9:06 a.m.
We started our day by visiting the John Day Lock and Dam, about eight miles east of Biggs Junction. As we discovered, each of the dams along the Columbia is unique, though they serve the same purpose. And even though they disrupt the natural flow and ecology of the river, they are fascinating constructs of our modern industrial age. They are fascinating in their power, in their ability to hold back such massive pressures and constrain the perpetual waters of a wild river system. When I am around dams I get a sensation of energy. I don't know if that is from the "anger" (sorry, I'm going to anthropomorphize here) of the contained river, or the electricity that the dam's dynamos are generating, but it is often palpable. Literally. There were steel towers carrying the high power lines far above our heads. We could actually hear a buzzing and crackling coming from the wires. As if the electrical energy was radiating out from them. I'm sure a trip into the Visitor Center would have explained the phenomena, but we didn't have that opportunity.

At the John Day Lock and Dam we found that the Visitor Center was closed. We had read recently that that might be the case because of the danger of a terrorist attack. At least we were able to use the parking lot and got the opportunity to stroll among the informative signs describing the overall operation. This is where we first learned of the fish ladders and how they operated. We also watched a barge and tug move into the lock on the far side of the river. There were also a good number of folk fishing from the shore, including Native Americans, who have shaky looking wooden platforms built out from the shoreline. They use long poles and nets to capture the salmon as they swim upstream to spawn.

From the shore we were able to see several water birds, including cormorants, who were busily diving for their morning meal. In fact, the operators of the dam had placed long wires from a steel post, out across the water on the down side of the dam, to the dam itself. From these wires they had hung shiny strips of vinyl, which looked very much like magnetic tape from a cassette. The informative signs indicated that this was to discourage birds from "harvesting" the salmon fingerlings that were concentrated in that area because of the bypass. By preventing the birds from grabbing them at this source, it gave the small fish a chance to disperse into the greater body of water.