Palouse River
Starting with a cooperative heave ho, kayaks were launched this morning on the Palouse River, and splish-splash, paddle-paddle, drip-drip on up the river went a few dozen plucky explorers. Their delight in this chosen activity was apparent, as well as a cooperative attitude as strains of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” sung in staggered sequence, wafted down the canyon. A single lilting voice could also be heard, singing “oh beautiful, for spacious skies...” and it surely was. We share this magnificence with you in the photo above.
The muffled hums of Zodiacs traveling up the canyon were heard next. We stopped to examine a variety of treasures along the shoreline including beaver chewed branches, ripening wapato seed and rose hips—juicy, brilliant invitations to seed dispersal radiant in the morning sun. We actively participated in assisting some of this botanical dispersal as we playfully released cattail fluff to the whim of the wind. Our sweaters and hair were soon adorned in halos of white fluff.
Up and over the hill in a cheery yellow school bus, we traveled to Palouse Falls. This delicate ribbon of water, spilling 185 feet into a massive plunge pool, is a small echo of the ferocious torrent that battered this landscape approximately 13,000 years ago. The Bretz floods, repeated assaults of ice, water, rock and debris, gouged the punchbowl shaped pool at the base of the falls from a fractured bed of basaltic lava. The surge that filled this canyon and overtopped it would have shaken the earth. The roar of the onslaught would have been deafening. But today, we experienced a peaceful calm, reflected in the lazy basking of a gopher snake stretched out near the edge of this great chasm, dousing itself in the warming rays of the morning sun.
With an unhurried pace we returned to the Sea Bird for an outdoor lunch, ending with the glorious decadence of an ice cream sundae bar. Hot fudge flowed copiously in futile attempts to cover mounds of velvety vanilla ice cream, the extravagance meekly justified by our paddling efforts of the morning.
Our continued westward navigation on the Snake River this afternoon brings us closer to our next opportunity for exploration. But for now, we’ll bask in a warming afternoon sun and relish in the crispness of the edge of the changing seasons.
Starting with a cooperative heave ho, kayaks were launched this morning on the Palouse River, and splish-splash, paddle-paddle, drip-drip on up the river went a few dozen plucky explorers. Their delight in this chosen activity was apparent, as well as a cooperative attitude as strains of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” sung in staggered sequence, wafted down the canyon. A single lilting voice could also be heard, singing “oh beautiful, for spacious skies...” and it surely was. We share this magnificence with you in the photo above.
The muffled hums of Zodiacs traveling up the canyon were heard next. We stopped to examine a variety of treasures along the shoreline including beaver chewed branches, ripening wapato seed and rose hips—juicy, brilliant invitations to seed dispersal radiant in the morning sun. We actively participated in assisting some of this botanical dispersal as we playfully released cattail fluff to the whim of the wind. Our sweaters and hair were soon adorned in halos of white fluff.
Up and over the hill in a cheery yellow school bus, we traveled to Palouse Falls. This delicate ribbon of water, spilling 185 feet into a massive plunge pool, is a small echo of the ferocious torrent that battered this landscape approximately 13,000 years ago. The Bretz floods, repeated assaults of ice, water, rock and debris, gouged the punchbowl shaped pool at the base of the falls from a fractured bed of basaltic lava. The surge that filled this canyon and overtopped it would have shaken the earth. The roar of the onslaught would have been deafening. But today, we experienced a peaceful calm, reflected in the lazy basking of a gopher snake stretched out near the edge of this great chasm, dousing itself in the warming rays of the morning sun.
With an unhurried pace we returned to the Sea Bird for an outdoor lunch, ending with the glorious decadence of an ice cream sundae bar. Hot fudge flowed copiously in futile attempts to cover mounds of velvety vanilla ice cream, the extravagance meekly justified by our paddling efforts of the morning.
Our continued westward navigation on the Snake River this afternoon brings us closer to our next opportunity for exploration. But for now, we’ll bask in a warming afternoon sun and relish in the crispness of the edge of the changing seasons.
