Palouse & Snake River
Chilly was the word on the Snake and Palouse Rivers this morning. But that didn’t stop the Lindblad adventurers, part of the group headed up the Palouse River for kayaking, part of the group went to Palouse Falls and the rest of the group went on a Zodiac cruise up the canyon of the Palouse.
The kayakers witnessed the solitude of the arid canyons of Eastern Washington. A mink bounced from rock to rock around the shore, as a Red-tailed hawk soared the canyon rim in search of a mouse for lunch. Several Mule deer were spotted on the steep hillsides. The Zodiacs turned off their engines long enough to give everyone the “sounds of silence.” Wilderness sounds of only birds and the wind, with NO cars, people, sirens or city sounds. The openness of eastern Washington and Oregon is truly awe-inspiring. It gives a person the feeling that they have all the space in the world they will ever need. Not unlike the wild areas of Mexico, Alaska, Central America and the other wild areas that Lindblad guests travel to.
The afternoon was spent viewing hill and basalt cliffs of the Snake River Canyon. A Mule deer was spied swimming across the river in front of the ship, so we slowed a bit to give it room and as it neared the south side of the river, a group of six more deer could be seen in the waters. An excellent view of the Lower Monumental Dam was seen by all that did not opt for an afternoon nap. Later in the afternoon, we were riveted to the chairs as our historian Junius Rochester recounted the Corp of Discovery travels east towards home after spending a wet winter at the mouth of the Columbia River.
Chilly was the word on the Snake and Palouse Rivers this morning. But that didn’t stop the Lindblad adventurers, part of the group headed up the Palouse River for kayaking, part of the group went to Palouse Falls and the rest of the group went on a Zodiac cruise up the canyon of the Palouse.
The kayakers witnessed the solitude of the arid canyons of Eastern Washington. A mink bounced from rock to rock around the shore, as a Red-tailed hawk soared the canyon rim in search of a mouse for lunch. Several Mule deer were spotted on the steep hillsides. The Zodiacs turned off their engines long enough to give everyone the “sounds of silence.” Wilderness sounds of only birds and the wind, with NO cars, people, sirens or city sounds. The openness of eastern Washington and Oregon is truly awe-inspiring. It gives a person the feeling that they have all the space in the world they will ever need. Not unlike the wild areas of Mexico, Alaska, Central America and the other wild areas that Lindblad guests travel to.
The afternoon was spent viewing hill and basalt cliffs of the Snake River Canyon. A Mule deer was spied swimming across the river in front of the ship, so we slowed a bit to give it room and as it neared the south side of the river, a group of six more deer could be seen in the waters. An excellent view of the Lower Monumental Dam was seen by all that did not opt for an afternoon nap. Later in the afternoon, we were riveted to the chairs as our historian Junius Rochester recounted the Corp of Discovery travels east towards home after spending a wet winter at the mouth of the Columbia River.
