Palouse Falls
Among the highlights of our explorations today was Palouse Falls, where the Palouse River drops 180 feet before flowing through a serpentine canyon leading to its confluence with the Snake River. We used Zodiacs to travel from the Sea Lion, anchored in the mouth of the Palouse River, to the shore where a motor coach took us on the 15 minute ride to the falls. While one group visited the falls, another took a Zodiac cruise through the Palouse Canyon, though it was not possible to travel far enough up the river to see the falls. A third group spent the morning kayaking through the quiet waters bounded by the steep walls of the scenic canyon.
Returning to the ship, the hotel staff treated us to a deck barbecue. The meal was a perfect complement to the sunny spring afternoon. For many of us the outside lunch was a delightful reminder that summer was almost at hand.
During lunch, the Sea Lion hoisted its anchor and continued our leisurely cruise down the Snake River. Some of us used the afternoon for sunning on deck, for sightseeing, and even for a brief power nap. After passing through the lock at Lower Monumental Dam we gathered in the lounge for a slide illustrated lecture by Barbara Isaac on the Lewis and Clark treasures housed in Harvard's Peabody Museum. All the while we continued down the Snake River toward our evening rendezvous with the Columbia River once again, passing through Ice Harbor Dam and the growing number of orchards and vineyards that signal our approach to the Tri-Cities area.
One of the themes of the day was the "Bretz Floods" and how these Ice Age catastrophic events shaped the landscape of eastern Washington. Around sunset we voyaged through Wallula Gap, where all the water collected by Lake Missoula repeatedly flowed through a narrow defile as it exited the Channeled Scablands and the Columbia Plateau and rushed down river to the Columbia Gorge.
Among the highlights of our explorations today was Palouse Falls, where the Palouse River drops 180 feet before flowing through a serpentine canyon leading to its confluence with the Snake River. We used Zodiacs to travel from the Sea Lion, anchored in the mouth of the Palouse River, to the shore where a motor coach took us on the 15 minute ride to the falls. While one group visited the falls, another took a Zodiac cruise through the Palouse Canyon, though it was not possible to travel far enough up the river to see the falls. A third group spent the morning kayaking through the quiet waters bounded by the steep walls of the scenic canyon.
Returning to the ship, the hotel staff treated us to a deck barbecue. The meal was a perfect complement to the sunny spring afternoon. For many of us the outside lunch was a delightful reminder that summer was almost at hand.
During lunch, the Sea Lion hoisted its anchor and continued our leisurely cruise down the Snake River. Some of us used the afternoon for sunning on deck, for sightseeing, and even for a brief power nap. After passing through the lock at Lower Monumental Dam we gathered in the lounge for a slide illustrated lecture by Barbara Isaac on the Lewis and Clark treasures housed in Harvard's Peabody Museum. All the while we continued down the Snake River toward our evening rendezvous with the Columbia River once again, passing through Ice Harbor Dam and the growing number of orchards and vineyards that signal our approach to the Tri-Cities area.
One of the themes of the day was the "Bretz Floods" and how these Ice Age catastrophic events shaped the landscape of eastern Washington. Around sunset we voyaged through Wallula Gap, where all the water collected by Lake Missoula repeatedly flowed through a narrow defile as it exited the Channeled Scablands and the Columbia Plateau and rushed down river to the Columbia Gorge.
