Palouse River
A fresh and brisk breeze greeted the first to wake and step out onto the upper deck this morning. As soon as the sun crested over the basalt buttes to the east, it warmed our faces and gave us a preview of the beautifully clear, sunny day ahead. We had arrived at the mouth of the Palouse River, where it empties into the Snake River, about 10 miles upstream of Lower Monumental Dam. The slack water behind the dam means that the river drops much of its sediment as it reaches this confluence, so that it was very shallow where we went out by kayak and Zodiac.
Kayaks were staged on the grassy bank and paddlers launched into the cool, quiet water. Those that ventured further up the Palouse River by Zodiac were happy to spot some of the locals. First to greet us was a group of three small mule deer in the tall grass along the water’s edge, perhaps coming down for a sip of water and some fresh, young greens to eat. Next there was a group of river otters, a family of three. The otters scampered down the rocky, river shore, into the water and past the waiting Zodiacs. There were also many cliff swallow mud nests clinging to the cliffs we passed along the water. The surrounding landscape is a continuous flow, rise and fall of basalt buttes, cliffs and ridges, only thinly concealed by grass and sagebrush. This is the kind of rugged, unforgiving country many of us have only read about or dreamed of.
The light was especially spectacular for those that traveled by land to Palouse Falls, bringing out the bright white cascade’s mist coming from the falling water and the pool below.
Just as the sun was dropping to the horizon, we traveled through our final lock of the day at Ice Harbor Dam. The ship’s crew secured us as we dropped to the level downstream and continued our journey downriver to tomorrow’s sunrise.
A fresh and brisk breeze greeted the first to wake and step out onto the upper deck this morning. As soon as the sun crested over the basalt buttes to the east, it warmed our faces and gave us a preview of the beautifully clear, sunny day ahead. We had arrived at the mouth of the Palouse River, where it empties into the Snake River, about 10 miles upstream of Lower Monumental Dam. The slack water behind the dam means that the river drops much of its sediment as it reaches this confluence, so that it was very shallow where we went out by kayak and Zodiac.
Kayaks were staged on the grassy bank and paddlers launched into the cool, quiet water. Those that ventured further up the Palouse River by Zodiac were happy to spot some of the locals. First to greet us was a group of three small mule deer in the tall grass along the water’s edge, perhaps coming down for a sip of water and some fresh, young greens to eat. Next there was a group of river otters, a family of three. The otters scampered down the rocky, river shore, into the water and past the waiting Zodiacs. There were also many cliff swallow mud nests clinging to the cliffs we passed along the water. The surrounding landscape is a continuous flow, rise and fall of basalt buttes, cliffs and ridges, only thinly concealed by grass and sagebrush. This is the kind of rugged, unforgiving country many of us have only read about or dreamed of.
The light was especially spectacular for those that traveled by land to Palouse Falls, bringing out the bright white cascade’s mist coming from the falling water and the pool below.
Just as the sun was dropping to the horizon, we traveled through our final lock of the day at Ice Harbor Dam. The ship’s crew secured us as we dropped to the level downstream and continued our journey downriver to tomorrow’s sunrise.
