The landscape changes again as we push towards the sea. Gone is the tall craggy gorge and we find ourselves in wet, lush, flat country. Large seagoing boats cover the river. The tide now affects river flow and our speed on the water. We have done many small community arrivals with our eyes set on Astoria! We can all feel it. The end is near and it is very bittersweet.
Saluting the community of Cape Horn
The movement of the tide gives us some muddy landing spots.
Matt pleased, Dave skeptical
The best part about big cities is that people no longer thought we looked weird.
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Unfortunately we weren't given the opportunity to stay at Fort Vancouver but since it was under the purview of our very own Dr. John McLoughlin in 1844 we thought we should storm the gates. After marching on the fort with the full strength of the brigade and bagpipes blaring we danced in the main entrance way and were kindly granted free admission to the Fort. What a fur trade nerd's dream!
House of Chief Factor John McLoughlin
Gun Commander!!!!!
Blue boy likes the blue room.
Towards the end of the scenic Columbia Gorge we get to the play ground of Portland, full of waterfalls, lakes, and the iconic Mount Hood. We drove up into the mountains to hike around Lost Lake with a beautiful view of mount Hood. The next day, after a paddle we made our way to a gorgeous viewing spot for the River Basin then went swimming in one of the Columbia's perfect water falls (Latourelle Falls)
Matt and Andy decide to get wet.
Leslie, Marg, and Natalie just before soaking themselves!
Good thing we have been doing back workouts for 3 hours a day. All worth it for this photo:)
In order to catch up on our sleep from our 4:30am wakeup calls we have been catching extra winks wherever we can. Under the canoe, in the vehicle before crew change... and if you really need some wifi and a nap there is no better place than the golden arches.
We have hit the famous and beautiful Columbia Gorge. It is incredible but with it comes whipping winds. This had meant moving our wakeup time from about 6am to 4am to miss the winds. We are dragging a bit for lack of sleep but still paddling hard! The winds have meant some fun waves but a day of paddling into head winds can certainly be taxing. Luckily the amazing scenery keeps our spirits high!
Always face backwards ..... in the canoe....????? ....
Abe tries using his full power and shatters the Gouv paddle
After merging with the Snake River and nearing the ocean the Columbia becomes a lot busier. We now have to hug the shoreline a lot more to avoid big barges chugging along, and since leaving the arid areas and coming into the famous Columbia canyon wind sports abound. Lots and lots and LOTS of fishing too. We've even seen a huge sturgeon (but sadly dead and floating in a huge fishing net).
Matt sizes up a River barge
Windsurfers dot the horizon
Sorry, no pictures today. The wifi is a bit slow.
We have been hit by a heat wave on the Columbia! Temperatures have been soaring so we have been getting up very VERY early (4am) to beat the wind and heat. We still get more that our fair share of high temps in the afternoons though so today we actually took the chance to jump out of the canoe and swim during one of the water breaks (what a water break!)
On a lighter (or darker for some) note, last night despite being assured that the sprinklers had been turned off we were awakened at 12:30 by a shower from the lawn irrigation. All brigaders were in on the inadvertent joke as we all got a decent soaking. Most of us were sleeping outside as it doesn't rain much here and ended up with soaked sleeping bags. Fortunately for Matt and Andy the bugs had long ago driven them into their tents where they joined Isaac and Natalie in some protection from the barrage. One unfortunate couple from the surveyors (poor Bernie) had a sprinkler head inside of their tent fly and were quite drowned out until they found a bucket to put on the sprinkler. However, another hot day greeted us and we all dried out quite well;)
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