Today our early morning cruises led us up the narrow confines of the Palouse River, beneath the wafting spirals of red-tail hawks and the streaked flight of falcons. We found hundreds of swallow nests lining the steep basalt cliffs. As we journeyed up the river we imagined the catastrophic events that created the walls of this narrow canyon. Prior to the Bretz Floods, the Palouse River meandered its way along a shallow channel in the Palouse Loess and joined the Snake River several miles to the west. When flood waters eight miles wide and over 100 feet deep swept through this area, the waters surged over the northern rim of the Snake River valley and quickly began to cut back through the underlying layers of basalt. Over a period of 2000 years, 40 different floods eroded a canyon that is over 350 feet high and ends in a 185 foot waterfall, the Palouse Falls. In addition to creating waterfalls and canyons, the floodwaters eroded small caves or "rock shelters" that were used by humans long before recorded history. In the 1950's, a archeological site just off the Palouse River revealed the remains of humans that were dated as being between 9,000 and 11,000 years old. At the time of the discovery, these were the oldest known human remains in North America.
Our Zodiacs meandered through the curving walls of the Palouse Canyon as we watched the morning reflections of the basalt cliffs shimmer in the placid waters. We all arrived back on board the Sea Lion, just in time for a barbecue lunch on deck. After lunch, we turned downriver on the Snake, heading for the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers.
