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

Continue reading →