Falling in Love with Palouse Falls

On Labor Day (Sept. 6), we woke early and set out for a two-hour drive westward in Washington to the Palouse Falls State Park. We drove through more dramatic and ever-changing landscape. Most people I know who have been to Washington State have only seen Seattle and the Pacific coastal areas. Even the locals in Pullman we asked about the falls said they hadn't been. But this was a four-hour round-trip drive we'd gladly take again and are happy we didn't decide to just head for Idaho. The state park would wind up being the furthest west we travel on this trip.

We took US 195 North to state highway 26 West (the Walla Walla Highway) to highway 260/261 through Washtucna (what seemed like a dying town, but apparently there are some year-round residents, because we met one--the ranger at the state park).

In contrast to the "sand-dune" wheat fields of yesterday, the terrain looked much like this on the drive.

My hubby, a geology enthusiast, explained that the area was once a "hot spot," which now is located at Yellowstone. So, the basalt rocks shown here were from lava flows long, long ago. (You'll have to google for more scientific information.) The area has the unfortunate name of "the Scablands."

After a very long drive on little-traveled roads, we arrived at the park.

Palouse Falls is located on the Washtucna Coulee and nearly 200 feet to the basin below. The ranger said that, in the winter when the ice in the basin gets high, the falls are much shorter.) While not as spectacular as in the spring and early summer, the September flow over the falls was impressive and beautiful. The park ranger said that the water flowed here from the St. Joe River in Idaho (near Coeur D'Alene, which we had seen the day before).

From here, it flows to the Snake River through these basalt canyons.

Near the stairway to the falls, I captured these beautiful sunflowers.

We spent another hour just walking around the state park and checking out different vistas and sights.

I'm always fascinated with train tracks. Didn't see a train go by and didn't want to get any closer to the ledge, but managed this shot.

We also spent quite a bit of time talking with the park ranger, who has worked there for six years and you cna tell she takes great pride in this special place. She's loved by new and repeat patrons alike. Just a few minutes before this photo was taken, some fishermen gave her these beautiful peaches before they headed off to do some fishing.

When we arrived at the park that morning, she was busy sweeping off the sidewalks. She told us tales of a kayaker who went over the falls (when the rangers weren't on duty) and how she worries when people go on the unofficial trails to get a better look (because they have no rails to keep them from falling off the trail). She often sees them sliding and just holds her breath until they right themselves.

We hated to leave, but had to try and get to Idaho at least for the night, so we left just as the Labor Day picnickers and others were arriving. We headed for US 12 along the Snake River and took this photo of a railroad bridge over the river before moving on. The sunlight on the undergirding made for an interesting photo.

We spent the night in Lewiston, Idaho, just over the river from Washington. There was an awful smell throughout the town that we never quite identified. But we did manage this pretty sunset photo along the Clearwater River walk that evening. Another railroad bridge. This was a drawbridge, but you can only just see the left side of the drawbridge frame. The middle section was never lowered while we were there, so perhaps it isn't used much anymore. I didn't have a tripod, but managed to hold the camera steady enough on a railing or bench. Improvise!

My next blog entry will be on the drive along US 12 through eastern and north central Idaho and then Jackson, Wyoming. I must be fickle, because my love soon shifted from Palouse Falls to the Tetons.