Palouse River
Clear skies and cool temperatures greeted the Sea Bird this morning, as she pulled into her anchorage at the confluence of the Palouse and Snake rivers. The Palouse River, which is about 220 miles long, has its headwaters in the Idaho and flows westward into Washington. There it enters the Snake River from the north about 60 miles upstream from the confluence with the Columbia River – between the Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams. The Palouse region got its name from the French trappers who traveled through this region before the time of Lewis and Clark, and named it for its rolling grass lands, in French, “Palouse.” The tribal group who inhabited this river valley carry the name Palouse, and it is worth noting that the region also gives us the name “appaloosa” for the Indian horses raised by the Palouse and Nez Perce peoples. These small, but very sturdy ponies had light-colored hindquarters covered with dark spots.
Our morning was spent with three activities; kayaking a section of the Palouse River, a Zodiac ride along the Palouse River, and a short ride to view the Palouse falls. The carved river valley we would be exploring was shaped by a series of huge floods that occurred during the last ice age of the Pleistocene. At intervals of 50 to 100 years, an enormous wall of water rushed across the panhandle of Idaho down the flat country of Eastern Washington, greatly eroding the exposed basaltic valley walls. The floods encountered the Snake River at its confluence with the Palouse River and turned the Snake River backwards from this point all the way into Southern Idaho!
The Sea Bird was divided into two groups. The first group donned their life jackets and made their way to the aft section of the ship ready for a ride enjoying spectacular scenery, not only telling a long geologic history, but also a long history of human habitation along the Palouse and Snake rivers. The Indigenous River cultures had established their winter village sights at the confluences of all the major rivers in this area of the Northwest. The great rock shelters found along those same rivers created by slow cooling basalt, also provided homes for generations of ancestors of the Palouse people. In our modern crafts, we entered those same waters, and through the stories of our Naturalists reflected on the lives of people who had traveled before us.
Kayaks and Zodiacs passed, sharing different views of this water system. A bald eagle was spotted, along with several other bird species and a small group of mule deer lifted their large ears upon hearing the human voices as they carried over the water.
Halfway through the morning the customary exchange was made and those on the water returned to a beach landing and boarded a luxury school bus that would take them the short distance to Palouse falls. While those of us who had seen Palouse Falls donned life jackets for a Zodiac tour north, along the Palouse River. At the falls we found one of the more unusual waterfalls in Washington State. The water of the Palouse River pours over a 200 foot eroded basaltic semicircle down into a very large plunge pool – further evidence of the great floods that have carved out spectacular scenery all a long their path. We took time to explore the rim of the waterfall along trails that circled the plunge pool. The basalt hills were covered with big sagebrush, rabbit brush and several native and introduced grasses often found throughout the channeled scablands; a name given to the water-carved basalt canyons found on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains.
All too soon we boarded our bus returning to the landing along the Palouse River, where Zodiacs awaited our arrival. Back on board the Sea Bird yet another delicious lunch, was waiting for our arrival in the dining room. After ice-cream sundaes, our afternoon was spent enjoying our journey downstream (westward) on the Snake River, following in the path of Lewis and Clark making our way towards the confluence with the Columbia River.
Clear skies and cool temperatures greeted the Sea Bird this morning, as she pulled into her anchorage at the confluence of the Palouse and Snake rivers. The Palouse River, which is about 220 miles long, has its headwaters in the Idaho and flows westward into Washington. There it enters the Snake River from the north about 60 miles upstream from the confluence with the Columbia River – between the Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams. The Palouse region got its name from the French trappers who traveled through this region before the time of Lewis and Clark, and named it for its rolling grass lands, in French, “Palouse.” The tribal group who inhabited this river valley carry the name Palouse, and it is worth noting that the region also gives us the name “appaloosa” for the Indian horses raised by the Palouse and Nez Perce peoples. These small, but very sturdy ponies had light-colored hindquarters covered with dark spots.
Our morning was spent with three activities; kayaking a section of the Palouse River, a Zodiac ride along the Palouse River, and a short ride to view the Palouse falls. The carved river valley we would be exploring was shaped by a series of huge floods that occurred during the last ice age of the Pleistocene. At intervals of 50 to 100 years, an enormous wall of water rushed across the panhandle of Idaho down the flat country of Eastern Washington, greatly eroding the exposed basaltic valley walls. The floods encountered the Snake River at its confluence with the Palouse River and turned the Snake River backwards from this point all the way into Southern Idaho!
The Sea Bird was divided into two groups. The first group donned their life jackets and made their way to the aft section of the ship ready for a ride enjoying spectacular scenery, not only telling a long geologic history, but also a long history of human habitation along the Palouse and Snake rivers. The Indigenous River cultures had established their winter village sights at the confluences of all the major rivers in this area of the Northwest. The great rock shelters found along those same rivers created by slow cooling basalt, also provided homes for generations of ancestors of the Palouse people. In our modern crafts, we entered those same waters, and through the stories of our Naturalists reflected on the lives of people who had traveled before us.
Kayaks and Zodiacs passed, sharing different views of this water system. A bald eagle was spotted, along with several other bird species and a small group of mule deer lifted their large ears upon hearing the human voices as they carried over the water.
Halfway through the morning the customary exchange was made and those on the water returned to a beach landing and boarded a luxury school bus that would take them the short distance to Palouse falls. While those of us who had seen Palouse Falls donned life jackets for a Zodiac tour north, along the Palouse River. At the falls we found one of the more unusual waterfalls in Washington State. The water of the Palouse River pours over a 200 foot eroded basaltic semicircle down into a very large plunge pool – further evidence of the great floods that have carved out spectacular scenery all a long their path. We took time to explore the rim of the waterfall along trails that circled the plunge pool. The basalt hills were covered with big sagebrush, rabbit brush and several native and introduced grasses often found throughout the channeled scablands; a name given to the water-carved basalt canyons found on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains.
All too soon we boarded our bus returning to the landing along the Palouse River, where Zodiacs awaited our arrival. Back on board the Sea Bird yet another delicious lunch, was waiting for our arrival in the dining room. After ice-cream sundaes, our afternoon was spent enjoying our journey downstream (westward) on the Snake River, following in the path of Lewis and Clark making our way towards the confluence with the Columbia River.
