1 August – 4 August 2022
Most of our packing for this summer’s trip has been done over the past several weeks, and the more serious packing over the past few days. O and I have our traditional departure day breakfast pie, then we pack up a few more odds and ends. We are on the road by about 10:40 am. Our first destination is Gingko Petrified Forest State Park which is just off I-90, not too far from Ellensburg. As we near the park we see an ominous thick gray cloud with orange highlights underneath. As we turn in at the park entrance a ranger waves and approaches. He apologetically tells us he must close the park. The fire we’ve been watching started just an hour ago, but with high winds and tinder dry grass it is spreading quickly. We are disappointed not to be able to see the park, and hope for the best for the firefighters. On our way out of the park we pass a small herd of bighorn sheep (with one very cute baby) who may be at the park trying to escape the fire.
O and I drive back up the road and stop to top off Vincent’s tank. Then we return to I-90. We pull off at an overlook from which we can see the smoke plume and watch firefighting planes dip their water buckets in the Columbia River and then disappear into the gray cloud. There are many other vehicles at the overlook. Some of their occupants are evacuating from the fire.
From the overlook it is just an hour’s drive to Sun Lake/Dry Falls State Park. We find our campsite, site 114. It is 4:20 when we arrive and quite hot – just under 100 degrees F. Cars and campers are packed in pretty closely, but it’s Monday so there are also several empty sites. Luckily, our site has afternoon shade. We set up camp and try to encourage Lucy to drink more water. O and I are also pushing fluids. The heat and the dry wind suck the moisture from our bodies.
There are a variety of birds here: we’ve seen quail, gold finches, flycatchers, doves and others. After dinner we walk over to the lake, but the wind is scouring us with grit. We’ll bring water bottles into the tent tonight so we can continue to rehydrate.
2 August 2022, Tuesday
When we got into the tent last night we noticed that everything was gritty: pillow cases, sleeping pads, etc. The grit found its way in through the fine mesh walls of the tent. Gusty winds continued for some time. Happily, the temperature declined to a more comfortable range overnight. The moon was just a sliver when we retired. By 3 am when O, Lucy and I woke for a pit stop, the moon had long since set and the stars were amazing! Just as I exited the tent and looked up, a shooting star arced across the sky. We slept very well!
We are looking forward to beginning our exploration of the effect of the Ice Age Floods on Washington’s present day landscape. These floods occurred between 18,000 and 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. As the glaciers melted, the outflow of meltwater in what is now Montana was blocked by an ice dam. This created a gigantic lake, larger than three Great Lakes combined, near today’s Missoula, Montana. Hence the name: Glacial Lake Missoula. As the climate warmed the ice dam failed, and 500 cubic miles of water went roaring across Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. The emptying of the lake happened over the course of only a few days. The water’s flow scoured the Washington landscape creating what is now known at the scablands, and also rapidly eroding basalt layers underlying this area creating what are now mostly dry canyons with high straight walls, called coulees. Dry Falls is the remains of a waterfall from these ice age floods that would have been 4 times as big as Niagara Falls! It is located in the largest coulee, Grand Coulee. These floods happened dozens of times as the glaciers retreated. A National Ice Age Floods Geologic Trail highlights the effects of the floods.
This morning we are awake and out of the tent just after 6 am. We finish yesterday’s cherry pie for breakfast. The morning is warming quickly. After breakfast and some bird watching (more quail, cedar waxwings, red winged blackbirds. . .) we drive up to Dry Falls Lake. At the turn-off for the lake the road becomes very rough. We navigate the potholes and rocks successfully. Dry Falls Lake is surrounded by tall grasses (and a swarm of yellow jackets.) We don’t stay long. The view is actually better from the road going into the lake, and better still from the visitor center up on Route 17. The visitor center has a very good display explaining the origin of the coulees and other features in this area. There are panels explaining how J. Harlan Bretz, a high school teacher with an interest in geology, developed his hypothesis regarding the ice age floods. The rest of the geological world took decades to admit he was right about catastrophic ice age flooding that created this landscape.
From the Visitor Center we drive up the coulee to the Dry Falls Dam, on past Banks Lake, with a brief stop at Steamboat Rock (another State Park, which is a large basalt island that resisted the flooding waters and looks to some like a ship. Before the Lake was formed by the dam, Steamboat Rock towered 800 feet over the valley floor.)
