Palouse River Canyon
Today around breakfast time the Sea Lion arrived at the mouth of the scenic Palouse River. Over 12,000 years ago a series of Ice Age floods of water swept this area, sculpting this major side drainage of the Snake River into a canyon with high-stepped cliffs.
It was another crisp autumn morning with crystal clear skies as we set out on the Zodiacs to explore. While half the group made an overland trip to view Palouse Falls, with its precipitous 180-foot plunge into the canyon below, the rest of us paddled kayaks and cruised beneath the towering walls of the canyon. Along the way we spied mule deer grazing the lush bottomland and a coyote scampering high on a ledge. The hot chocolate and cookies tasted great as red-tailed hawks, ravens, and magpies soared high above the canyon. We returned to the ship to find a fabulous deck barbecue waiting on the sun deck.
This afternoon we continued our cruise down the Snake River. With each turn of the river we passed the same basalt cliffs that Lewis and Clark gazed up at from their dugout canoes as they floated past here in October 1805. What would they think of the river today? Would they be surprised at the changes sparked by their voyage of discovery nearly 200 years ago?
Today around breakfast time the Sea Lion arrived at the mouth of the scenic Palouse River. Over 12,000 years ago a series of Ice Age floods of water swept this area, sculpting this major side drainage of the Snake River into a canyon with high-stepped cliffs.
It was another crisp autumn morning with crystal clear skies as we set out on the Zodiacs to explore. While half the group made an overland trip to view Palouse Falls, with its precipitous 180-foot plunge into the canyon below, the rest of us paddled kayaks and cruised beneath the towering walls of the canyon. Along the way we spied mule deer grazing the lush bottomland and a coyote scampering high on a ledge. The hot chocolate and cookies tasted great as red-tailed hawks, ravens, and magpies soared high above the canyon. We returned to the ship to find a fabulous deck barbecue waiting on the sun deck.
This afternoon we continued our cruise down the Snake River. With each turn of the river we passed the same basalt cliffs that Lewis and Clark gazed up at from their dugout canoes as they floated past here in October 1805. What would they think of the river today? Would they be surprised at the changes sparked by their voyage of discovery nearly 200 years ago?
