Geologist Lloyd DeKay led our trip from The Dalles, OR to White Salmon, WA and back to The Dalles, OR exploring wonders of the gorge on both sides of the mighty Columbia River including features attributed to the Missoula floods (15,000-18,000 years ago) such as eddy bars, hydraulic dams, glacial erratics, gravel bars, kolk ponds, and erosional features.
We also saw ancient flood deposits dated at 600,000 years old, 14.5 million-year-old pillow basalts, synclines, anticlines, and even vertical lava beds resulting from folding; gravel and sand deposits from an ancient channel of the Columbia, topped by Missoula flood deposits and next to deposits from a lahar that roared down Mt. Hood and temporarily dammed the river.
We went on a guided hike to see She-Who-Watches and other Native American petroglyphs some saved from the backwaters of The Dalles Dam. We went on a shorter hike to see the window at Catherine Creek (the glacial erratic was behind the window and not visible). We took a quick drive earlier in the day through Schreiner Farms, a African mini-safari, to see the camels, zebras, bisons, and more. Back at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center I went on a walk around the Center to get photos and coordinates.
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