I had recently seen pictures of the canyon formed by the Grande Ronde River slicing through layers of Columbia River flood basalt. I was astonished. I was born and raised in Washington and had never heard of the canyon. I added seeing this wonder to my to-do list. So on this trip I was headed to the southeast corner of Washington to see the canyon. I wasn’t disappointed. Ribbons of basalt from the Columbia River flood basalt were shown in various color. To me the sight was breathtaking. Driving Washington Hwy 129 and Oregon Hwy 3 I drove twisting and turning to the bottom of the canyon pausing to look along the way, and then I drove up the other side. An elevation difference of about 3,000 feet.
View from Hwy 129
searching for the middle of nowhere 