Palouse and Snake River, Washington
Golden eagle and rocky scablands, marshes, coots and loons, plunging waterfalls and spectacular cliffs are a few descriptive words for today. We anchored at the mouth of the Palouse River, which has actually been flooded by the waters behind Lower Monumental Dam. "Lo Mo" was completed in 1969. Its name is taken from Monument rock nearby. The other three lower Snake River dams also have place names, Ice Harbour, Little Goose and Lower Granite. The Corp of Discovery mentioned this river briefly as a wooded stream on the "starboard"(right) side of the river as they were rushing downstream in the fall of 1805. They named it for George Drouillard, a member of the group, but was later changed to Palouse by early pioneers. Today we find backwater marshes that abound with wildlife in the summer and in the fall produce a beautiful brown tone setting of cattails and tule marshes against a backdrop of stark black and brown cliffs similar to this picture on the Snake River. These basaltic cliffs serve as perches for eagles, hawks and falcons. The precipitous walls are broken by patches of green and red lichens that give color to their surface. The choice for the morning included an opportunity to kayak in the Palouse canyon or have a Zodiac ride in the canyon and then a visit to Palouse Falls. Palouse Falls is a large waterfall (198 feet) that was created during the many Betz's Floods that roared across eastern Washington at the end of the ice stage between about 12 - 15,000 years ago. It is an excellent example of a waterfall receded canyon. We also saw the giant gravel bars that formed as a result of these tremendous floods. These figures are everyday river processes, but on an absolutely gigantic scale. Sand bars to height of 5 to 10 story buildings are not uncommon in this area.
The chill of the morning was no problem as almost everyone brought the layers they needed to first stay warm, and then "peel" to cool off when the wind died and sun came out. After a buffet lunch and short nap time, we locked through Lower Monumental Lock. More factors affecting the salmon recovery efforts were discussed, such items such as fish barging and breaching of dams was covered. We took time between Lower Monumental and Ice Harbour to have a slide presentation on the common birds of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The decorations for dinner were Halloween all the way, with our steward staff following a Peter Pan theme.
We proceeded on downstream under a peach and bright blue sunset toward the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, wondering what tomorrow will show us "In the Wake of Lewis and Clark."
Golden eagle and rocky scablands, marshes, coots and loons, plunging waterfalls and spectacular cliffs are a few descriptive words for today. We anchored at the mouth of the Palouse River, which has actually been flooded by the waters behind Lower Monumental Dam. "Lo Mo" was completed in 1969. Its name is taken from Monument rock nearby. The other three lower Snake River dams also have place names, Ice Harbour, Little Goose and Lower Granite. The Corp of Discovery mentioned this river briefly as a wooded stream on the "starboard"(right) side of the river as they were rushing downstream in the fall of 1805. They named it for George Drouillard, a member of the group, but was later changed to Palouse by early pioneers. Today we find backwater marshes that abound with wildlife in the summer and in the fall produce a beautiful brown tone setting of cattails and tule marshes against a backdrop of stark black and brown cliffs similar to this picture on the Snake River. These basaltic cliffs serve as perches for eagles, hawks and falcons. The precipitous walls are broken by patches of green and red lichens that give color to their surface. The choice for the morning included an opportunity to kayak in the Palouse canyon or have a Zodiac ride in the canyon and then a visit to Palouse Falls. Palouse Falls is a large waterfall (198 feet) that was created during the many Betz's Floods that roared across eastern Washington at the end of the ice stage between about 12 - 15,000 years ago. It is an excellent example of a waterfall receded canyon. We also saw the giant gravel bars that formed as a result of these tremendous floods. These figures are everyday river processes, but on an absolutely gigantic scale. Sand bars to height of 5 to 10 story buildings are not uncommon in this area.
The chill of the morning was no problem as almost everyone brought the layers they needed to first stay warm, and then "peel" to cool off when the wind died and sun came out. After a buffet lunch and short nap time, we locked through Lower Monumental Lock. More factors affecting the salmon recovery efforts were discussed, such items such as fish barging and breaching of dams was covered. We took time between Lower Monumental and Ice Harbour to have a slide presentation on the common birds of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The decorations for dinner were Halloween all the way, with our steward staff following a Peter Pan theme.
We proceeded on downstream under a peach and bright blue sunset toward the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, wondering what tomorrow will show us "In the Wake of Lewis and Clark."
