lake spills over and creates the wetlands that eventually become the Columbia River. It's a miracle!

Columbia Lake from Columbia Lake Provincial Park

Highway 95 View Point near Canal Flats

Columbia Lake in the distance, and the wetlands in the foreground

Another view of Columbia Lake and the wetlands. One third of the way from the top and in the center of this picture there is a concave contour between the wetlands and the lake and Dale and I think that is the spillway.

Near the Source of the Columbia River

a family fishing about one mile from the source

2 miles from source, river is a foot or two deep

Fishing 2 miles from source at Fairmont Hot Springs

About 2 miles from the source at Fairmont Hot Springs, B.C.

The Columbia River has been designated as a Heritage River by British Columbia.

Columbia Wetlands

The Columbia River Wetlands are the longest continuous wetland remaining on the continent. The area is 64,000 acres and supports 260 resident and migratory species of birds. It stretches from Canal Flats to Donald, B.C. These photos were taken from a view point along Canada Highway 95 between Spillimachaen and Brisco.

Columbia River Scenes

Confluence of Columbia and Kicking Horse River, Golden B.C.

Columbia River at Revelstoke, British Columbia

Confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers, Wenatchee, WA