Thursday, August 16, 2007 -- Missoula Flood Trip

Thursday, August 16, 2007 – After breakfast we traveled west on I-84 and then Hwy 30 to Astoria, Oregon. We stopped briefly at Fred Meyer near the giant, red World Peace Candle in Scappoose, Oregon.

According to the Wikipedia, President Nixon came to Scappoose in 1970 to light the "Peace Candle." The event took place on what was previously a farm owned by the Scharf family. Brocks bought the property and built a candle factory there which was quite successful. As a way of drawing attention to their enterprise, they ran a natural gas line up through the center of an existing silo on the property and put thousands of gallons of wax on the outside of the silo. President Nixon used his famous quote, "There shall be peace in our time," as he lit the flow of natural gas. A freak gust of wind blew the flame back towards the president and his eyebrows were partially singed. He continued undaunted with the ceremony. Ironically, the candle was intended to be "eternal", but when the natural gas bills started to come in, the candle became "terminal".

We had lunch at Stephanie’s Cabin at noon in Astoria. We traveled across the 4.1 mile bridge to Cape Disappointment, stopping at Waikiki Beach. I photographed the historical signboards. We left for Portland, Oregon about 4:30pm. We traveled east on Hwy 30 and crossed the Longview/Kelso Bridge. We passed Kalama Narrows that caused the Missoula floodwaters to back up to present day Eugene. We had a Farewell Dinner at the hotel in downtown Portland.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 -- Missoula Flood Trip

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 – We left Spokane at 8:30, heading west. I photographed the water tank in Davenport. We stopped at the Davenport City Park along Cottonwood Creek to use the restrooms.

We went by Coulee Dam, Steamboat Rock and Coulee City to Grand Coulee (Registered National Landmark) and Dry Falls where we had lunch. I stood on the concrete platform to view and photograph Dry Falls. Flood waters, perhaps 300 feet above me, rushed over these cliffs, scarring large areas with dry channels, called coulees. This one, the Grand Coulee, is the largest.

We stopped at an overlook of Crescent Bar and West Bar to view ripple marks made by the Missoula floodwaters. The view was quite impressive. We stopped at the Quincy Valley Rest Area. It was 97 degrees at 3:00pm when we went through Quincy.

We went past a water tank in George, Washington. We drove past the Wild Horse Monument Scenic View. We saw pillow basalt. Wanapum Dam road stop. We stopped at a park in Kennewick where I photographed a racing boat perched on the top of a very high pole.

We were running very late so we did not travel Hwy 12 to see Wallula Gap and the Two Sisters. Instead we traveled I-82/395 into Oregon and then west on I-84. I saw a water tank in Boardman. We had dinner and stayed the night in The Dalles.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 -- Missoula Flood Trip

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 – We left at 8:30am, picking up the box lunches on the way. We headed northeast from Sandpoint. I saw the red and white radio mast (Benchmark: TO1051) located on the Bonners Ferry Hwy, north of the City of Sandpoint. We stopped to read the "Lake Pend Oreille," "Glacial Ice Dam" and "Glacial Lake Missoula" signboards. We stopped at Hope in Bonner County where we saw the David Thompson and Finnan Macdonald marker (GC5D6) and a benchmark (TO0141) in the base of the historical monument.

We visited the Cabinet Gorge Hydroelectric Development located on the Clark Fork River in Sanders County, Montana and Bonner County, Idaho. Massive dams of ice from the Cordilleran Ice Sheet once stood here (see photo) and blocked water in the Clark Fork River Valley from leaving western Montana creating massive Glacial Lake Missoula until their catastrophic failures. When the ice dams failed, water roared at speeds up to 65 mph across Idaho, Washington and Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in the largest floods known to have occurred on earth.

We traveled into Montana on Hwy 200. We saw a stone monument to David Thompson (1770-1857), geographer and explorer for the Northwest Company, a British fur trading outfit. In 1809, he built his house near the mouth of the present day Thompson River. We stopped at Thompson Falls where we had a picnic lunch. The yellow jackets pestered us eventually stinging a young woman in our group on her arm. I saw the Thompson Falls Hydroelectric Dam (National Register of Historic Places) and the nearby historic St. Luke’s Hospital, a white framed building.

We stopped at the summit of Thompson Pass (4,852 elevation). I saw historical signboards “Historic Link to the Past” and “Rare Residents of the Northern Forests”. I also saw an enormous Smokey Bear sign and an elevation benchmark (Reset 1965).

We stopped at Murphy, Idaho (population 52) to view the Sprag Pole Inn and Museum and have refreshments. We visited the historical G.A.R. Murray cemetery. Many of the group left coins on the wooden grave marker of Maggie Hall (Molly-B-Dam) who died at age 35 years.

