PNC Days 99-101 – Into the Columbia River Gorge

The landscape changed from sage brush to trees the last few days as we entered the Columbia River Gorge. We walked through Yakama, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Tenino, Warm Springs, Grand Ronde, Cascades, and Siletz ancestral lands.

Day 99 – CR Mile 970.4 – All day in the boat

We were on the water at sunrise this morning, and it was beautifully calm. There were railroad tracks and highways on both sides of the river today, and we saw two barges. It ended up being a hot day, but there weren’t any beaches or other good spots for swimming. We took our breaks in the boat and did not get out of it until camp this evening. We found another Army Core of Engineers campground for tonight. We are charging our devices and enjoyed chili for dinner topped with Angry Abby sauce (Tim’s sister brought us some homemade Angry Grandma sauce, made of oil and crispy chilis/garlics). -R

Day 100 – CR Mile 1013.8 – Where’d that sun come from?

Last night there was a windstorm at 2:20 that knocked over the tent. We have been paddling through/into the Columbia River Gorge, which is supposed to be very windy, so we’ve been nervous about conditions. We tried not to let the overnight windstorm get to us, and sure enough, that was the right approach because most of today the weather was very calm. We did get some wind in the evening, but it came from behind and actually sped us up.

It is salmon season, so there are nets all over the river. We have been curiously paddling over them since yesterday, but today we had a chance to talk to some of the fisherman and even watched them pull in a big salmon. It was cool!

Then it got hot! At around noon it seemed like somebody had suddenly turned on the heat. That made the paddling harder, but we survived. We quickly completed our 12th portage of the trip around the John Day Dam and then we both took a dip in the river before paddling again. That was a refreshing cool down. For dinner we had taco pasta with Angry Abbo sauce. Yum!

We’ve been at it for 100 days! That is a long time to be outdoors. We are less than 200 miles from the ocean… crazy! -T

Day 101 – CR Mile 1,055.1 – The Columbia River Gorge

After our cold-soaked oats and a few coffees, we packed up camp and hit the water just before sunrise. We had a short six miles to our portage of the Dalles dam. We were able to take out right above the dam on the Washington side. We had to carry the canoe across a bridge and put in below the dam on the Oregon side. The bridge had a sidewalk, but it felt tight when big trucks passed. The portage ended up being 1.7 miles, but it went right past a McDonald’s. We got 2 coffees, a coke, 4 hash browns, and 4 buns to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary! After the dam the landscape changed from desert-like hills to tree-covered mountains as we officially entered the infamous Columbia River Gorge. We continued to see barges, cruise ships, and salmon fishing boats plus trains and highway traffic along both sides of the river. -R