Columbia River, 2000
Journal entry May 5th 2000, 9:15 AM. We started this trip down the Columbia River actually on the Willamette River at Sellwood Park. We were joined by my friend Mark Hatzenbuhler for the first weekend of the trip as we meandered through Portland, and he stayed with us on the long haul up Multnomah Channel. The first day we were beset by Spring squalls that blasted us with gusts of wind and freezing cold showers. Just before this picture below we were hiding alongside a barge while the rain gushed out of its scuppers.
Mark in the Multnomah channel below. You can see the grass on Sauvie Island is still Winter dormant and the troubled skies overhead could do just about anything to make our day difficult. To the left are some house boats along the channel.
After a long day we make Coon Island. J.J. Collins park provides a nice dock, camping and compost toilets. here's Mark sauntering about.
Our camp, Mark's about to moon me, oops!
A short day's trip brings us to our next stop. Sand Island on the Columbia, also with composting toilets and excellent views of the river. Below, just in front of the bow of the ship pictured, is the Lewis river confluence where the Lewis comes in from the Washington side of the Columbia. A beautiful spot.
Here's our camp on Sand Island. Not pictured is our 7 mile trip along Multnomah Channel leading up to this. Picture in your mind lots of cottonwood trees lining steep muddy banks. Mark headed off to St. Helens (the town not the mountain) and ended his trip here.
And below Sand island we head off along the Oregon shore. Visibility is about 7 miles or more, so you can see how the next hour or two is going to be spent very easily.
Looking back after covering that distance, Tyee races a freighter.
We pull off into a side channel flooded at high tide. My partner for the rest of the trip, Tyee Bridge, had pulled his shoulder during one of the squalls on the first day. He had been doing a regular regimen of Tai Chi and keeping it limber, but the pain was beginning to wear him down some.
Tyee, maps and snacks. Oops got some of the camera's plastic bag in the pic.
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