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Oregon: Columbia Gorge (click
once on any photo to display full image) |
Bonneville Dam
We visited the Bonneville Dam fish hatchery on the day that the rain prevented us from hiking. It was quite interesting to see and learn about the fish ladders that were built to help the fish swim upstream past the dam. Fish ladders operate in a manner similar to nagivation locks, and believe it or not, there is actually a human that counts the number of each type of fish that passes through the ladder in order to assess its effectiveness. The photo on the left is a view of the fish ladder from above. Here’s a video of the fish swimming through the fish ladder in the photo on the right Click for Fish Ladder video.
Indian Head
We spent our
last day exploring other scenic areas in Columbia Gorge. Unlike our previous
hikes, it felt good to be at low elevation in the warm sunshine and without any
wind for a change – no jacket or gloves required and Li even wore shorts! The
trail to Indian Head wasn’t supposed to be very long, but the cutoff path to
the lookout wasn’t marked and we ended up continuing way past it for almost a
mile before realizing our mistake. After reversing course, we finally found it
with the help of another hiker. The rock outcrop provided great unobstructed
views up and down the gorge with snow capped Mt. Adams in the background.
A view of
Bonneville Dam could be seen in the far distance on the return portion of this
loop hike.
Multnomah Falls
Unfortunately,
unlike the relative solitude we had on the higher elevation hikes, the sunny
weather and the fact that it was the weekend brought huge crowds to the area’s
most popular and easily accessible attraction. There was even a bridal party
having professional photograghs taken at nearby Wahkeena Falls! The photo on
the left is at the base of Multnomah Falls and the one on the right is looking
down from the top of the falls.
Continuing
along the trail past Multnomah Falls provided some relief from the crowds and
led to a series of smaller cascades descending Wahkeena Creek.
Our parting
view of Mt. Hood was seen from the airplane window on our return flight from
Portland to New Jersey.
