Monday, February 15, 2010

Dam and Lock Waypoints and Routes

I spent a very busy day teaching myself how to create way points and routes specifically for the purpose of entering and exiting all of the 8 locks. Some are entered in the middle, some either to the right/left sides of the river. I printed up a hard copy of each one to go into my master notebook of information.

This is the Lower Granite Dam and Lock on the Snake River, which will be our first lock on our trip.

Dan, my friend on Whiskyjack, shares this information about websites that explain the cataclysmic activity that formed the gorge millions of years ago. "The Gorge has absolutely stunning beauty. Before you go, I think you should take some time to understand the Missoula Floods if you haven’t already done so because they are what shaped the Gorge. It makes the Wallula Gap an incredible piece of geology to think that all that water that moved through that very narrow opening. If you haven’t looked at these websites, you will find them quite interesting:"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missoula_floods

http://www.iafi.org/index.htm

http://hugefloods.com/

I had been reading about the geology and the historic happenings at Wallula Gap. We will enter this area just after leaving the Snake-Columbia confluence. These websites are fascinating to view and as usual, Dan provides me with timely information to assimilate. Also, remember to go to the link at the bottom page, Columbia River Images and click on index> wallula gap, for instance and take a look at the photos they have and the history of the area. This site is a valuable tool to use to learn more about each area that I cruise.

I also hear from Carol Warren, an Albin 27 cruiser- husband and wife team from Florida, who have a blogsite that is most interesting. She is interested in following
my trip and has downloaded some charts to follow along. Her blog can be clicked on from my blog site area at the bottom of the blog: Always An Adventure in...Slow Motion.

I also hear from another old cruising buddy, Too Tall Tom. After hearing about making contact with Delta friends, Conrad and Juanita, he might just bring his little Arima up north from California and go cruising and has offered to help me on the trip. I can see how many summer cruising plans are being formulated and how the blog excites adventure in all of us.

Thanks again to all my readers, friends and family who support me in the adventures of Shatoosh and Pashmina.