Thursday, October 18, 2007

Columbia Gorge... Part 1

What a beautiful place!

Even in the rain with dark, heavy clouds in the
sky, the Gorge is a sight to see. I got a late start today, so I only made it as far as the Bonneville Dam (about an hour East of Portland). It's a major operation, providing not only electricity to the surrounding cities, but also providing a series of locks for river-bound freight travel, and "ladders" to help the salmon navigate upstream to spawn.

Now, you may be saying, "What does a dam have to do with Vanishing America?" Well, I'll tell you...

There are many different opinions about this
dam, ranging from its effect on the salmon run to the "construction" techniques used to add a new "island" to this part of the Columbia River. Some of the opinions are positive, and some are negative, (and I'm sure this holds true for numerous other dams around the country), but I'm not going to get into that. I'm here to take pretty pictures, tell stories about my trip, and whenever possible, provide enough information from both sides of an important argument so that my readers might be able to form their own opinions. Right? So, here are a few pretty pictures...

I'll be going back to the dam tomorrow for more shots.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You just sat in the parking lot all day and didn't even come into say hello! I thought we were friends;) Good luck on your way...its interesting to see my heart photgraphed and posted on the web with your commentary next to it...

Hannah Walker
Park Guide
Bonneville Dam

Brian said...

Damn nice looking dam there Mr. Griswold! I like the contrast.