The view from Cape Horn

This is just two photos from recent trips up the Washington side of the Gorge.  I have lots of photos from this viewpoint, and this is the best yet:

From another recent trip, in a very different meteorological mood:

You'll notice that the river is higher in the second photo (both the shoreline and the mudflats surrounding the mid-river rock are more exposed in the first photo- click the image to enlarge, if you need).  The Columbia is tidal all the way up to Bonneville Dam, which is just beyond the final curve of the river in these photos.  Lewis and Clark noticed this back when the Cascades of the Columbia were the limit of tidal influence, and not the dam.  There is also some seasonal variation in water levels, due to snowmelt.   

River level is also affected by the Army Corps of Engineers' and Bonneville Power Administration's decisions regarding power demand, flood control, and fishery health (for salmon going both up and downstream).  I met a BPA "scheduler" recently.  As he described the different priorities that he and his co-workers must weigh in managing the dam flows up and down the Columbia, I conceived of an enormous act of institutional juggling.  Juggling huge labor, energy, and financial resources with economic and environmental effects that will outlast all who have ever worked on these dams.  Not a job for the indecisive.