May 31 - 2018 Steptoe, Washington

A few weeks ago, my sister Michelle, sent us a link to “The 20 most beautiful places in America”. When we looked at the pictures, we found that we had seen many of them already. Others we had chosen not to see, had already passed, or were not going to be near. Three places caught our attention, because we were going to be close to them, and they looked like something we might want to see.

One of the places was Multnomah Falls, which we saw yesterday. The other two were Palouse Falls and The Palouse, which we decided to see today (May 31). They are both in the state of Washington, and near each other. We drove northeast 290 miles/450 km to Steptoe, Washington.

The Palouse Falls and surrounding river gorge (flodens kløft) were created by the ice age. As the ice melted, it flooded the area many times, forming this deep gorge (kløft). Today the Snake River runs here.

The area is called the Palouse, which is a hilly area in Washington and Idaho, created by glaciers millions of years ago. The strangely rolling hills were created by sand, which came from the ice grinding stones into fine particles. The sand blew and created these mounds. The sand was fertile (frugtbar), so grass grew readily on it. The landscape is strangely beautiful, and today it is the best farming land in Washington.

Must be a farmer's nightmare!

We drove up Steptoe Butte (a small mountain in the middle of the hills), to view the Palouse from above.
We were taken by the beauty of the place.

 

Written by Mary