In the Wake of Lewis and Clark: Voyage along the Columbia & Snake Rivers

Itinerary

Day 1: Portland, Oregon/Embark Ship

Board your ship and cruise the lower part of the Willamette River before reaching the Columbia River.

Day 2: Eastern Washington’s Wine Country

You 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 you’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 you 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, you pass between banks formed by the largest basalt flow in the world.

Day 3: Clarkston

At Clarkston, you find yourselves at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, more than 450 miles from the sea. Today, you 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. You 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 you 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 your local historian, you learn about the relationship shared between the Nez Perce peoples and Lewis and Clark. You 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 you set off on your 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; you learn that 12,000 years ago the “Bretz Flood,” a catastrophic natural event, formed the landscape. You travel by motor coach to Palouse Falls where cascading waters plunge into pools below. As you travel, you search for the mule deer, American coots, western grebes, great blue herons and graceful cormorants that are often seen here. This evening, you sail down the Snake River, enjoying a barbecue on deck.

Day 5: Columbia River Gorge and Hood River

On your fifth day, you venture through the Columbia River Gorge, perhaps the most awe-inspiring section of the entire river. Here you 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, you 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

You end your 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, you 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, you can climb the 160 steps to the top of Astor Column.

Day 7: Portland/Disembark

Your modern day expedition ends in Portland. After breakfast onboard, you travel to the airport for homeward-bound flights.

Trip Details

Ship	Sea Lion/Sea Bird
Just Released Offer	Members of ExpeditionTrips.com save 25% per person on regular cruise rates.Applicable Date: 11/3/2008 Per Person Discounted Rates (25% off):Category 1: $2,610; Category 2: $3,030; Category 3: $3,533; Single Category 1: $3,915; Single Category 2: $4,545 Or, save 15% per person on regular cruise rates.Applicable Dates: 10/16/2008, 10/22/2008, 10/28/2008 Per Person Discounted Rates (15% off):Category 1: $2,958; Category 2: $3,434; Category 3: $4,004; Single Category 1: $4,437; Single Category 2: $5,151Per Person Regular Rates:Category 1: $3,480; Category 2: $4,040; Category 3: $4,710; Single Category 1: $5,200; Single Category 2: $6,060
Highlights	Palouse Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Wine Tasting, Astoria, Hells Canyon
Trip Notes	Included:Accommodations; meals; daily excursions and sightseeing; entrance fees; taxes, service charges, and tips (except to ship's crew); kayaks; Zodiacs.Not Included:Air transportation from hometown to Portland, OR; travel insurance; items of a personal nature; alcoholic beverages; gratuities to ship’s crew; baggage/accident/cancellation insurance.
Payment Policy	The deposit amount required to confirm your reservation varies by itinerary (see trip brochure). Final payment is due 90 days prior to departure.** Final payment is due 100 days prior to departure for the following sailings: 1/5/2009, 1/16/2009, 1/27/2009.Payment MethodsCredit cards are accepted for both deposit and final payments (VISA, MC, AMEX, Discover).

When can I go?

Start Date	Finish Date	Places Available
2008-09-20	2008-09-26	+
2008-10-01	2008-10-07	+
2008-10-07	2008-10-13	+
2008-10-16	2008-10-22	+
2008-10-22	2008-10-28	+
2008-10-28	2008-11-03	+
2008-11-03	2008-11-09	+

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