Gonna Need a Bigger Ark
I ‘m starting to day with a visit to the Roslyn Historic Cemetery discovered yesterday, Well actually I started the day with a visit to the coffee and bagel truck at Roslyn Theatre, but you get the idea. The cemetery looked weird on the map and so it turns out to be. Roslyn was a mining town, and the influx of people from many backgrounds is represented in the cemetery, where the communities all have their own sections. Some are grouped by nationality/ ethnicity and others are grouped into Lodges. This doesn’t (at least not in all cases seem to be a masonic thing, some of it seems more like workers collective, mutual support societies who shared common values. I imagine that Roslyn was pretty interesting back in the day!
A brief view point stop at the Wild Horse Monument. It is possible to climb up the hill to the horses, but in 95 degree heat, I consider the view just fine from here thanks!
The main thrust of the day is to head into the channeled scablands - the scene of cataclysmic floods of biblical proportions (quite possibly the biblical flood, given that many cultures have flood stories dating back to this period) at the end of the last ice age. Theories vary as to the source of the water: possibly breaking open of a number of glacial lakes, although there is a view the a comet fragment hit the Columbia ice sheet and flash melted it.
Whatever the cause, the the result was a sheet of water, ice and rocks hundreds of feet high, travelling at about 65 mph across Idaho, Washington and Oregon, gouging out huge channels in a matter of weeks. It’s actually quite shocking to see how dramatically the landscape was carved in such a short period of time. Washington has not had a good time in terms of natural upheavals! Brings home to you how ineffectual we would be in the face of something like this.
Anyway, the main event is Dry Falls. This was once (for a brief period during aforementioned flood) the largest waterfall in the world - about 4 times the Niagra. It has been calculated that at its peak, the flow of water over the falls was ten times the total flow rate of all rivers in the world today. That is mad, and almost impossible to get your head around. It must have been quite some sight - which is probably why there are epic flood stories in Native American traditions.
Infomercial Over - if you get the chance, go take a look, it’s awesome.
Continuing the drive, lots more evidence of the deluge - including lots of huge erratics deposited on the tops of hills - which gives an indication of how high the water got.
I have to say I am thoroughly appreciating my Tilley hat in the extreme heat. I held off buying one for ages as they seemed overpriced but my god, what a difference from a baseball cap. Totally worth it. The HyperKewl system apparently keeps your head 10 degress cooler than it would otherwise be. I can’t verify the actual figures but the HyperKewl is certainly no hype. Definitely worth the investment.
Oh, seems the informercial wasn’t over.
Finally made it to Omak, hot and hungry, and ready to park the car and just walk to the nearest food outlet. The attempt was made, but there was simply no way to cover the couple of hundred yards on foot and I had to give in, walk back to the hotel and drive. Intellectually I know this is the case and that much of the US is not pedestrian friendly, but you can’t stop a man trying. Worth it if only to see the aghast looks from people in their cars that some one is attempting perambulation.