Navigating the McNary Locks.

       After one of the barges went by our campsite, 20 miles west of McNary Dam, Donna and I decided to see if we could catch the barge going in or through the locks upstream. We took the long way around and by the time I got to the locks there was no barge insight and thought we missed it.

Just as we arrived at the viewing area above the locks, another barge had pulled out of the Umatilla Port carrying a load of wood chips. He made his approach into the locks.

 Here the barge is sitting high in the lock waiting for the water to drain down so it could continue on its journey downstream.

After the barge takes a 75 foot elevator trip down to the lower river level, the gate opens and the barge steams out.

As the wood chip barge left the canal there was another barge (the one we thought we missed) waiting to take the same water elevator to the top of the dam and Lake Wallula. Lake Wallula is the body of water backed up some 64 miles behind McNary Dam 

Onward the barge goes, only three more locks to navigate before it meets the Pacific.

What a cool perch the captain of the tug has, want to bet he has air conditioning and a "strato" lounger in there?

To get the photos downstream of the locks, we had to hike 3/4's of a mile from the car, in mid-90 degree heat and no water...

Donna says "can we go now"?

(lucky for me she likes doing these kind of things)!!

The smaller barge going upstream through the lock was none other than a fish transporter named Umatilla, most likely going up the Snake River. Because the dam turbulence kills so many of the young juveniles, the Corp of Engineers

 are required to ship the little ones down river to the ocean.

 And there goes the "Umatilla" up river to pick up another load of baby fish.