Snake and Columbia River Cruise

 Having never been on a cruise before, this was the year.

After several flights and close connections we made it to Lewiston, ID and Clarkston, WA. and ready to start our cruise down the Snake and Columbia rivers.

John & Jan

Our ship, American Cruise Lines stern wheeler American Pride.

Some scenery along the Snake river around Clarkston WA.

You can see how dried out and brown the grass is. I noticed that the last time I was in eastern Washington and Oregon. I think that is why they have so much trouble with wildfires.

On our way.

Entering Ice Harbor lock.

Ice Harbor Dam

This is the last lock and dam on the Snake river.

Open the door

And we are on our way.

Day 2  Richland and Hanford

    Well known for the roll they played in the development of producing nuclear material.

Visited the USS Triton Sail Park

Also visited the Reach Museum which highlights the area's history. It is also home to the Sun in a 1:1billion mile scale model of the solar system.

Saturn is near the USS Triton sail park.

The Reach Museum also has a sculpture fountain made from old fuel cell assemblies. 

We had great weather but with several wildfires in Oregon and Washington we did have some hazy gray skies and low hanging smoke.

Moon filtered through smoky haze.

Not only can the area get power from dams along the Columbia river, they also have strong winds to drive wind turbines. 

Entering the John Jay Lock

Door opens and we are on our way.

John Jay Dam

Birds found a nice place to rest.

As we approached the Dalles you can just make out Mt Hood in the distance about 30 - 35 miles away. As you can see, the wildfire smoke has obscured the view. Notice the train on the opposite shore. There were very active tracks on both sides of the river.

Better view of Mt Hood from the Dalles Lock

The Dalles Lock

Back door

Day 3 Hood River, OR

Windy enough to sail

We toured Multnomab Falls

Here is the traditional picture with the Benson Bridge

Top of the falls from the bridge

And here I am

We also saw the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum. A great collection of old planes and cars. Here is their Ford Tri-Motor.

All the pictures are here and more information about the museum

Mt Hood from Hood River, OR

From Hood River you could also see Mt Adams on the WA side of the river

Day 4 docked at Kalama, WA

Lelooska Totem Pole

Eagle sculpture at Kalama Marine Park

Mt St Helens

These pictures are from the Coldwater Ridge Visitors Center (that's Coldwater Lake in the foreground). It's about 8 miles from the cone and as close as you can currently get to the mountain. The Johnston Ridge Observatory (that's Johnston Ridge to the left just beyond to lake) is closed due to a landslide on the road, projected opening date is 2027.

Other end of Coldwater Lake

Jan at Mt St Helen

Day 5 Astoria, OR

Ft Clatsop Lewis & Clarks home during the winter of 1805 to 1806

We had mostly good weather but it did rain on our tour of Ft Clatsop. Our guide thought that was great since it gave us a true Lewis & Clark experience. 

We were docked at the Columbia Maritime Museum home to the light ship Columbia which was anchored at the mouth of the Columbia river, it was taken out of service in 1979.

You can see our cruise ship at the dock in the lower left.

Astoria - Megler Bridge across the mouth of the Columbia river.

Since we are now past the last dam on the Columbia, ocean going vessels line up to load and unload.

Notice anything different between the two pictures? Riding at anchor, the boats turn depending on which way the tide is running.

Day 6  Back up river to Stevenson, WA

And one last look at Multnomab Falls from the river

Approaching Bonneville Lock and Dam

In the lock

Doors open and we are on our way

Bonneville Dam

Docked at Port of Skamania Dock

Day 7  Bus ride back to Portland (PDX) and on the plane for home.