Bridge Of The Gods (Morning)
Take a look at the Bridge of the Gods, filmed in the morning. The Bridge of the Gods is a steel truss cantilever bridge that spans the Columbia River between Cascade Locks, Oregon and Washington. It is approximately 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon and 4 miles upriver from the Bonneville Dam. It currently serves as a toll bridge operated by the Port of Cascade Locks.
The bridge was built by the Wauna Toll Bridge Company of Walla Walla, Washington and opened in 1926 at a length of 1,127 feet. The higher river levels resulting from the construction of the Bonneville Dam required the bridge to be further elevated and extended to its current length of 1,856 feet.
The bridge is named after a famous geologic event also known as Bridge of the Gods (see below).
The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods and the lowest elevation of the trail is on this bridge.
This video was filmed during my move from Victorville, California to Post Falls, Idaho in October 2007.
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Here's some info about the geologic event known as the Bridge of the Gods land bridge.
The original Bridge of the Gods was created during the eighteenth century by the Bonneville Slide, a major landslide which dammed the Columbia River, near present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The river eventually removed it, but this event is remembered in local legends of the Native Americans as the Bridge of the Gods.
Approximately three hundred years ago a mountain to the north of the Columbia River underwent a large landslide, splitting in two and forming Table Mountain and Greenleaf Peak. The southern part slid down the mountain and blocked the Columbia Gorge close to modern-day Cascade Locks, Oregon forming a land bridge approximately 200 feet (60 m) high.
Early research concluded that the slide took place as early as 1100, but more recent research places it between 1670 and 1760, and suggests that it may have been linked to the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.
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The following contains info about the famous Native American legend named Bridge of the Gods.
Native American lore contains numerous legends to explain the eruptions of Mount St. Helens and other volcanoes in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. The most famous of these is the Bridge of the Gods legend told by the Klickitats. In their tale, the chief of all the gods, Tyhee Saghalie and his two sons, Pahto (also called Klickitat) and Wy'east, traveled down the Columbia River from the Far North in search for a suitable area to settle.
They came upon an area that is now called The Dalles and thought they had never seen a land so beautiful. The sons quarreled over the land and to solve the dispute their father shot two arrows from his mighty bow; one to the north and the other to the south. Pahto followed the arrow to the north and settled there while Wy'east did the same for the arrow to the south. Saghalie then built Tanmahawis, the Bridge of the Gods, so his family could meet periodically.
When the two sons of the Saghalie fell in love with a beautiful maiden named Loowit, she could not choose between them. The two young chiefs fought over her, burying villages and forests in the process. The area was devastated and the earth shook so violently that the huge bridge fell into the river, creating the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River Gorge.
For punishment, Saghalie struck down each of the lovers and transformed them into great mountains where they fell. Wy'east, with his head lifted in pride, became the volcano known today as Mount Hood and Pahto, with his head bent toward his fallen love, was turned into Mount Adams. The fair Loowit became Mount St. Helens, known to the Klickitats as Louwala-Clough which means smoking or fire mountain in their language (the Sahaptin called the mountain Loowit).
Columbia Gorge from The Dalles, part 1, 4k
This is the drive from The Dalles to SR14 then west. At 0:58 I'm turning left onto highway 197 northbound. At 1:24 is The Dalles Dam and The Dalles Bridge. At 1:47 is the Columbia River. At 1:52 there is a pedestrian on the sidewalk. Notice only the east side of the bridge has a sidewalk. At 2:21 is The Dalles Bridge. At 2:32 I'm entering Washington and leaving Oregon. At 2:45 the BNSF Railroad is below. At 3:12 there is a sign for Hess Park and Spearfish Park. At 5:48 is the sign for SR (State Route) 14. At 5:59 I'm turning left (west) on SR-14. At 6:12 the sign says 17 miles to Bingen, 18 miles to White Salmon, and 83 miles to Vancouver. At 9:31 there is a small waterfall. At 9:34 there is another pedestrian. At 9:43 there is another waterfall. At 11:17 is Doug's Beach State Park.