Dam Day

Steamboat Rock State Park: First, a Happy New Year to all My Readers and thank you all so much for the nice greetings we have received wishing us a good new year.

We were up early and to the lake to recite Tashlich and throw bread into the water. I have decided Steamboat Rock State Park is the perfect place to celebrate Rosh Hashanah - it is so beautiful and peaceful (since most of the campers have gone back to their real lives). I am not sure what it means if a seagull swoops down and takes the bread after it is thrown into the water though... Anyway, it was a very spiritual beginning to the New Year.

Yes, I am on this trip too! Here I am at Banks Lake with Steamboat Rock in the distance.

Our adventure today started with a drive the Dry Falls Visitor Center at Sun Lakes State Park. Here water once flowed over the massive rock cliffs in a display that would have dwarfed Niagara Falls. This entire part of Washington was carved by the massive Missoula Flood - the largest flood ever to cover the Earth. A lake the size of Montana grew behind huge ice flows reaching down into northern Washington. When the waters broke through the receding ice, the raging waters carved out coulees, canyons, new river paths and massive valleys on its way to the Pacific Ocean.

Though very informative inside, this must be the ugliest Visitor Center we have ever encountered.


Dry Falls today

Next, we went on a hike. Well, it was on a trail... but I can't really say it was a hike. More like a scramble. We hiked up to the Lenore Caves. The naturally-formed caves sit in cliffs above the very alkaline Lenore Lake and face west. Native peoples began using the caves as temporary housing while traveling through the area hunting and fishing. It was a difficult hike, over loose rock, with a little rock climbing and cliff-hugging thrown-in to keep your heart-rate high.

Lenore Caves - the trail follows along the openings of a series of caves


The first large cave on the trail


All the fallen rock makes me wonder: how safe are these caves? (I wouldn't sleep in there!)


Pretty colored lichen grow on the rock walls


DT climbed down into a bowl where the largest cave sits


Spelunker


Our car is in the turn-around parking area near the center of this photo! Quite a hike.

And what is a hungry hiker/spelunker/rock-climber do after an epic adventure? Refuel, of course! We drove north towards Coulee City and stopped at a just-opened pizza business in Grand Coulee - Hometown Pizza - and had a nice pie.

Doesn't that look good enough to eat? We shared a big salad too.

Even though we were fairly tired, had hat-hair and dust up to our knees, we went ahead a few more miles to the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center. The displays inside the Visitor Center are quite nice and very informative. The staff answered all my questions (I had plenty) and recommended we take the guided tour inside the dam. My uncle (Mom's sister's husband) Charlie was a core driller for the Corp of Engineers and worked on dams throughout the northwest, so I have a special interest in dams. (On the other hand... I do not like dams. I think they are ugly and hate what they do to our natural flowing rivers and fish... but on the other hand, I like electricity, irrigation and pretty much am not a fan of floods. It's a poser.) Grand Coulee Dam is the largest concrete structure in the United States and only three other hydroelectric projects produce more electricity (two in South America and the new Three Gorges Dam in China).

Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center


Grand Coulee Dam

The dam was built in three phases. The first was for a huge irrigation project built during the Roosevelt Administration. The dam backs up the flow of the Columbia River into a lake so large, it reaches the Canadian border. Grand Coulee provides enough water to irrigate a million acres of farmland (and two billion dollars of food/produce). The first phase of the dam had only a small electricity plant, producing enough power to light up the surrounding city.

During World War II, the dam added more power capacity to fill the needs of all the new Northwest factories building planes and ships, etc., for the war effort. The third phase, completed in the 1970's was built for power only.

So we took the dam tour - driving across the river and into a secure area. We had to go through metal detectors/magnetrons and could not bring purses, bags, camera cases, etc... but we could bring our cameras.

Grand Coulee Dam


This is the view from the tour elevator - glass walled box sliding down a sloped track into the dam!


The "lids" of the power generators. Under the blue lids are the
largest power generators in the world. Grand Coulee has four.


This thing is SPINNING!  A Grand Coulee power generator - each
can produce enough electricity to satisfy the needs of Seattle.


After our tour, we drove up to Crown Point to see the entire dam.

We needed showers! We needed a rest! After freshening up and having dinner (left overs from last night), we drove back to the Visitor Center to watch the free Laser Light Show screened across the face of the dam. Tonight was the final showing - the laser light show is shutting down for the season. I must confess this was my first laser light show, so I may not be the best reviewer. It was a bit hokey, a bit informational, a bit entertaining and a bit on the propaganda side politically, but it was still fun.

Pedometer: 10,160 steps. (2,000 on the dam tour alone.)

Until my next update, I remain, your dam correspondent.

Campground: Steamboat Rock State Park
Site #14, $28. Water, sewer, 30 & 50 amp, paved back-in, lake view, picnic table, fire pit, lawn and trees. Nice bathhouse with flush toilets and showers. Aluminum can recycling!