No Words: Seven Days on the Columbia and Snake Rivers
Have you ever been somewhere so amazing that you are unable to put the experience into words? Until recently, I had not–after all, words are kind of my thing. But this past trip–a river boat cruise down the Columbia and Snake Rivers with UnCruise Adventures–has left me speechless. It was just that beautiful.
When I travel to a new place, the first thing I do is Google image search that destination (even if that destination is less of a destination and more of ‘a place where I have to go for work’). But when I Google image searched ‘Columbia and Snake River Cruise’, I did not find anything as epic as what I found while out on the actual water. Thus, I bring you this: a brief glimpse of what seven days on (and along) the river(s) looks like.
And honestly–these photos (like my vain attempts to image search) do not do it justice.
I’ve selected one photo from each day–each one featuring either the Columbia or Snake Rivers. Selecting only one photo per day was an almost-impossible task. I felt that by restricting myself to river-only shots (and not images captured while on the many, many stunning shore excursions) I’d have fewer to choose from. I was wrong.
Saturday: Sailing east from Portland, Oregon.
Sunday: Near Hood River, the wind- and kite surfing capitol of the US (supposedly).
Monday: Arriving on the Snake River. This is my favorite photo from the entire trip.
Tuesday: Lunch stop on the Snake in Hell’s Canyon.
Wednesday: Sailing towards The Dalles after leaving Walla Walla.
Thursday: The lookout from the Stonehenge Monument near The Dalles.
Friday: Astoria, Oregon.
If these photo pique your interest (as I hope they have) there’s more to come. I actually do have many, many words written about the trip itself (and, uh, maybe over fourteen hundred other photos). You see, every night while on the river, I would sit at my little desk in my cabin and record my thoughts and experiences of the day–I kept a traditional travel journal, something I’ve not done in years. It is this journal I will be sharing over the next many weeks. I have one entry per day of the seven-day cruise that feature the people and places I met and visited over the course of one incredible week.
Stay Tuned!
A huge thank you to Sarah at UnCruise Adventures, who helped me set up this trip–and to every crew member on board the S.S. Legacy. You’ve all got a pretty great thing going at UnCruise, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have been a part of it for one short week. I wish I could have made the trek north with you–I’d have happily stowed away! Enjoy your season in Alaska!
I love Monday’s picture. The reflection of the clouds in the river is amazing. All of them are excellent, though. Sounds like just the thing you needed after a year of hard work, hard travel and lots of adjustment. Glad you enjoyed it so much.
Yes–I got up in the middle of a sentence, in the middle of a conversation to go take that photo (and fifteen other similar photos…) It was unreal-beautiful.
Though I don’t know about the ‘just the thing I needed’. Wait until you read the rest of the posts. This was not a do-nothing trip. THAT is what I need. Sadly, that’s not what I’m doing (says the girl who planned a five national parks in two weeks trip for July…sigh…)
Wow, gorgeous photos! The mountain looks like it’s just floating in the air in the distance.
Thanks! It was the best first-trip for my new camera, that’s for sure! 🙂
Wow! I can see why you would have trouble putting the trip into words–it does look gorgeous!! I would love to head up to that area, and this makes me want to go even more. Great photos and looking forward to reading more about the trip!!
It was my first time in that part of the country. I came home and looked at real estate. (I can’t afford it. Boo.)
Wow, I would be speechless too, I’m looking forward to reading your future posts about your experience on board and on land. I love the Tuesday stop! It must have been hard to leave each place.
Yeah–the Hell’s Canyon day was probably my favorite day. We did a six hour jet boat tour into the canyon with a stop at a nature preserve–pictured–for lunch. Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to it (it sounded long and possibly boring) but it was AWESOME. I could not stop smiling.
Beautiful photos. I would love to take this trip. I love any activity on the water.
Me too–with regards to the water love. There’s really nowhere else I’d rather be.
Nice photos. Wow that one photo of the reflection of the sky on the water is incredible. I can’t believe how still the water looks. When I saw the title of your article – I actually thought there were snakes in the river! I’m curious – why the name?
Yeah. And I didn’t edit it, either. It actually looked like that in real life (only better, because it was three dimensional. And there was a breeze.)
Snake River: the internet disagrees (as usual) but the recurring theme is: it was named from the hand gesture made by the native people for ‘river’–looked like a snake.
Wonderful photos. Looking forward to the next installment of your story.
Wow, that looks like an amazing place to visit.
These photo’s are beautiful, sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Very jealous!