Harper- Lewis and Clark Pups

I enjoyed visiting Ice Harbor Lock and Dam Visitor Center were I learned that this was the last dam on the Snake River before the river merges with the Columbia River!

Hi! It’s your favorite, pink bandana-wearing, newfie Harper! I have just arrived at Multnomah Falls in beautiful Oregon! It is part of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area which is a protected area that covers land in both Washington and Oregon. There are spectacular views where the river cuts through mountains and forests to create awesome cliffs, canyons, and waterfalls!

Hello! Harper here! Today I arrived at Sacajawea State Park, which is located at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers near the town of Pasco in southeastern Washington. Lewis and Clark first passed this spot on October 16, 1805 on their way to the Pacific Ocean. They camped at a well-established gathering place for Native people and it was here the explorers knew where they were for the first time since entering uncharted territory.

Lewis and Clark spent more time in Great Falls than anywhere else on the trail that wasn’t the winter quarters. The Interpretive Center is a big museum built into a cliff side on the Missouri River. The folks in Great Falls really love Seaman – the Interpretive Center has a special volunteer, Buddy, who portrays the great dog himself! Buddy is a licensed therapy dog who comes out to the Interpretive Center twice a week to let people see what Seaman was like.

After going to First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park I got to go to Tower Rock State Park. Meriwether Lewis helped name this place. In his journal he said “At this place there is a large rock of 400 ft. high which stands immediately in the gap which the Missouri makes on its passage from the mountains… This rock I called the tower. It may be ascended with some difficulty nearly to its summit and from there is a most pleasing view of the country we now are about to leave.”

Harper here! I arrived at Bonneville Dam today and saw the spring flows through the Bonneville Spillway. Rangers here work for the US Army Corps of Engineers. They tell me that there is 455 thousand cubic feet per second flowing through the spillway and powerhouses right now. That is about enough water to fill 5 Olympic sized swimming pools every second.

Giant Springs State Park, located in Great Falls, Montana, is one site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Giant Springs State Park encompasses all of the falls that the Corp of Discovery portaged in 1805. Only four of the five Falls are visible today -- Colter Falls, the shortest of the falls, is now covered by Rainbow Reservoir.