Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and reach 100 years old - and is a living fossil from the time of the dinosaurs. Unfortu-
nately, in the Columbia River system the white sturgeon has been severely overfished
and adversely impacted by other factors, including the river's many dams, poaching and
sea-lion predation.
FIRE & ICE: A GEOLOGIC HISTORY
From 16 to 13 million years ago, eastern Oregon and Washington witnessed one of
the premier episodes of volcanic activity in earth's history. Due to shifting stresses
in the earth's crust, much of interior western North America began cracking along
thousands of lines and releasing enormous amounts of lava that flooded over the
landscape. On multiple occasions, so much lava was produced that it filled the
Columbia River channel and reached the Oregon coast, forming prominent head-
lands like Cape Lookout. Today, hardened lava flows can be seen at places such as
Newberry National Volcanic Monument and the McKenzie Pass Area, in central
Oregon; for a cool lava tube head to Mt St Helens' Ape Cave, in Washington.
The ice ages of the past two million years created a massive ice field from Wash-
ington to British Columbia - and virtually every mountain range in the rest of the
region was blanketed by glaciers. Even more dramatically, tongues of ice extending
southward out of Canada prevented the 3000-sq-mile glacial Lake Missoula in
present-day Montana from draining. Consequently, on about 40 separate occa-
sions, these massive ice dams burst, releasing more water than all the world's
rivers combined and flooding much of eastern Washington up to 1000ft deep.
Grand Coulee and Dry Falls of northeastern Washington are remnants of these
spectacular floods, as are the crowd-pleasing waterfalls (such as Multnomah Falls)
of the Columbia River Gorge that plummet over cliffs carved by the floods.
Orcas & Marine Mammals
The aptly named 'killer whale' or orca is one of the few animals capable of attacking
adult seals. This fierce predator is the largest dolphin in the world and the undisputed
spirit animal of Pacific Northwest waters. Spending their entire lives in pods led by dom-
inant females, orcas have complex societies and large brains that rival those of humans.
Several resident pods live around the San Juan Islands and prey on fish, while transient
pods migrate along the outer coast and hunt seals, sea lions and sometimes whales. While
on a ferry around Washington's Puget Sound, keep your eyes peeled - if you're lucky
you may spot a dorsal fin or two. Vancouver's Telegraph Cove is another orca hot spot.
Anywhere on the Pacific Coast, it's hard to miss seals and sea lions. Most numerous
are small, leopard-spotted harbor seals that drape themselves awkwardly over rocky
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