Palouse River and Lower Monumental Dam
After a short trip from Clarkston, Washington last night, we arrived at the confluence of the Snake River and the Palouse River just after breakfast. Here, the exposed basalt geologic features that we have become accustomed to seeing took beautiful to a new standard. To explore this stunning l landscape we had two options – water and land.
The water explorations were completed either by kayak or Zodiac. The kayakers soaked in the solitude while choosing their own speed and direction. The Zodiacs went further upstream, discovering another breathtaking view around every bend. Regardless of mode of travel, we were surrounded by a peaceful and seemingly deserted landscape that has seen many amazing events through the years. Within sight of our explorations have been Indian villages on its banks, Corp of Discovery campsites and massive landscape-altering floods. Although the land did not give up all of its secrets, it shared many of them with us today.
By land we took a short ride up to Palouse Falls State Park to see its namesake and learn more about the Bretz Floods that scoured this land 12,000 years ago. The small falls going into the massive plunge pool is a tame reminder of the 65-mph waters that raced through here from floods of long ago.
In the afternoon we arrived at Lower Monumental Lock and Dam. When the offer was made to see the lockage from a new angle, many of us jumped at the chance. Just upstream from the lock, we boarded the Zodiacs and followed the National Geographic Sea Bird into the chamber. Once we were all secured to our floating bollards, the water was drained from the 675-ft-long x 86-ft-wide x 100-ft deep-lock in just 12 minutes! Once the water in the lock was at the level of the downstream reservoir, the massive Guillotine gate lifted and we were on our way toward the Pacific once more. This is certainly a different view than Lewis and Clark had, but no less fascinating!