Palouse Falls

This morning the Sea Lion turned into a small tributary of the Snake River called the Palouse River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition named it Drewer's River. It lies in the Palouse Hills, country well known for its agriculture and primary among those the soft winter wheat which will be harvested in the beginning of the summer. A few of us kayaked among the still waters of the pool of water behind Lower Monumental Dam which has flooded the Palouse River valley for several miles. Others saw the incredible basalt cliffs and the swallows nesting among them by Zodiac as the naturalists led us on water borne tours of the valley. There was also a chance to take a short bus ride to the Palouse Falls State Park and see the magnificent 200-foot falls. At this point the spring-fed river plummets over the rocky edge and into a plunge pool created by the glacial Bretz water floods of geologic time past. It was quite a site to behold - the small amount of water trying in vain to fill up the huge volume of the valley which was carved out by a wall of water that was closer to 100,000 times its size.