We ate a buffet dinner at the infamous Enaville Resort, known by locals as the Snake Pit, where a scene or two in the movie “Dante’s Peak” (1997) starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton was filmed.

Monday, August 13, 2007 –- Missoula Flood Trip

We left the hotel at 9:00am, traveling southwest through the Missoula Flood scablands. The glaciers left behind loess hills. We saw basalt outcroppings, pillow basalt and pancake columnar.

We stopped at Mary Queen of Heaven Parish (1882). It had two chimneys on one side of the roof and three on the other. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1990.

After a picnic lunch at Riverfront Park in Spokane, we traveled toward Sandpoint, Idaho. We saw Mt. Spokane (5,851 ft.) and the Purcell Mountain Range. We stopped at Post Falls Park, the former location of the Post’s Sawmill. I discovered a Statue of Liberty and three benchmarks (TO1049) in the city park in the City of Sandpoint on a concrete pier that protrudes into Lake Pend Oreille.

Sunday, August 12, 2007 -- Missoula Flood Trip

Sunday, August 12, 2007 – I got up about 6:30am and ate breakfast. Barbara and I did the Central Downtown Walking Tour. We walked through Riverfront Park. We had the delicious coffee cake at the Davenport Hotel and took a self walking tour of the hotel. We also had a tour of a couple rooms including a suite in the Davenport Tower. We ate lunch at Nordstrom café.

We walked through Riverfront Park again where we saw the Vietnam Memorial 1984. We got back to the Holiday Inn around 3:00pm. I got my Elderhostel packet. The Elderhostel group had dinner at the nearby Red Lion. Our leaders talked a bit about the Missoula Flood program and showed a short video. Back at the hotel I got a couple freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Saturday, August 11, 2007 -- Missoula Flood Trip

Saturday, August 11, 2007 -- After breakfast, I took my suitcases down to the front desk for storage. I got a ride in the hotel shuttle to Cliff Park. I was not able to locate any of the benchmarks. I caught a bus to downtown. I did a self walking tour of the famous Davenport Hotel. I got the recipe for their delicious coffee cake. I took a photograph of the sit-by-me statue with Anthony who was visiting the hotel with his family. I did three Virtual Geocaches (GC8ACC)(GC8E72)(GC713C) and a benchmark after I had lunch at Nordstrom café.

I caught the city bus to downtown and walked uphill to the hotel. I retrieved my luggage and walked down to the Amtrak/Greyhound Station. The hotel shuttle picked me up. I had a room with a great view of the river, the city and the hills. I walked to the nearby Red Lion where I ate dinner on the terrace. Back at the hotel I watched a movie on television and wrote in my journal.

Friday, August 10, 2007 -- Missoula Flood Trip

I attended the Elderhostel Ice Age Flood Program from August 12-17, 2007. On Friday, August 10, my daughter, Catherine, drove me from our home in Vancouver, Washington to the Delta Park MAX light rail station in North Portland, Oregon. I caught the MAX train about 7:30am to Old Town/Chinatown station. I walked eight blocks northwest to the Greyhound Station. I waited in line until about 10:30am (the bus departure was delayed). I was able to get a front seat. I saw several big horn sheep in a swale along I-84. I saw the Kennewick Bridge over the Snake River (see photo).

When I arrived in Spokane about 5:00pm, the hotel shuttle picked me up. I had a quiet room with a great view. I had dinner at the hotel's 4th Avenue Pizzaria. I went for a walk uphill to Cliff Park to locate a benchmark. It was just too much of a climb and it was getting late so I walked down the road between the Sacred Heart Medical Center buildings. I found a historic house built in the late 1800s and a lovely park with a waterfall. Back at the hotel, I watched television and wrote in my journal.

The Oregon Trail Diary Entry of Elizabeth Geer, 1847

September 15. This morning our company moved on, except for one family. The woman got mad and wouldn't budge nor let the children go. Her husband had the cattle hitched on for three hours and coaxed her to go, but she wouldn't stir. I told my husband, so he and Adam Polk and Mr. Kimball each too a young one and crammed them in the wagon and the husband drove off and left her sitting. She took the back track and traveled out of sight. She cut across and overtook her husband. He had sent his boy back to camp after a horse that had been left. When she came up, her husband said, "Did you meet John?" "Yes," she said, "I picked up a stone and knocked out his brains." Her husband went back to ascertain the truth of what she said and while he was gone, she set fire to the wagon that was loaded with their store goods. The cover burnt off and some valuable articles were burned. He saw the flames and came running up and put it out, and then mustered up spunk enough to give her a good flogging. __Elizabeth Geer, 1847