Life in the Columbia Gorge

The Columbia Gorge is quite narrow and the Columbia River is quite wide, so there is lots of compewtition for land here. This ws the original end to the Oregon Trail. After six months of wagon travel the pioneers would end up at The Dalles, where they had to abandon their wagons as the only way down the river was on the river itself, then having lots of rapids, so no fun at journeys end then. in 1850 the paddle steamer came along, then the railway, then in 1920 odd they managed to build a road, now there is a four lane highway that clings to the river south shoreline and a road and railway on the northern, Washington, shore. The river itself has been tamed by a series of barrages which now enable large barges to navigate safely up and down, carrying mostly grain I understand. The trains seem to be frequent and long on both sides of the river, so it is a very well used transport corridor.
Today Sally and I drove a little to the West to River Hood, we went inland a little, but the mountain itself was shrouded in cloud, never mind, perhaps tomorrow. We explored the town a little, but much of it is closed at this time of the week, Tuesday (?). We stopped by the river for a picnic and were rewarded by great views down the gorge, as well as seeing a Bald Eagle, which had been fishing, being harassed by  raven.