For the newsletter

How do you combine an interest in fur trade history, and geography, and paddling, all at one time?

You join a Brigade! Several members of FLCC paddled with the 2011 Thompson Columbia Brigade from Fort Spokane to Fort Astoria on the Columbia River: Katie Stein Sather, captain, Lee McGovern, Sue Tuttle, Susan Blank, Ian Bailey, Carol Woodworth, Al Sather, Eric Mast (Richland, WA), Tim Ahern (Spokane, WA), Margaret Wanlin (Thunder Bay) and Linda and Dennis Ethier (Lacombe, AB) . Some ten voyageur canoe teams from all across western Canada—from as far away as Thunder Bay, ON—celebrated the accomplishments of the cartographer and explorer David Thompson by arriving in Astoria, OR 200 years to the day after he did so.

Like Thompson, we fought the heat of the Upper Columbia Basin and the headwinds of the Columbia Gorge and the tide at the mouth. Unlike the river that Thompson paddled, the contemporary river is mostly a series of reservoirs. No rapids at all. Just dam after dam to trailer around.

The FLCC team joined the trip midway, west of Spokane, and two days’ paddle “upstream” of the Grand Coulee dam, on Lake Roosevelt. We paddled some 1000 km to the mouth of the Columbia, at Astoria. We newbies to the brigade had to learn to get up early, ie 4:30 am, for a 6:30 start on the water, and keep up to the folks already accustomed to paddling 40-60 strokes a minute for hours at a time. Our heavy boat gave us extra conditioning.

It was a great opportunity to celebrate paddling in general, and to renew and make paddling friends from across Canada. The next one? Maybe 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150^th anniversary. This kind of trip is unique.

Descending the Columbia.mov

We finished!

Well, it's over and done. We, the Fort Langley Canoe Club team, paddled the Columbia River from the forks of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers to its mouth at Astoria. some 900 km (660 miles).

The long days, early risings, windy crossings of the lakes, and head winds made for some hard work. The last day was one of the hardest as we had to fight the incoming tide as well. (Someone underestimated the work of paddling against the tide, I'd say.) And, it being the wet coast, it rained much of the day too.

We've accomplished a lot, and hope to pass along our hard won skills to others in the club. And maybe share our river, the Fraser, with brigaders when they come to Vancouver for the premiere of the video.

Here's some news coverage of our trip, from Astoria:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPzZF7SiuA&feature=player_embedded

Changing landscape

This trip has been an evolution--of landscape.

Where we joined the Brigade--on Lake Roosevelt at the confluence of the Spokane River and the Columbia, it was hot and dry. The upper Columbia Basin is a landscape utterly foreign to me. Not only hot and dry, but no vegetation I am familiar with. Sagebrush and other low growing shrubs. Much dry grass, with stickers that poke. The valley walls are basalt and sand. It’s very dramatic.

In the Hanford Reach, we saw some wetlands, and wild herds (thanks to the no hunting/no trespassing rules there!).

Just this morning, as we progressed through the Columbia Gorge, trees in the deep valley were more evident, ie there is more precipitation here. Again the geology is amazing.

My previous image of the Columbia Valley was too northern—all trees, just like the BC portion of it really is. But the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington, and Oregon, is anything but treed. Spectacular and dramatic rock formations, high walls (perfect for dams and reservoirs).

It seems good to have my eyes opened.

Day Off Call

Well, guess what, it's windy in the Columbia River Gorge! So we called it a day, and took today off. Only two boats paddled, actually, out of the ten or so we have. The waves yesterday were BIG! bigger than I was comfortable with. Today's agenda called for crossing this BIG river, so many of the teams declined. See the pics of the two boats that did go--the highway follows the river, so we just stopped to take photos. It has finally cooled off some, only in the mid-seventies today, compared to 90-100. Yes, really, over 100 a couple of days ago in Irrigon, OR.

We are getting up at 4:30 am these days, to get on the water by 6 or earlier. We are often done by noon or so. Some of us are able to nap, some not.

Sometimes we have an arrival ceremony to stage, so we get in the boats again, in the hot, hot sun, and make our splashy entrance. Most often to a small crowd. Those who come appreciate us.

We now have a full team! Sue and Ian have joined us--but all too soon a couple of others will leave for home. It's amazing how fast this whole trip is going. All too soon, it will be over.

Hanford Reach

Yesterday we paddled one of the few stretches of the Columbia River that is not dammed, a real wild reach.

It flows past an area that is a de facto wildlife preserve, with no human interference.

It's all part of the Hanford Research operation--where the plutonium for the Manhattan nuclear project of WWII was produced. There's a huge buffer zone around it. It's the hottest and driest part of the Columbia Basin. The vegetation is sagebrush and perennial bunchgrass. A desert, plus a huge river, making for a variety of life.

And current, real current all the way. Added to a tail wind we made excellent progress: 80 km in about 7 hours. that includes crew change stops.

We have now reached Richland, where there is a bit more shelter from the wind. And it's Canada Day, so we are making our own celebration--party and more.

Eric, our newest team member has joined us--he lives in Richland, so is a font of information. Carol joins us tomorrow.

More people make for less work. Yeah!

Group retracing explorer's path down Columbia River | Yakima Herald-Republic

Group retracing explorer's path down Columbia River | Yakima Herald-Republic

We've made the news again. be sure to look for the video of the Brigade arriving. It's pretty good--shows the spectacular scenery we are paddling through.