How the time does pass! In the blink of an eye, overnight we find ourselves downstream on the Snake River at the confluence with the Palouse, nee Drewyer’s River, if you had been here with the Corps of Discovery on October 13, 1805, just 209 years ago (almost to the day). The chill of the crisp fall air greeted us as we arose to meet the day with the excitement of new explorations awaiting us.
After coordinating our activities, we set off in two different directions: One half of our guests to shore via expedition craft to venture to the top of Palouse Falls. The other half aboard expedition craft to explore the lower river and delta flora and fauna in the still morning. A basalt floe landscape carved by the almost unimaginable Bretz floods at the end of the last ice age lay before us. The waterway was littered with buttes that had withstood the fury of the repeated glacial lake floods. And the cliffs were adorned with massive talus slopes, their scree lying about in their angle of repose. It was a testament to the power of nature. The realization of the Marmes rock shelter being so close at hand gave us pause to ponder early human existence in this rugged and unforgiving landscape.
At mid-morning the groups switched modes of transportation, with some taking to kayaks as their choice. The breeze came up and a variety of water-loving ducks, coots and cormorants shared the skies with magpies, kestrels, ravens and eagles across the river and its delta. At the almost 20-story-high Palouse Falls, a peregrine falcon was observed seeking prey. The rock doves scattered upon realizing that predators were awing.
Back on board National Geographic Sea Lion, we set out downstream to reach Ship Rock, a Lewis and Clark landmark of note that points the way to the great Pacific Ocean. Just downstream of the monumental basalt monolith, the Lower Monumental Dam blocked our progress! A call on the radio from the ship’s bridge to an agreeable lockmaster and we were ushered into the down-bound lock. Accompanied by one of our expedition craft, the scene was surreal in its comparative scale. The small boat, full of intrepid guests looking forward to locking through, was greeted by choppy “seas” on the river on the downstream side. Smiles all the way around!
The day in this storied land was extraordinary. This slice of the Pacific Northwest is little known, but cherished now by we who are lucky enough to explore it.
