The Columbia River Gorge

Journey to a Land of Water Wind and Fire

Epilogue 2: The Columbia River Gorge

An Evening Cruise

One of the real starting points for this entire trip was when A. suggested we take a cruise on the Columbia River. She showed me the brochures and asked me what I thought. I agreed with her it would be a beautiful trip. However, upon looking at the price they wanted to sail for 8 days in cramped quarters up an inland river, I suggested an equally scenic possibility, taking Amtrak's Empire Builder through the gorge.

Unfortunately, on our way out the weather was not all that great. It wasn't bad, mind you, it just was not as good as it could have been. I knew, I had come through the Gorge on an early morning ride in 2002 that was magnificent.

However, I held out hope. Even when, on our trip back into Portland, the clouds gathered around us once more.

Even as we finished touring the Chinese Garden, it still appeared that we would once more have a cloudy trip. And then, just as we boarded the Empire Builder that evening, the sun broke through. And thus we had a wonderful trip up the gorge away from the setting sun.

The only problem was, it was one of those settings, which is hard to capture on a photo, especially if you are using "point and shoot" equipment from a moving train. So, while the following gives some idea of the beauty that we saw, even now, months later, in my minds eye, I know that what we saw far surpassed our abilities to capture the moment.

But that is the way it often is.