Palouse River
At 6:30 the National Geographic Sea Bird eases into the mouth of the Palouse River and drops anchor. Our ship is greeted by a lone duck making its way upstream and near the shore a great blue heron flaps low over the water. The Palouse takes its name from Le Pelouse, meaning “grassland country,” a name given to the area by early French-Canadian trappers. On this early fall morning those grasses are a buff-colored carpet draping the hillsides and tops of dark-brown cliffs that loom above the river. This landscape was created by great floods of basaltic lava deposited millions of years ago. Eroded by great Ice Age floods, the layers of lava now rise in steps from the river to the grassy plateau above. The morning sun gives a kiss of peach to the clouds above us. We are ready for another day of adventure.
Soon we off in Zodiacs, kayaks, and buses to look and learn and enjoy the river, spectacular landscape, and varied wildlife. The Zodiacs cruised upriver, taking time for us to enjoy nature to the fullest, seeing beaver lodges, birds, and Mule Deer. One exuberant guest, after seeing golden eagles, described her Zodiac trip as “absolutely phenomenally fantastic!”
Kayakers set off in a fleet of red and yellow kayaks to see western grebes and American coots and explore the river shore at their own pace. Meanwhile, a big yellow school bus (we are far from any city) took others to Palouse Falls. There we saw the river turn white as it dropped 200 feet into its dark green plunge pool and flowed away over some rapids and through its canyon on its way to the Snake River.
The evening ended with a presentation by Grace, naturalist and geologist, on the great floods of basalt and water that shaped this landscape.
