The Palouse River
Another spectacular sunrise greeted those of us who were up early to witness the Sea Bird going through Little Goose Dam, one of four dams to have transformed the Snake River. This river runs through arid canyons that turned pink with the rising sun, promising yet another cloudless and awe-inspiring day in the region.
Once through the dam, we reached a tributary of the Snake called the Palouse, now quite a wide river due to the backwash of waters from the following dam, Lower Monumental.
In October of 1805, the Corps of Discovery, co-captained by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, passed the mouth of the Palouse, which back then would have been little more than a small stream. As they passed, they named the stream Drewyer’s River, in honour of one of their more invaluable companions, a half-Indian guide and hunter named George Drouillard (spelling having never been the expedition’s strong point!).
Conditions could not have been more perfect for what we had planned. Whilst some of us chose to kayak the morning away up this spectacular canyon, others took a bus tour six miles upstream to see the magnificent Palouse Falls followed by a Zodiac cruise up the river.
I have rarely encountered such mind-blowing land forms as along this little river: here we can truly appreciate the full scale of the cataclysmic Ice Age floods that repeatedly roared over the landscape, exposing the layers of basalt laid down over 40 million years ago. There are few signs of human presence in this timeless place, making it a great spot both to meditate on our place in the grander scale of things and to watch and look out for many bird and animal species.
We proceeded on with a BBQ lunch on the outer decks, after which our favourite historian, Harry Fritz, told us more about the truth on Lewis and Clark—all in all an unforgettable day.
Another spectacular sunrise greeted those of us who were up early to witness the Sea Bird going through Little Goose Dam, one of four dams to have transformed the Snake River. This river runs through arid canyons that turned pink with the rising sun, promising yet another cloudless and awe-inspiring day in the region.
Once through the dam, we reached a tributary of the Snake called the Palouse, now quite a wide river due to the backwash of waters from the following dam, Lower Monumental.
In October of 1805, the Corps of Discovery, co-captained by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, passed the mouth of the Palouse, which back then would have been little more than a small stream. As they passed, they named the stream Drewyer’s River, in honour of one of their more invaluable companions, a half-Indian guide and hunter named George Drouillard (spelling having never been the expedition’s strong point!).
Conditions could not have been more perfect for what we had planned. Whilst some of us chose to kayak the morning away up this spectacular canyon, others took a bus tour six miles upstream to see the magnificent Palouse Falls followed by a Zodiac cruise up the river.
I have rarely encountered such mind-blowing land forms as along this little river: here we can truly appreciate the full scale of the cataclysmic Ice Age floods that repeatedly roared over the landscape, exposing the layers of basalt laid down over 40 million years ago. There are few signs of human presence in this timeless place, making it a great spot both to meditate on our place in the grander scale of things and to watch and look out for many bird and animal species.
We proceeded on with a BBQ lunch on the outer decks, after which our favourite historian, Harry Fritz, told us more about the truth on Lewis and Clark—all in all an unforgettable day.
