Astronomy in the Inland Northwest

Sightseeing in Spokane and
Grand Coulee Dam

On Monday, the day before the Council Meeting, AL Treasurer Jackie Wade and I drove out to Grand Coulee Dam, and had a great time. The dam is awesome, and the scenery spectacular. Eastern Washington is not quite like any place else I have been. The land is low and rolling, and semi-arid, but not a desert in the same way that the SW United States and West Texas is.

Grand Coulee Dam was originally built for irrigation, and only later, during WWII, was it adapted to provide hydroelectric power at the request of FDR, and against the wishes of the power companies. The dam was completed in about 1950. A new section was added on later, and finished about 1984, if my date is correct. By the way, the word Coulee in French means dry river bed or runnoff., from the verb couler, which means to run. (Don't forget that this area was once a colony of France, and sold to the US as part of the Lousiana Purchase!)

We took a public tour of the entire facility and it was very impressive. According to the tour guide, Grand Coulee Dam more than pays for itself with the power it generates. Apparently, it only takes one month to generate the cost of an entire year's worth of operating expenses. The rest is profit!

We also drove down Banks Lake, which is a dry riverbed from pre-historic times, which has been filled with water pumped in from the Columbia River from the water trapped behind Grand Coulee Dam. With sheer cliffs looming along each side of the lake, it makes for some spectacular scenery. We ended up 30 miles downstream at a place called Dry Falls. These falls were the worlds widest waterfall until the Columbia River dried up during the last Ice Age about 16,000 years ago.

North Eastern Washington, including Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was covered by an Ice Lake about 16,000 years ago, until ice dams on the Columbia River broke and flooded the entire southern area of the state. That is what accounts for the unusual terrain of rolling hills. When seen from the air, it is obvious that this was an area of heavy water runoff at one time.

I was also able to spend Sunday morning driving around Spokane. I visited the campus of Gonzaga University, and then walked around the park area to view the Spokane Falls. All very nice. My plane back to Dallas stopped in Salt Lake City, and was very uneventful, as flights should be.

Ed Flaspoehler
Vice-President, AAAA