Snake and Palouse Rivers
The Sea Lion proceeded up the Columbia River, through John Day and McNary locks during the night. This morning we made a right turn into the Snake River. Sacajawea State Park is at the confluence and the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery camped near here in October of 1805. We locked up an additional 200 feet through Ice Harbor and Lower Monumental Dams before arriving and anchoring at the mouth of the Palouse River. In the late morning, Historian Tom McAllister talked about the Lewis and Clark Expedition – before and after. He described how President Jefferson set the stage for the voyage and explained what became of the individual members after their safe return.
The Corps of Discovery passed by what is now called the Palouse River on October 13, 1805. They named it “Drewyer’s River” after George Drouillard, a member of the expedition. They noted an Indian settlement there - the principal village of the Palouse people - and continued down-river another nine miles before stopping for the day.
Since 1969, the slack water behind Lower Monumental Dam has backed up into the mouth of the Palouse River and we were able to explore by kayak and Zodiac. The canyon is lined by high basalt cliffs formed by numerous fluid lava flows that emanated from fissures in the Earth’s surface several million years ago. The features we see today were sculpted by giant floods that repeatedly scoured what is now western Washington during the last Ice Age (about 16,000 years ago). The relatively small stream that runs through there now could not have carved such a wide and deep gorge. This is also evident at Palouse Falls, which we visited just a few miles upstream. The lovely falls drops 185 feet into a huge plunge pool basin. The floods also left massive gravel bar deposits, large erratic boulders, and giant ripple marks across the landscape as evidence of the cataclysmic events.
Pockets in the basalt cliffs are ideal nesting habitat for raptors such as eagles, hawks and falcons. We spotted a golden eagle, American kestrels, prairie falcon, peregrine falcon, northern harrier, and red-tailed hawks, as well as non-raptor species such as northern flickers, black-billed magpies, belted kingfishers, and rock pigeons. The deep blue sky augmented the impressive rock formations, leaving us in awe at the power and splendor of Nature.
The Sea Lion proceeded up the Columbia River, through John Day and McNary locks during the night. This morning we made a right turn into the Snake River. Sacajawea State Park is at the confluence and the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery camped near here in October of 1805. We locked up an additional 200 feet through Ice Harbor and Lower Monumental Dams before arriving and anchoring at the mouth of the Palouse River. In the late morning, Historian Tom McAllister talked about the Lewis and Clark Expedition – before and after. He described how President Jefferson set the stage for the voyage and explained what became of the individual members after their safe return.
The Corps of Discovery passed by what is now called the Palouse River on October 13, 1805. They named it “Drewyer’s River” after George Drouillard, a member of the expedition. They noted an Indian settlement there - the principal village of the Palouse people - and continued down-river another nine miles before stopping for the day.
Since 1969, the slack water behind Lower Monumental Dam has backed up into the mouth of the Palouse River and we were able to explore by kayak and Zodiac. The canyon is lined by high basalt cliffs formed by numerous fluid lava flows that emanated from fissures in the Earth’s surface several million years ago. The features we see today were sculpted by giant floods that repeatedly scoured what is now western Washington during the last Ice Age (about 16,000 years ago). The relatively small stream that runs through there now could not have carved such a wide and deep gorge. This is also evident at Palouse Falls, which we visited just a few miles upstream. The lovely falls drops 185 feet into a huge plunge pool basin. The floods also left massive gravel bar deposits, large erratic boulders, and giant ripple marks across the landscape as evidence of the cataclysmic events.
Pockets in the basalt cliffs are ideal nesting habitat for raptors such as eagles, hawks and falcons. We spotted a golden eagle, American kestrels, prairie falcon, peregrine falcon, northern harrier, and red-tailed hawks, as well as non-raptor species such as northern flickers, black-billed magpies, belted kingfishers, and rock pigeons. The deep blue sky augmented the impressive rock formations, leaving us in awe at the power and splendor of Nature.
