On May 8, 2023, Sandy and I flew to Portland, OR, to board the American Jazz, a 180-passenger river cruise ship.
Our itinerary is illustrated by this map, with embarkation from Hayden Island, at Portland, and disembarkation in Clarkston, WA. We docked in Astoria, OR, Kalama, Stephenson, Richland, and Clarkston, WA. After disembarkation in Clarkston, we took a bus to Spokane to fly home.
By a quirk of our arrangements, Sandy and I were possibly the first passengers to board, but we were still delighted to get to our stateroom. Sandy's drink is a Bellini, but I had already finished my champagne.
Our cabin was on the fourth deck, just about 40 feet forward of the Sky Lounge, where snacks, drinks, coffee and everything were available almost all the time. Very convenient. That's where Sandy is in this image. The River Lounge was forward, and that was the big meeting room, including lectures, entertainment and the daily Happy Hour.
Our first port of call was Astoria, where we docked very close to the Lightship Columbia, part of the maritime museum; Columbia was retired in 1979 from its job of protecting ships from foundering on the Columbia River bar. Our other neighbor was the Coast Guard cutter Steadfast.
Astoria was once the home of a salmon canning business, reminiscent of Monterey's Cannery Row. In the distance, you can see all the businesses on piers. The big bridge is the Astoria-Megler Bridge, which carries US 101 four miles across the Columbia River.
Running along on the Columbia River, we saw a sibling ship. This paddle wheel ship is also part of the American Cruise Line fleet. It looks less comfortable than our 2020 American Jazz.
Our next port-of-call was Kalama, WA, There we docked adjacent to the McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge. This is an unlikely name, but a little Googling revealed that McMenamins is a chain of well regarded hotels in Washington and Oregon. This one claimed a great Mai Tai, but we opted for the VERY open bar back on the ship. Note the two totems on the right. There was a third on the ground, waiting to be erected with the others.
The rationale for stopping at Kalama is Mt. St. Helens. We had a bus ride to the Mt. St. Helens visitor center, largely using roads that had been completely rebuilt since the March 27, 1980 eruption. This view of the mountain, from the visitor center, doesn't quite suggest that the mountain's height was reduced by 1300 feet. All the statistics of the 1980 eruption are like the biggest, the deadliest, and so on.
When we drove on to the Castle Lake Viewpoint, the mountain really looked different. The crater is obvious as a great gap, and the region between us and the mountain is still wasteland. Everything in the foreground was destroyed by the pyroclastic flow. The mountain has very limited access to hikers and campers, and access to the crater per se is totally forbidden.
Mountains were not the only things changed. Castle Lake in this picture did not exist before the 1980 eruption, and the surface of Spirit Lake, not visible because it is beyond the ridge, had its surface elevation raised by 200 feet.
And just for proof, one of our fellow passengers, Ken Jones, took this picture. We were really there!
The next docking was at Stevenson, WA. This location is above the Bonneville Dam. The mountains in the distance are Oregon.
This was one of the few instances when the right side of the ship faced the shore. (Our captain, Andrew Howes, pointed out that the Coast Guard is discouraging the use of "port" and "starboard," preferring "left" and "right." However, focus on the arrow; it indicates where our cabin was located. Even though it was high, our ride was extremely smooth. The dining room is directly below on Deck 1.
The Port of Skamania dock at Stevenson is in Washington. We took a bus across the Bridge of the Gods (built in 1926 and later elevated another 44 ft in 1938) to reach the most popular tourist site in Oregon, Multnomah Falls.
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The
falls on Multnomah Creek are about 620 feet high, and surprisingly
close to Interstate 84, which runs along the south bank of the
Columbia River. If you aren't driving, you can see the falls
from your car (or bus). These falls get about two million
visitors a year, and later this May, timed tickets will be required. The images below include the Benson Footbridge, which was built in 1914, about 100 feet above the lower falls. There is a footpath leading up to the bridge, and even up to the top of the falls. I didn't take either hike. This bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places The next image is the Lodge, which was built in 1925. It has the mandatory restrooms, the near mandatory gift shop, and on the second floor, a restaurant that we did not try. The careful viewer will see Sandy patiently waiting for me, just like other ladies are waiting for their men. Finally, the lower Multnomah Creek carries the water away. |
To dock in Stevenson, we had to be elevated to the level of the reservoir being held by the Bonneville Dam. This brings me to one of the key features of this cruise, locks. In fact, we went through eight locks, going up about 775 feet in total. Before the dams and locks, the Columbia River must have been a real white water adventure. The various locks, each associated with a dam, are listed in this diagram.
We went through the Dalles, John Day and Ice Harbor locks during convenient times for taking pictures. The rest were night transits. The image below shows our approach to the Dalles dam and lock. The level of the water on the other side is 90 feet higher than this side.
We are ready to enter the lock. This opening is about 86 feet wide, and our ship only has a beam of 59 feet. The lock is 650 feet long, and we were 269 feet long. Clearly, this is roomy.
