The standard means of transportation for world travelers to Portland, Oregon is by air, land and sea — but that's not how the first white men came to the great Northwest Territory. CruiseWest offers a stylistic version of exploration of the waters that the Louisiana Purchase surveyors Lewis and Clark plied almost 200 years ago.

Portland is a primary port facility for west coast shipping, but sits inland from the Pacific Ocean, along the Columbia River. The local economy isn't based just on the shipping trade - you'll find thriving communities dealing in everything from ship repair and fishing canneries to agricultural, and of course the ever present tourist market.
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Along the Lewis and Clark CruiseWest journey, you'll hear naturalists relate stories about the first settlers, the Indians who inhabited the territory, and the developers arriving later into this great countryside.

My travel arrangements were made through CruiseWest. I flew into Portland via Alaska Air and even Sacajawea didn't have to pathfind the way to the baggage carousel. Shuttles whisk from gate to gate, and are for all passengers, not just the disabled. I found out about this a little too late, as I entered into my own self-appointed walking marathon. CruiseWest has it's own baggage handlers and shuttle from the airport to the Marriott Portland Downtown Hotel, the jumping-off point for the adventure on the Columbia.

I met my first fellow explorers — a couple from Seattle, who had sailed previously on this very vessel, Spirit of Discovery — up in Alaska, now joining the CruiseWest flotilla after tendered through the Inside Passage; I learned the ship was capable of the voyage up the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

It started to rain and it continued in its Pacific Northwest infamy throughout the afternoon. This was no damper on my plans — after all, I just came from the dry climate of Las Vegas, and a little rain was enjoyable.

At the Marriott our bags were immediately banded and prepared for boarding. Passengers gathered in the hospitality room awaiting an introductory presentation from the crew. With a couple of hours to kill I joined a lively crowd in the sports pub, featuring racks of TVs blasting out golf to football to the baseball playoffs. My arrival coincided with the annual Portland marathon, scheduled the next day. The bartender told me that this was the first rainy day in months and that it never rains on the marathon. After a light lunch, I found my way back to the hospitality suite in time for the crew's Coast Guard safety instructions.

I decided to walk the famous Portland park-like river walk to dockside, rather than the shuttle. Even though it was drizzling, it is a short distance, with the trail meandering onward for miles. I discovered hundreds of Canadian geese resting like decoys in the park. Once aboard ship, the crew guided me to my respective cabin. My bags had already arrived. Dinner was served shortly thereafter and the camaraderie began.

I found my cabin to be clean and comfortable with plenty of room, with dresser drawers both beneath the beds and within the dresser nightstand. The closet and vanity had more that enough room to hang a wardrobe and personal items and each stateroom had hot running showers. The lighting was perfect, a bay window for viewing and even a pair of binoculars in each stateroom provided for wildlife viewing.

Once I had a chance to freshen up, I went to the below deck dining room to meet the other passengers. Jeremy, the master chef for our cruise, had outlined entrée choices at the hospitality meeting before boarding. In no time, we were delighting in a wonderfully basted and broiled salmon. At each and every meal there was a choice of surf or turf or you could order a special diet selection. Menus were well balanced and planned and diners were informed at the end of each sitting what would be in store for us from Jeremy's galley upon our next visit. I was not disappointed in the kitchen staff professionalism.

Then it was time for a long deserved rest as our skipper, Captain Kitt, no not Kidd, took the Spirit of Discovery out for the journey north up the Willamette River. We passed along Portland's waterfront and beautiful homes nestled amongst the shoreline. Sometime during the night we connected up with the mighty Columbia River and cruised eastward, back along the same route that Capt. Robert Gray, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Sacajawea explored in the early 1800's at the request of President Thomas Jefferson. Their adventure was called "The Corps of Discovery."

The Columbia River is the boundary separating the states of Washington and Oregon. This massive body of water serves both states equally and provides a thriving livelihood on both sides of the river. Throughout the night, we passed beneath several spans of bridges and passed through the first locks along the Columbia. I awoke rested the next morning to find we were moored alongside the Bonneville Dam, deep within the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, before starting the ascent through the Cascade Mountains.

After a hearty breakfast of "Jeremy's Best" — traditional eggs, potatoes, a meat side, juice and coffee — we debarked awaiting motorcoaches for a tour of the Army Corps of Engineers Bonneville Dam. We drove a mere 3 minutes from the dam island they'd built, across the dam bridge, with a dam escort, and onto the other shore where we were met by the dam guides who would give us a dam tour. Now you really want to pay attention during this guided tour because this isn't like just any dam tour. This dam also has another responsibility other than creating hydroelectric power.

