Wednesday August 24, Tucannon RV Park…..again!
Yes, we are still here but spent the day out and about.
When a town has the name of Starbuck, felt that we needed to check it out. This very, very small township was not far from camp, we decided that it came first as it was settled in the late 1880’s! Not a lot happening in town and only a handful of businesses were still running.
Drove out to the Little Goose Dam and lock on the Snake River, fascinating place. Stopped first at a little park and campground on the river and had a chat with a couple of regular campers, and got some “local” information. Boats come inland up the Columbia then the Snake as far as Lewiston, and evidently there are 3 or 4 barges a day as well as other boats, although only saw small fishing boats today. This is the furtherest navigatable waters in the US.
The Little Goose Dam has a fish ladder with a visitors centre. Walked down underground and could see the fish in the windows swimming up the ladder. Got chatting with the employee who has a little tiny room with a window where she counts the fish swimming through, by species, noting their sizes and if they have been damaged. She had been doing the job for the past 11 years and sits in the room for 50 mins of each hour for an 8 hour stretch from April through to October each year. That would take some doing. Apart from that, she was most interesting and we spent quite some time chatting with her. During the Spring when there are large numbers coming through they can count upwards of 10,000 fish.
Stopped at Lyons Ferry for lunch, where the Palousse River joins the Snake, then onto Palousse Falls. Absolutely arid country with not an animal to be seen, and these huge falls in the middle of this are quite an amazing site. Heard about a guy who kayaked over them…and survived!
By mid afternoon the heat was back into the high 30’s, so headed back to camp for a lazy afternoon.
When a town has the name of Starbuck, felt that we needed to check it out. This very, very small township was not far from camp, we decided that it came first as it was settled in the late 1880’s! Not a lot happening in town and only a handful of businesses were still running.
Drove out to the Little Goose Dam and lock on the Snake River, fascinating place. Stopped first at a little park and campground on the river and had a chat with a couple of regular campers, and got some “local” information. Boats come inland up the Columbia then the Snake as far as Lewiston, and evidently there are 3 or 4 barges a day as well as other boats, although only saw small fishing boats today. This is the furtherest navigatable waters in the US.
The Little Goose Dam has a fish ladder with a visitors centre. Walked down underground and could see the fish in the windows swimming up the ladder. Got chatting with the employee who has a little tiny room with a window where she counts the fish swimming through, by species, noting their sizes and if they have been damaged. She had been doing the job for the past 11 years and sits in the room for 50 mins of each hour for an 8 hour stretch from April through to October each year. That would take some doing. Apart from that, she was most interesting and we spent quite some time chatting with her. During the Spring when there are large numbers coming through they can count upwards of 10,000 fish.
Stopped at Lyons Ferry for lunch, where the Palousse River joins the Snake, then onto Palousse Falls. Absolutely arid country with not an animal to be seen, and these huge falls in the middle of this are quite an amazing site. Heard about a guy who kayaked over them…and survived!
By mid afternoon the heat was back into the high 30’s, so headed back to camp for a lazy afternoon.
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