Once inside, the back doors will close, and valves will allow water to fill the lock, like a bath tub. In this lock, we will rise about 90 feet. In the view below, we are about 80 feet up, and in about five minutes, when the water levels in and out are equal, the gate ahead will drop, and we can sail out.
Looking back at the lock and dam as we leave, we see the twin wakes from
the two engines of the American Jazz. The other thing we see is Mt.
Hood. We played peek-a-boo with that mountain all afternoon.
Speaking of Mt. Hood, from time to time we got great views of this mountain. Its peak, at 11,249 feet, is the highest point in the state of Oregon.
Just a little later, we approached the John Day Dam and Lock. John Day is the tallest of the 8 locks we traversed. Its lift is 113 feet, a bit over twice the height of our river cruise ship. It really looks like the lake behind John Day is pretty full.
Look at the huge back door on this lock!
And here we are looking at the high side once again.
Once we get up, we are able to look down on the spillway of the John Day Dam. I think this was taken from the comfort of our stateroom veranda.
After cruising (and locking) for about 26 hours, our next stop was Richland, WA, where we docked on Saturday morning. Lots of pleasure boats were on the water, but we were surprised to see these guys go by. I have always associated paddle boards with Hawaii, where the water is much warmer than the Columbia River.
Our principal activity in Richland was a trip to the Kiona Vineyards in the world-famous Red Mountain viticultural area, an AVA that I had never heard of.
Kiona is a smallish, family owned vineyard, and the Williams family home is on the property.
At Kiona, our principal activity was wine tasting, and I bought the skinny bottle on the right. It is a dessert wine, 85% Riesling and 15% Gewurztraminer. Not quite an ice wine, but the Gewurtz adds interest.
And wines have a favorable effect on people's moods.
After leaving Richland, we cruised down stream toward the Snake River. One of the landmarks along the way is the Ed Hendler Bridge at Pasco, WA. When constructed in 1978, its design was novel.
Later that evening, we traversed our last daytime lock, Ice Harbor on the Snake River. This lock has a 103 foot lift.
Looking across the Ice Harbor Dam, it is apparent that the Snake River is not as wide as the Columbia River. Still plenty of water flow.
And here is the last lock picture, almost up to the next level of the Snake River. Our vessel passed through three more Snake River locks while we were sleeping.
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Besides
disembarkation, the big event in Clarkston, WA, was a boat ride in
Hells Canyon. This canyon, eroded by the Snake River,
effectively ends just a mile or two south of Clarkston. In
total it is about 125 miles long. On the Idaho side, it is
bordered by peaks 7,900 feet above the Snake River water level. The west side of Hells Canyon includes shores in both Washington and Oregon. Our trip, by jet boat, went from Clarkston, south-bound and up-stream on the Snake to do a U-turn just beyond the mouth of the Salmon River, marked by a red arrow. The boat owner said that was about 55 miles. Our 110 mile round trip involved about 4 hours in motion, meaning we were traveling, on average, almost 30 MPH. Particularly on the Idaho side, the canyon is bordered by wilderness. No road. No utilities. |
Our jet boat, supported on pontoons, had a couple of very big, noisy engines. We sat six across, and the boat had capacity for about 40 passengers. As you can see, it is very open. Very windy!
Hells Canyon has walls that have been defined by virtually every kind of geologic activity. The north end shows signs of volcanic rocks and millennia of erosion by the Snake River.
Volcanoes and earthquakes formed all these wrinkles in the earth.
Substantial stretches of the Snake River run smoothly.
The Idaho side of the Snake River is wilder, and that is where we spotted this big horn sheep.
Over a substantial span of the Washington side of the Snake, there is a road, and utility poles are visible. This gives rise to some very isolated but scenic home sites. On the Idaho side, roads and utilities are missing, but there are homes. I could see that they are supported by solar cells and out-houses. Access? Boat or helicopter.
The west bank of the Snake offers hills up to 4,300 feet high.
The valley we now call Hells Canyon has been inhabited for thousands of years. Our guide said these ocher paintings are only 2500 years old.
Every bend brings a new geological formation.
Here we have a valley, probably the path of a seasonal creek.
Finally we got to the state line, where the west bank passes from Washington to Oregon.
And trees will grow in the most unlikely places.
We made a transition from volcanic basalt to limestone as we went south. In the image below is one of about a dozen places where the smooth water flow transitioned into rapids, probably a sign of subsurface rock formations.
More volcanic rock
The wake of the boat soaked me a couple of times, particular when the owner maneuvered to adjust his entrance into rapids.
When I got back to the American Jazz, I seriously needed a hair brush to hide the skin that the relentless wind had exposed. But it was a good trip!
Sandy had trepidation about going through Hells Canyon, but the only really challenging part of this expedition was the four hours of 30 MPH wind. Overall the Columbia and Snake River Cruise was a success. Comfortable and smooth sailing, great company, plenty of food and drink. And the crew was always cheery and helpful.