The Beginning

So here I am, marine mammal spotting for a project on the Columbia River. Basically, I get to sit on the side of the river, staring out at it all day long, rain or shine. About hour 8 of day 1, bored out of my mind (having occupied myself quite well for the first 7 hours with the frogs, spiders, rain showers, and possible run-away bonfire on the opposite bank) it occurred to me that I could be doing more than just spotting for seals. There's actually a lot of really interesting river traffic on the Columbia, among other cool wildlife (including, as it turns out, a fair number of seals). I started taking pictures of all the large boat traffic on the river, among other interesting things that I saw, and writing down the time and all other pertinent information I could come up with. Then, I realized there was hardly any point in doing all that if it was never going to be shared. So here we are. Cogitations on the Columbia. The journal of one girl's adventures on a one small stretch of river.

Above: Coyote in one direction, girl in the other.