NELL/S CANYON

 

The culmination of our rock-intensive tour of Washington was an all-day trip in Hells Canyon by jet boat; It was loads of fun.  Hells Canyon is carved by the Snake River into gradually uplifting terrain near the common meeting point of Washington, Oregon and Idaho.  Our boat leaves from Clarkston, Washington.  This uplift and erosion has resulted in a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon, though it is fair to say, not nearly as majestic.  The cause of the uplift is not certainly known, although I imagine it had something to do with migration of North America across the Yellowstone hotspot.  But, hell, that can’t be right; canyon-cutting began only six million years ago.  Oh, well. . . .

The lower part of the trip cuts through Columbia Plateau Basalts.  The valley there is wide, with lots of human habitation.  Further upstream it narrows and has only a few scattered ranches to mark the presence of humankind.  There it is cutting through ~ 300 Ma rocks of an accreted terrane; in this case volcanic rocks overlain by limestone.  These rocks formed somewhere west of North America, in an ocean basin, and were scooped up by that continent as it moved relatively westward.

Much of western North America is composed of such terranes.  They often are referred to as “exotic terranes”, but I much prefer “accreted”; to me, “exotic” brings to mind some nubile lass dancing, clad only in a pair of fans.  Not that I have ever seen such, of course.

So, it was a great trip.  I highly recommend getting out into the geomorphic wonders of central and eastern Washington.  But maybe when it’s a bit cooler.

PALOUSE FALLS

 

If you attended Nick Zentner’s lecture as recommended in my last blog entry you will know that Palouse Falls is another feature carved into Miocene bedrock by the sudden release of ponded glacial meltwater about 15,000 years ago.  When Carolyn and I visited, it was difficult to think of anything glacial, the temperature was well over 100 degrees in the shade – with damned little shade to be had.

Palouse Falls State Park is a small, isolated place not on the road to anywhere.  The view is spectacular, but there is little else to do there.  There used to be some hiking, but the State now deems it unsafe and has closed the trails.  The little camp ground is nice and would probably greatly appeal to anyone who had tired of humanity.

All in all, Palouse Falls is a handsome, lonely sort of place.  I am glad that such places continue to exist.

AN INTRODUCTIONTO NICK ZENTNER

Nick at Work

Stumbling around with my antiquated computer last night I ran upon a short You Tube video that would greatly enhance a visit to either Dry Falls or Palouse Falls, Washington.  The lecturer is Nick Zentner, of Central Washington University.  Nick’s specialty is public outreach; he has a rare and valuable talent for explaining geological concepts to the general public;  If you have any interest in visiting either “Falls”, or are simply curious about the striking landscape of central Washington, Nick’s lectures are for you.  Start with this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8zLwXfxS7w  

 

DRY FALLS

Continuing my report on Carolyn and my rock-intensive tour of Washington . . . .

We departed our  luxurious motel after a nice breakfast and headed back north, to intersect U.S. 12.  This pleasant highway crosses the Cascades at White Pass, skirting the southern margin on Mt. Rainier National Park in the process.  Very green and pastoral, in contrast to Yakima into which eventually debouches.  From there we went to Ephrata and checked into excellent rooms in a Best Western motel (Carolyn had done all arranging in advance).  And then, it being still early, we headed north into the famous Channeled Scablands of geological legend J. Harland Bretz; specifically, to Dry Falls State Park.

Most of you already know that the weird topography of the Scablands is the result of erosion caused by a series of catastrophic floods, released toward the end of the last ice age (~15,000 years ago) when glacial lakes broke through ice barriers penning them in. The result was a network of “coulees”, which are very large valleys cut dramatically into flat-lying lava flows of the Columbia Plateau basalts (which Google if confused).

Anyway, if you only have a few hours to obtain a taste of the Scablands, Dry Falls is a splendid place to do it.  There doesn’t seem to be any actual Falls anywhere about, but no matter – the scenery is great, and the little visitors center is interesting.  There is even an ice-cream buggy thereabouts.

Oh, did I mention that the temperature was 103?