From Steamboat Rock we proceed to Grand Coulee Dam. There is another very informative visitor center here. O spends some time viewing films about the Ice Age Floods and the building of the dam. Above the dam is Roosevelt Lake, which is at a lower elevation than Banks Lake (the lake formed by the Dry Falls Dam.) Water is actually pumped uphill to Banks Lake from Roosevelt Lake to be used for irrigation or, in the event of severe drought, sent back to Roosevelt Lake to help power the turbines.
Lucy and I find a shady bench and relax. I offer water to Lucy frequently. The temperature has once again reached the high 90’s. After some time, O emerges from the Visitor Center and watches Lucy while I pop in to view the film on the ice age floods. Then we drive back down the Grand Coulee to camp where we chase the shade around the picnic table as we cook and eat our dinner. After all this heat, we try out the campground showers. They are delightful! And free!
And now – time to take Lucy for her final walk of the evening and then turn in. It is breezy again tonight, but the gusting winds of last evening have not returned.
3 August 2022, Wednesday
Palouse Falls State Park
It’s much cooler this morning when we wake. We even needed a light blanket to keep warm during the night. This morning, after enjoying our orange chocolate chunk cake, hot out of the frittata pan, we chat a bit with our neighbor. She and her extended family have been coming to Sun Lake/Dry Falls for years. They enjoy camping with their parents and their children. This year they also have an almost 2 year old boy whom they are fostering. He’s not too sure about camping, but generally seems to enjoy himself. CoriAnn says she’s been enjoying my evening fiddling. (I’m just glad I’m not interfering with the two year old’s bedtime!)
After breakfast, O, Lucy and I climb into Vincent for a 2 hour and 20 minute drive to Palouse Falls State Park. The waterfall at this park is the official waterfall of Washington State. Per the interpretive panels here and elsewhere, between 17.5 and 6 million years ago repeated lava flows covered an extensive area along the Oregon-Washington border near Idaho. As the repeated lava flows cooled, they left layer upon layer of basalt. As the lava slowly cools, the basalt forms vertical fissures which create columns. In some places, these basalt layers are as thick as 3000 meters.
During the Ice Age Floods, the fissures allowed the massive amounts of water to undermine and break away basalt, creating the cliffs and coulees and waterfalls of central Washington. This was the mechanism for the formation of Palouse Falls and its canyon. The falls are incredibly beautiful! Water plunges into an emerald pool and the river flows through a steep sided canyon and on to the Snake River and then the Columbia River. As we watch the falls we notice a rainbow in the mist playing around the base of the falls. The canyons and coulees here are as impressive as many we have seen in Colorado, Utah and Arizona, perhaps even more-so as they were carved through basalt, not sandstone.
After lunch in the shade at Palouse Falls we are back in Vincent on the road back to Sun Lake/Dry Falls. It’s a long day of driving, but we are glad we were able to visit Palouse Falls. Besides, driving in an air conditioned car on a day when temperatures again climb to near 100 degrees F is not a bad way to spend the time.
Back at camp we cook dinner and relax. The evening is cooling pleasantly. Tomorrow, high temperatures are only supposed to reach the low 80’s. I hope the forecast is correct!
4 August 2022, Thursday
It is definitely cooler today. The winds are still quite gusty. Our plan is to drive to Frenchman Coulee after breakfast and hike the trail there. We do not really have a clear idea of where this coulee is when we make our plan. It turns out it is about an hour’s drive back towards Gingko Petrified Forest State Park. We finish breakfast and pack some sandwiches (one sandwich with smoked tomato “deli” slices and vegan mayonnaise, and one with PBJ in case we don’t like the first sandwich.)
As we drive towards the Frenchman Coulee Recreation Area we can see two distinct smoke plumes in the distance. We drive the road through the Coulee – another beautiful area. It is quite windy here – and neither of us wants to hike in the smoky atmosphere. Still, it was worth a visit. We consider that this might be a nice hike in cooler weather. At the upper portion of the coulee is a lush green area with a small waterfall which seems to originate from Frenchman’s Spring.
We eat our sandwiches in the shade while we are at the coulee. And yes, the smoked tomato deli slices are quite tasty – kind of like upscale bologna – per O. O and I briefly consider returning to Gingko State Park, but a phone call to the office there has a recording explaining that the park remains closed due to wildfires in the area.
Back at Dry Falls, O and I take advantage of the showers once again. As far as I know our next two stops at Montana state parks do not have showers. The evening is much cooler and still quite breezy. Tomorrow we move on.