Land of Sharp Contrasts
My next stop on my route to Portland was an oasis called Crow Butte Park. By saying oasis I am being literal, as despite the copious water in the Columbia River this area East of the Cascade Mountains is quite arid. It’s remarkable how different the environment is when you cross that sharp, invisible line on the map: to the West evergreen forest with 100 inches of precipitation, to the East sage and scrub that can survive on a mere 5 inches of rain each year.
The transition point is near the town of The Dalles, but I had chosen a park 75 miles to the East on an island in the middle of the Columbia. If you look at satellite views of the area, it looks like one of those composite images made up of hundreds of round green dots, thanks to the widespread use of center pivot irrigation. It is water pumped from the river that allows this land to support life other than rattlesnakes and coyotes, and the campground is no exception. The primary job of the camp hosts here seems to be to move the sprinklers about that run every day, creating an improbable lush green corner on an otherwise crispy tan island. Continue reading “South Central Washington – Columbia River Gorge”