This trip has been an evolution--of landscape.
Where we joined the Brigade--on Lake Roosevelt at the confluence of the Spokane River and the Columbia, it was hot and dry. The upper Columbia Basin is a landscape utterly foreign to me. Not only hot and dry, but no vegetation I am familiar with. Sagebrush and other low growing shrubs. Much dry grass, with stickers that poke. The valley walls are basalt and sand. It’s very dramatic.
In the Hanford Reach, we saw some wetlands, and wild herds (thanks to the no hunting/no trespassing rules there!).
Just this morning, as we progressed through the Columbia Gorge, trees in the deep valley were more evident, ie there is more precipitation here. Again the geology is amazing.
My previous image of the Columbia Valley was too northern—all trees, just like the BC portion of it really is. But the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington, and Oregon, is anything but treed. Spectacular and dramatic rock formations, high walls (perfect for dams and reservoirs).
It seems good to have my eyes opened.
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