In the Wake of Lewis and Clark 

Beginning as a trickle in the high alpine meadows of western Canada, the Columbia River flows through great, forested mountains and down desert canyons. Joined by the Snake River, it rolls with increasing force through fertile farmlands, past snow-covered volcanoes, and finally knifes through a mountain range to complete a 1,200-mile journey to the wide sea.

This is the grand gateway to the West, pioneered by Lewis and Clark, roamed by fur traders, and traversed by courageous settlers as they forged their way over the Oregon Trail. Our comfortable, small ships, designed for exploring these historic waterways. Their size and maneuverability enable you to travel from the mouth of the Columbia all the way inland to Idaho, more than 450 miles upstream — a voyage impossible for a big ship.

Your expedition is led by Historians and Naturalists rather than conventional tour guides, specialists who share their enthusiasm through informal talks, presentations and anecdotes over drinks at the end of the day. You join them for frequent trips ashore and on Zodiac explorations to remote side canyons. Our ship is equipped with kayaks, which add another perspective to your expedition. It’s a fascinating voyage of discovery to a magnificent region indelibly linked to epic events in America’s past.

Itinerary:

Day 1 - Portland, Oregon/Embark Ship
Board our ship and cruise the lower part of the Willamette River before reaching the Columbia River.

Day 2 - Eastern Washington’s Wine Country
We awake this morning to the colorful plateaus east of the sweeping Cascade Mountains, an area famous for its expanding wine industry. Washington, the nation’s second largest producer of premium wines, is home to more than 240 wineries and 29,000 acres of vineyards. Surprisingly, Washington averages two hours more daily sunlight than California, allowing the grapes more time to ripen. Warm days and cool nights make for rich wines that are extremely well-balanced. Onboard we’ll taste Washington’s syrah, cabernet, chardonnay and semillon wines, and sample local gastronomic delights such as cheeses, pickled vegetables, sauces, jellies, chocolates, dried fruits and smoked seafood.

As we travel on, the Columbia completely changes character with well-watered landscape giving way to gracefully tapered buttes and semi-arid steppes. Locks lift the ship higher and higher into desert-hued canyons. At the entrance to the Snake River, we pass between banks formed by the largest basalt flow in the world.

Day 3 - Clarkston
At Clarkston, we find ourselves at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, more than 450 miles from the sea. Today, we have two choices of activities. One option is to travel by comfortable jetboat up the Snake River into one of North America’s most scenic spots, spectacular Hell’s Canyon. We stop to take in the old homesteads and the ever-changing geology of the river, and look for Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep. At Buffalo Eddy we see petroglyphs etched into the rock by the Native Americans who have inhabited this region for centuries.

Or you may opt to follow in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark along the Clearwater River, visiting several of their actual campsites. Led by our local historian, we learn about the relationship shared between the Nez Perce peoples and Lewis and Clark. We observe the rocks exposed in the shallow waters, recognizing them as the dangerous obstacles that nearly sunk one of the Corps of Discovery’s newly hewn canoes, while sending several of the men into the freezing waters. As mentioned in the journals, the few sandy beaches were temporary refuges for patching the damaged canoes and drying out the perpetually soaked provisions. The ponderosa pines along the river were the material used for the making of the five canoes, as well as a source of pitch for the canoes' subsequent repairs.

Day 4 - Exploring the Palouse River
The still water of the Palouse River is the perfect mirror for the surrounding basalt cliffs as we set off on our morning Zodiac cruises and kayak adventures, looking for birds, deer and beaver. The wide river bottom and towering cliffs seem out of place for such a small river; we learn that 12,000 years ago the “Bretz Flood,” a catastrophic natural event, formed the landscape. We travel by motor coach to Palouse Falls where cascading waters plunge into pools below. As we travel, we search for the mule deer, American coots, western grebes, great blue herons and graceful cormorants that are often seen here. This evening, we sail down the Snake River, enjoying a barbecue on deck.

Day 5 - Columbia River Gorge and Hood River
On our fifth day, we venture through the Columbia River Gorge, perhaps the most awe-inspiring section of the entire river. Here we encounter the 620-foot high Multnomah Falls. These are the most popular scenic attraction in Oregon and it’s easy to see why. The Corps of Discovery wrote in the journals about the many falls along this Gorge: “Down these heights frequently descend the most beautiful cascades, one of which, a large creek, throws itself over a perpendicular rock…”

At the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, we learn about the cataclysmic geological origins of the gorge, the region’s diverse ecology and its 10,000-year-old rich human history. This area was once home to Celilo Falls where Lewis and Clark described a gathering of some 10,000 natives who came to fish and trade from the far corners of the Pacific Northwest. When the river was harnessed for hydropower, navigation, irrigation and flood control, the Celilo Falls were drowned. Hood River, one of the towns we pass through as we pass through the Gorge, is the windsurfing capital of the world because of its almost constant gusts.

Day 6 - Astoria
We end our journey in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark by navigating the Columbia to the mouth of the river at Astoria. At Fort Clatsop, where explorers hunkered down for the wet winter of 1805-1806, we walk through the full-scale reconstructed fort.

The Columbia River Maritime Museum chronicles the history of river navigation and this port town, the epicenter of the fur trading empire in the early 1800s. A series of fascinating displays about the many shipwrecks in the area is especially intriguing. The beautiful scene here is so at odds with the descriptions Lewis and Clark gave of their terrible winter. For an even better view, we can climb the 160 steps to the top of Astor Column.

Day 7 - Portland/Disembark
Our modern day expedition ends in Portland. After breakfast onboard, we travel to the airport for homeward-bound flights.

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