The Bonneville Dam is one of the major power generation facilities in the Northwest. It straddles and mostly covers river rapids formed by ancient volcanic flows and includes locks to make the Columbia River navigable far inland.
One of the dam’s most striking features is its fish ladders. These are terraces of water cascading downward from Lake Bonneville that let fish move up or down the river, bypassing the dam. And these are not merely salmon but also many other kinds of fish.
As part of its mission to maintain healthy fisheries, the Bonneville Dam includes a sprawling fish hatchery and research station. The hatchery’s many pools include enormous sturgeon and rainbow trout used for research and breeding.
Bonneville Dam lies in the part of Oregon where a temperate green climate starts to give way to the arid high desert. Jim and I both marveled at its clean dry air today. It made breathing so easy compared to Florida.
Oh, and then there was Sasquatch. We’ve seen lots of statues of the Northwest’s version of Bigfoot on this trip. But the statue here at the fisheries is the best so far.
Robert Craig Waters 