A more perfect day...

is impossible to imagine, in the company of about 50 curious hikers, all willing to bushwhack through one of the most geologically wondrous terrains, in perfect spring-like weather beneath cloudless skies, all the while being equipped with the proper gadgetry to memorialize the event. Hands down a fantastic day. Do I make myself clear?

The Ice Age Floods Institute sponsored walk began early by mustering together at Lyons Ferry State Park at the confluence of the Palouse and Snake Rivers. The briefing by trip leaders L. Stoess and E. Kiver (EWU emeritus geo prof) at departure consisted of a review of the outburst flooding from glacial Lake Missoula that was responsible for the headward erosion of the narrow Palouse Canyon in the Columbia River basalts. Here's a map (click to enlarge) that I compiled with my GPS during the walkabout:

The orientation and geometry of the Palouse River canyon is strongly controlled by the jointing patterns in the basalts as evidenced in this Google Earth image of nearly the same area as the topographic map seen above:

Several informal lectures were conducted along the way, and here L. Stoess is seen describing the local cultural history near the beginning of the trek with the Snake River behind him, flowing left to right:

Eventually we entered the canyon, becoming boxed in by the high basalt escarpment on one side and the river on the other. Following vague game trails we made our way slowly northward, peeling off layers of clothing as the day warmed:

Native Americans utilized several flood-plucked rock shelters as food caches, and in fact, the important Marmes Rockshelter lies close to this location. Here we pause at one along our route while E. Kiver describes the columnar nature of the basalts:

Deer, hawks, and a bald eagle were all sighted at various times during the day. We exploited the bench-like topography of the basalt outcrops to carry us up the canyon, following perched trails that provided continuously awesome views:

The canyon slowly narrowed and increasingly zig-zagged as we got closer to the falls at the northern end of our excursion:

Ultimately, we reached the terminus of the trail in Palouse Falls State Park where we were richly rewarded with a stunning view of the 200 foot high cascade:

In sum, the hike took about six hours to complete, gained 775 ft over 8.7 miles and was, in a word, priceless. If you want to participate in similar adventures, here's the schedule of events sponsored by the IAFI.