Bonneville is the first of many unnatural obstacles for the various migrating chinookand coho salmon. The salmon die after their journey, but the steelhead trout, shad, lamprey, and sturgeon migrate annually from the sea to their spawning grounds as well. At various times of the year, different types of fish attempt an old pattern of returning to their hatcheries, but the man-made spillways and dams hinder their progress. (For more information on this situation tune into the controversy brewing in Washington D.C. over the removal of all dams in the Snake River, a main tributary to the Columbia.)

You can't keep a good fish down. Realizing that the migration of a valuable natural resource was impeded, affecting millions of dollars of revenue that the entire Northwest receives from commercial fishing, fish ladders were built to aid in the journey. This series of immersed steps allow the fish to swim around obstacles, continuing their passage upstream, or down, uninterrupted. The underwater windows, in the dam viewing area, allows visitors to see the fish as they maneuver amongst the stepped ladders to the next level. What a terrific idea and what a fantastic piece of constructive ingenuity by the Army Corps of Engineers. I am a diehard fisherman, and it was all I could do to hold myself back from the window as I watched a nice fat 30 pound female chinook just sitting in front of me, much like on a T.V. screen, waiting until she decided to move to the next step. Oh well, at least I was sure there were fish in the river.

After a brief tour of the hydroelectric portion of the dam, we crossed the river and traveled back through the Columbia River Gorge to the famous Multnomah Falls. This brief drive is absolutely gorgeous and we disembarked at the foot of the falls. Towering over 620 feet, Multnomah cascades 540 feet. Thundering spray and noise clouded the next stage of falls - about 10 feet, into another pool and then the final drop smacking the valley floor right next to the Multnomah Lodge and gift store. Bring a rain parka or a towel to dry off. There's usually a good crowd at the falls but an improved paved trail leads hearty hikers to the summit. Allow about 45 minutes up and 30 minutes back. At the top of the falls, the view is incredible. The photo ops are fantastic.

I eventually gathered with my fellow explorers back on the Spirit of Discovery. It is Cocktail Hour! The cruise director, Heather, recapped the most interesting sights and giving us an explanation of what would be forthcoming. After dinner all were invited to experience The Dalles (pronounced Dells), a section of the Colombia River and the transiting of the John Day Locks. Known as the highest lock in the world, Spirit of Discovery was raised 110 feet and emptied into man-made Lake Umatilla. Later in the night, long after everyone is at rest, 2nd mate Dan or 3rd mate Jen, piloted Discovery through Lake Umatilla, elevated another 75 feet at McNary Lock, so that by morning we were at the Snake River mouth.

The ship has an extensive wildlife and ecological book and film library onboard. I often referred to the geography and more significantly, the route that Lewis and Clark followed. Just knowing that they had no prior knowledge of the terrain was an incredible accomplishment. The Snake River is the largest tributary feeding into the Columbia. At this point, the Colombia moves North toward Canada while the Snake proceeds East toward Idaho and the eventual destination of Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington. So named after, guess who?



We spent most of our cruising time at night, but on this second day expect to transit four locks on the Snake River. - (Ice Harbor — 100 feet, Lower Monumental - 100 feet, Little Goose — 98 feet, and Lower Granite — 100 feet). If you thought for a moment you might miss out on how these locks operate, don't. When you see the hydropower and speed that Discovery is lifted from lock to lock, you can't help but be impressed with these engineering marvels. I've got to tell you, I've been in urban elevators that don't move this fast. All the while, as you are moved up and down the river by locks, the migrating fish of the Columbia and Snake are also making their way through a complex ladder, flow tube, or fish barge operation.

It is an eerie feeling, steering one minute into a funnel knowing that a lake of water is held back by a couple of manmade doors, and then to have the back door shut on you. While sitting below a water level of 100 feet, my imagination ran wild. Fortunately, it didn't run too long before the vessel rose again and the outer doors opened to the next level. By now, it's obvious that the Army Corps of Engineers and Captain Kitt and his crew knew their jobs.

	166' Length 37' Beam 7.5' Draft 94 Tons Cruising Speed - 13 Knots, Maximum 15 Knots Fuel Capacity - 6600 Gallons Powered by 2 x 3508 Caterpillars with 2 x CAT generators, 1-3304, 1-3306 Crew of 21 Passenger Capacity 84 43 Staterooms 3 Decks, Bridge, Lounge, and Main