The Palouse River and Lower Monumental Dam
After cruising all night along the Snake River, the National Geographic Sea Bird arrived this morning at the mouth of the Palouse River. The crew dropped anchor, and lowered Zodiacs and kayaks for morning activities in this beautiful landscape carved out by the massive Bretz floods over 10,000 years ago, where ancient ice floes reached here from as far away as Idaho, western Montana and even Canada. Overcast skies and moderate mid-50’s temperature served as background as we set out to explore the area by water and by land. Paddlers and Zodiac cruisers appreciated the calm silence of the river basin’s mouth, exploring basalt cliffs and the birds and creatures dwelling within.
A bus ride took us through the golden wheat fields of the chiseled Scablands to view the meandering Palouse further upriver. Our eyes took in mostly colors of gold, gray and brown, with a little bit of green becoming evident as the wet green season begins. The highlight and destination of our bus trip: Palouse Falls, a spectacular cliff where the meandering river flings itself over 160 feet to a circular basin below before continuing on its way downward towards the mouth where our ship was anchored. Though elusive to our eyes today, we learned the area is home to mule deer, coyote, magpies, bald eagles and jackrabbits.
We spent the afternoon cruising back down the Snake River. As we approached the Lower Monumental Dam, the expedition leader came on the PA to offer a treat – those who wanted a different vantage of the dam and its lock system could traverse it in Zodiacs. Fun! At this writing we have returned to the Columbia River, heading west to continue our adventures.
