Thanks, pikabike!
I did use their site, which was great. I also used the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership website, which is really helpful.
I’m in Seattle, and I’d love to come to Port Angeles! I actually went to Franklin Elementary School, believe it or not. It would be really fun to come share the adventure with you guys. Feel free to email me directly: c@charlotteaustin.com.
Cathlamet
The whole trip was gorgeous, but my favorite section (by far) was the stretch from Cathlamet to Astoria. The river gets very wide, and we hugged the south shore — so many fun islands to explore with tons of birds, seals, etc. It felt like true wilderness.
I also highly recommend camping at Vista Park: http://www.vista-park.org/
He wanted to come!
I seriously considered paddling a double so that my dog could come. It wouldn’t have worked, of course, but it was a fun daydream. 
Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll happily post a link to the article when it’s published. Paddling in Portland was awesome — we loved Hayden Island, which had tons of places to explore.
John Roskelly
John Roskelly paddled the Columbia from the headwaters to the mouth and has written a new guide book. Very detailed and broken into segments so you can either pick and choose what interests you, or read the entire book. It’s fairly new, but I heard his presentation and it was quite interesting. Roskelly is more widely known for his romps on Everest and K2, but is also a seasoned paddler. Or is now. Wish I had bought the book, but it should be available at REI.
Contacts
The president of the club is interested and says he will contact you about making a presentation.
Source To Sea DVD
Christopher Swain swam the entire Columbia River, as summarized in the DVD “Source To Sea.” It’s good–check it out.
that’s insane
Now I hafta see it.
That’s not all he’s done
For a while, he specialized in swimming big rivers. There might have been an even crazier swim envisioned after the Columbia run; I can’t remember which river it was, though.
The two guys who swam the Grand Canyon back in the 50ss take the cake, though. They had no support crew and used what would now be horrifyingly primitive equipment. The book one of them wrote about it (We Swam the Grand Canyon, by Bill Beer) is fantastic, if you can get your hands on a copy. Incredibly, I bought one by asking on a whim at a used bookstore. They had literally just received a pristine copy, which they sold to me for $10.
Cool!
Thanks for the tip — I’ll check it out.