 

MT ST HELENS

 

So, on a Saturday (7/9), Carolyn and I departed the Willows bright and early, heading for My St Helens and a rendezvous with Carolyn’s Portland family, headed by her eldest son, Kiley Henner.  The trip should have taken no more four hours, but owing to highway construction in Seattle was substantially longer.  Really, a reasonably fit person could have WALKED from the King County line to Boeing Field nearly as quickly as we made it by car!  (An aside:  there are just too damned many cars in this world – and most of them seem to be on the road at any given time.  Even with gas at $5.50/gallon!)

So, anyway we got to Kelso eventually, met up withKiley and his crew, had a fine Mexican dinner (I had a margarita so big I couldn’t finish it! ), then returned to our motel for the usual restless motel overnight experience – and next morning headed out for Johnston Ridge Observatory.  The picture above was taken from somewhere near there, and not by any of us.  Glorious, clear weather but – too have something to bitch about – too many people. 

So, the place is named for David Johnston, the USGS guy that was killed in the initial blast.  It so happens that I once played touch football with Dave.  In fact, he caught the finest forward pass I ever threw!  And I once rented a cabin from Harry Truman, who briefly became famous for refusing to leave Spirit Lake.  He was as drunk as a lord, as they used to say.  What is left of Harry now lies somewhere beneath many meters of volcanic effluvia. Johnston, too, I surmise.

Anyway, anyone who can should visit Mt. St. Helens, and maybe even do some hiking.  It is a glorious place!  Thank you, Carolyn, for taking me there.

SCENIC WASHINGTON, EMPHASIZING ROCKS

 

As many of you know, I am well beyond the hiking stage of life.  In fact, I now walk with a four-wheeled contraption to keep me upright, and moreover have given up driving because of rapidly deteriorating eyesight.  Thus, if I want to escape my posh “retirement community”, the Willows, I am dependent on automobiles, driven by others.  Well, all of those things came together last week, thanks to my wonderful, wonderfully patient sister-in-law, Carolyn Joyce, and her perfectly adequate if somewhat excessively low-slung little rented Nissan.  We visited Mt St Helens (the Johnston Ridge Observatory), Dry Falls State Park, Palouse Falls, and ended our trip with glorious run up the Hells Canyon stretch of the Snake River on a jet boat.  I will try to comment on them in turn in subsequent postings.  As for now, I merely want to assure you that I went, had a great time, and got back safely, no worse for wear.  So, see. There IS life after 80.  Or, in my case, WAY after 80!

GOLDEN OLDIE 75: Blast from the Past

Brendan Fraser is the star of several silly movies that I much enjoyed.  I will spare you George of the Jungle, with its talking elephants, and go straight to Blast from the Past, which may be the high point of his career. 

The plot actually is almost plausible.  Couple (she pregnant) takes refuge in an elaborate fallout shelter at the time of the cold war, in the mistaken belief that nuclear breakdown of society has commenced.  Thirty five years later their son (Foster) emerges in search of supplies, and a mate, and encounters a world he could never have imagined.  Part of that world consisted of a hot chick, Alicia Silverstone – named Eve for the movie.  Fraser plays a character called Adam.  Get it?  He also must face a world where everything has become hectic, crowded, and very impolite.  We, the audience, have fun watching him do it.

There are several excellent supporting roles.  I particularly liked Sissy Spacek as “The Mother”.The movie was released in 1999.  Roger Ebert thought it was okay, as did most critics of the time.  I think it is a fine way to waste an evening.  B+

 

GOLDEN OLDIE 74: Field of Dreams

 

I honestly don’t know what to say about this movie.  Its plot is preposterous, of course; dead ball players don’t materialize in corn fields in this or any universe, including Iowa.  Shoeless Joe Jackson probably was something of an inarticulate bumpkin (but who knows?), not the take-charge guy Ray Liotta portrays.  People don’t change from juvenile athlete to dignified doctor by stepping onto gravel, as Burt Lancaster does.  And so forth.  But yet…..

I thought this movie a bit stupid, although entertaining, when I first saw it in 1987.  Last night I found it beautiful, almost profound.  (Yeah, I’m getting mushy in my old age!).  Be that as it may, Field of Dreams certainly is at or near the top of the heap of Keven Costner’s cinematic performances.  Everybody else is excellent to very good.  I strongly recommend that you sit in a quiet place, perhaps drink in hand, an absorb the central message of this movie, which is ….. ?   A-

Even Roger liked it.