Friday, June 20, 2014
After a uneasy night in the Coulee City Park campground, with the
locals quickly driving through our campsite, a few feet from the RV,
on their way to build a bonfire at 1 am, seriously, we were the only
campers there, we took showers and left in the morning. It's the only
time that we've had issues while legally camped in a paid campground.
We feel safer boondocking. We took our detour to the Dry Falls. I'll let Greg tell you about
this amazing place!
Greg's Commentary – Dry Falls is the cascade and channel
remaining from the repeated and rapid draining of glacial Lake
Missoula between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago. This lake, formed by
glacial damming of the Clarks Fork River, is estimated to have been
about half the volume of Lake Michigan. When the ice dam failed
repeatedly as it was weakened and undermined by underflow and
buoyancy from the 2,000-foot deep lake, the lake would drain in one
or two days. The existing Columbia River channel could not handle
this enormous flow, estimated to be more than ten times the combined
flow of all fresh water rivers today, so most of the water flowed
down the Grand Coulee. It is hard to visualize the magnitude of the
water fall at Dry Falls, even standing on the edge looking down. Dry
Falls is 3½ miles wide and 400 feet high – 5 times as wide and
twice as high as Niagara Falls. Geologists estimate that the flood
flowing at 65 MPH over the cataract was 600 feet deep, compared with
15 feet at Niagara, so the falls would only have looked like a modest
depression in the water surface during peak flow.
 |
| Dry Falls - The ponds in the mid-view are remnants of the plunge pools |
 |
| Looking at the east side of Dry Falls, beyond Umatilla Rock on the right |
 |
| Looking down the lower Grand Coulee below Dry Falls |
The flood water flowing off of the basalt surface of Waterville
Mesa cascaded down the Lower Grand Coulee to the lower Channeled
Scablands where the water could spread out and slow down. The 30 to
90 floods caused the water fall where the Lower Grand Coulee exited
the mesa edge to retreat 23 miles to Dry Falls where they happened to
be after the last flood.
We stood at the rim and looked across and down the sides and tried
to visualize the huge volume of water that would have been churning
past. We couldn't have stood where we were, as the noise, and spray
would have been tremendous!. Looking at the arid surroundings made it
even more difficult to think of water in such a parched place. The
small lakes at the bottom provide a respite for migrating birds, but
are a mere whisper of the past cataclysmic torrent. Why had we never
heard of such a huge impressive feature? Being Eastcoasters is one
excuse, but even Greg the geologist was unaware of Dry Falls.
After viewing the “Falls”, we had a decision to make. Having
an oil change appointment back over the Cascades in Bellingham on
Tuesday, we needed to prioritize our time. We were both interested in
driving and hiking down on the valley floor below the Falls, but also
wanted to see the Grand Coulee Dam, so we drove on. Hopefully we'll
be back in the future to check it out more closely.
Driving north on the east shore of Bank's Lake, we were amazed to
be below the ancient, high, basaltic cliffs of the Grand Coulee. They
were echoed on the other side across the broad expanse of water. We
were to learn later that this huge lake holds water pumped from the
Grand Coulee Dam, and is used primarily for irrigation, and of
course, recreation. This part of the Grand Coulee was originally a
channel for the Columbia River, but it no longer flows through here.
The dam at the southern end of the lake where we camped, controls
this massive amount of water.
 |
| Heading up Banks Lake toward Grand Coulee |
 |
| Basalt cliffs 900 feet high cut by the flood waters above Dry Falls |
 |
| Lake Roosevelt |
Entering the town of Grand Coulee, the road drops down to a
parking lot that reveals the front of this massive dam. At night a
laser show plays across the front of the spillway, and the best
viewing is from this parking lot. We did a brief tour of the visitor
center and found out that a bus tour would be leaving soon from the
other side of the river. Crossing the bridge, with the dam a huge
looming presence up the river, we arrived in time to go through the
security check and on to the bus. All we could carry with us for the
50 minute tour were whatever legal things we had in our pockets,
basically, keys, wallets, and a camera without the case. We had to go
through the metal detector and empty our pocket items into a tray. We
were also instructed not to take photos of security personnel or
their booths.
 |
| Grand Coulee Dam with very unusual flow, 14-inches, over the entire 1100-foot spillway |
Our group was made up of several British couples, a Swedish
family, and a man from Austria! There were a few others from the
states. Our tour guide said we were the first people from Maryland
she had on her tours in the two years she had been working there. The
bus took us back over the bridge and to one of the pumping stations.
We took an elevator down to view the pumps.
 |
| Pumps to raise water into Banks Lake. Each pump will move more than one Billion gallons per day! |
The Grand Coulee Dam was a “make work” project started by
President Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Towns were created
on both sides of the river, and the largest concrete structure in the
world was created to hold back the Columbia River. (The Three Gorges
Dam in China is now the largest.) Built two years after the Hoover
Dam was started, only 71 men died building this one, since greater
safety measures were used. OSHA didn't exist then, and men were happy
to have jobs. It was worth the risks.
 |
| Beauty queens dumping water from all 48 states into the dam at the opening ceremony |
 |
| Enormous concrete core sample |
The dam was created primarily to irrigate the arid, volcanic rich
soil of the eastern half of Washington state. Power generation was a
secondary goal, but as war loomed during dam design, the dam was
raised and more generators were added to supply more power for
aluminum smelting early in WWII. Huge Lake Roosevelt backs up behind
it all the way to the Canadian border. It was designed to stop short
of the border, and provides a beautiful recreation area.
 |
| Looking from the top of the dam up Lake Roosevelt |
After touring the pumping facility, our bus drove on to the top of
the dam, the only way to cross it after 9/11. We got out and leaned
over the edge to watch the huge volume of water flow over the top. As
soon as we left, the spillway gates were closed off, and we found out
that we were very fortunate to see that much spill over the dam.
Truly an unusual sight.
 |
| Looking up at the dam from the downstream construction bridge |
 |
| Looking down over the spillway |
 |
| Looking west at the new powerhouse, completed in 1972. |
We drove the shore of Lake Roosevelt and found a spot at a
campground, Spring Canyon, a few miles from Grand Coulee. Up above
the lake the breeze was brisk. The laser show at the dam wasn't until
10 pm, well beyond Greg's “expiration date”, so we decided not to
drive back into town. The next day's drive would take us back to the
Northern Cascades, over to the coast, and out of the hot, sunny
weather.
 |
| Looking down stream from the dam |
