We first visited the Fish Hatchery, and ate lunch in the park-like area set aside for such activities. The picnic area is near the river, and we were able to watch another barge and tug leave one of the locks. Very noisy, at times, with their loud horns and diesel engines, but once again, interesting to a desert dweller.

After lunch we strolled around the grounds of the hatchery, checking out the fish tanks full of small trout and salmon and a variety of other game fish. There is an underwater viewing area next to a pond containing some very large sturgeon and trout. On the surface of the pond you can observe several types of ducks as they swim around and dive for food on the bottom of the pond. The water is clear enough that you can watch their activity at the bottom. Very interesting. You can also tour the nursery where they check all of the salmon as they swim upstream, removing their eggs for use in the hatchery. And outside of this building you can visit the fish ladders that lead the salmon from the stream into the hatchery. We were lucky enough to see a large number of salmon attempting to get upstream, even to the point of jumping against the wooden gates that were closed to prevent them from getting by over the weekend when the workers were off. At the Dam's Visitor Center we were told that this was a record year for the salmon, and that in one recent day they had counted over 45,000 moving upstream.