Palouse River and Lower Monumental Dam
At breakfast we were anchored at the mouth of the Palouse River, or Drouillard's River as Lewis and Clark called it. We spent the morning exploring this scenic and geologically interesting area by Zodiac, kayak and bus. Our time on the river was peaceful and relaxed as we cruised along the mirror-like river watching birds and scanning for signs of other wildlife. The wide river bottom and towering cliffs seemed out of place for such a small river, as indeed we learned they were. The landscape we were viewing belongs to an earlier time. It was the setting of the Bretz Floods, catastrophic events that affected the region from Montana to the Pacific Ocean 12,000 years ago.
Evidence of the flood was everywhere we looked. On the bus trip to Palouse Falls, we witnessed the falls and its plunge pool. Although it still has a river flowing in it today, it is a mere ghost of the torrents that carved it 12,000 years ago. At water level in the canyon we needed only to look up and imagine a wall of water that reached to the top of the cliffs and moved at 65 miles per hour. All this water came from glacial waters held in ancient Lake Missoula.
Once back on board, the galley crew prepared a deck barbecue for us. With full sunshine and warm temperatures we enjoyed the scenery as the Sea Lion cruised downstream on the Snake River. Later in the afternoon, another Zodiac outing awaited us at Lower Monumental Dam. Those of us up for another outing got a different perspective on going through the lock…this time by Zodiac. After the Sea Lion was secured to the floating ballards, the rest of us went in and tied up in front of her. This put the size of the lock into perspective and give us something for scale as we dropped 100 feet, in order to get to the elevation of the river below us and continue on downstream.
At breakfast we were anchored at the mouth of the Palouse River, or Drouillard's River as Lewis and Clark called it. We spent the morning exploring this scenic and geologically interesting area by Zodiac, kayak and bus. Our time on the river was peaceful and relaxed as we cruised along the mirror-like river watching birds and scanning for signs of other wildlife. The wide river bottom and towering cliffs seemed out of place for such a small river, as indeed we learned they were. The landscape we were viewing belongs to an earlier time. It was the setting of the Bretz Floods, catastrophic events that affected the region from Montana to the Pacific Ocean 12,000 years ago.
Evidence of the flood was everywhere we looked. On the bus trip to Palouse Falls, we witnessed the falls and its plunge pool. Although it still has a river flowing in it today, it is a mere ghost of the torrents that carved it 12,000 years ago. At water level in the canyon we needed only to look up and imagine a wall of water that reached to the top of the cliffs and moved at 65 miles per hour. All this water came from glacial waters held in ancient Lake Missoula.
Once back on board, the galley crew prepared a deck barbecue for us. With full sunshine and warm temperatures we enjoyed the scenery as the Sea Lion cruised downstream on the Snake River. Later in the afternoon, another Zodiac outing awaited us at Lower Monumental Dam. Those of us up for another outing got a different perspective on going through the lock…this time by Zodiac. After the Sea Lion was secured to the floating ballards, the rest of us went in and tied up in front of her. This put the size of the lock into perspective and give us something for scale as we dropped 100 feet, in order to get to the elevation of the river below us and continue on downstream.
