One Park, One Museum, One Stamp at a Time
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation AreaWith the summer's end fast approaching, my wife and I decided to take one last adventure for the summer. My grandfather served as a volunteer campsite host at Dry Falls State Park and we wanted to visit him. I took the opportunity to plan one last passport stamp collecting trip with the objective of spending a night at Dry Falls and visiting my grandpa. There was terrible air quality in the northwest during this week due to forest fires in Canada and brush fires all over Washington. On top of that, the temperature was approaching 110 degrees in the area. The heat made spending a day in the air conditioning of the car and visiting different sites along Lake Roosevelt fairly appealing. Lake Roosevelt was formed by flooding from the Columbia River after the Grand Coulee Dam was built in 1941. Lake Roosevelt offers a number of recreational opportunities and features some interesting historic sites as well. We were able to visit all of the NRA's stamp locations except Kettle Falls, which is a couple hours north of the other stops. Fort SpokaneWe started the day at Fort Spokane just south of the river. Fort Spokane was a Army frontier outpost at the convergence of the Columbia and Spokane Rivers about 50 miles from Spokane. The fort had about 50 buildings at its high point and served as a military presence for about 20 years in the later 1800s. During the Spanish-American War, the military aspect of the fort was moved elsewhere and the facility was turned over to the Colville Indian Agency to serve as an Indian school for a number of years. The fort today features just a few of the original buildings and has a historic walking tour that allows you get a feel for the size and of the site while teaching you the fort's history. The museum had a number of interesting exhibits but the jail cells were particularly powerful. They had two small cells that each featured an audio recording based off the writings of Indian children that were forced to spend time in the cells for breaking various rules at the school. Indian schools are a dark stop in American history and Fort Spokane does a great job bringing this difficult subject to light. We didn't do much exploring due to the high heat and the aggressiveness of the wasps in the park. Grand Coulee DamAfter leaving Fort Spokane, we spent a couple of hours driving through eastern Washington's endless farm country. We made our way along US 2 toward Grand Coulee. We made a quick stop at Lake Roosevelt NRA's Spring Canyon area. Spring Canyon features a little campground, a picnic area, and a public beach. The ranger station here is no longer staffed permanently due to budget constraints so I was not able to get the stamp for this location. From here, we made our way to the Grand Coulee Dam. The Grand Coulee Dam blocks the Columbia River creating 150 miles of Lake Roosevelt. The dam creates power for the Columbia Basin and irrigates 600,000 acres of farmland. I had been to Grand Coulee before, but the dam is a powerful site to behold every time you visit. I had never gone in the visitor center previously and was interested to read the different exhibits and see the natural history of the area. Grand Coulee is also a part of the Ice Age Floods NGT since the coulees of central Washington were formed by the many great floods during the ice ages. After the dam, we visited the Lake Roosevelt NRA offices in town for their stamps. We did not want to take the time to go on a tour of the dam on this visit. They do a light show in the dam at night and we want to come another time to see the show and go on a tour. Steamboat Rock State ParkAn unexpected but enjoyable detour on our drive from Grand Coulee to Dry Falls was Steamboat Rock State Park. The drive south from Grand Coulee is a beautiful route along the water surrounded by cliffs carved over the eons by the river. As we made our way, we saw a sign for Steamboat Rock and made a quick pit stop. We really only drove through the park but were impressed by the views and recreation options. They had hiking trails, a campground, and water rentals. We would love to camp out here some time and head up to the dam for the night time laser light show. Dry Falls/Sun Lakes State ParkOur final destination for the day was Dry Falls/Sun Lakes State Park. I guess the name of the park has changed a few times and they have settled on having two names for the place. The Dry Falls were truly one of the most surprising and impressive things I have ever seen. I had never heard of Dry Falls before this summer and really didn't look up any pictures before our arrival. I had read up on the park but somehow hadn't seen any images. As your drive up to the visitor center, you can see nothing but rolling farmland in any direction. It isn't until you walk right up to the fence that you can see the Dry Falls. Dry Falls is a truly massive hole in the ground, something like a miniature Grand Canyon. The Ice Age Floods created water falls 3.5 miles wide, five times wider than Niagara Falls. Scientists think that it had a flow ten times greater than all the current rivers in the world combined! I was really quite blown away by the view and very pleased to learn that the state park was at the bottom of Dry Falls and that we were about to spend the night at the bottom. Dry Falls is part of the Ice Age Floods NGT so we picked up our stamps and then headed down to visit with my grandfather for the night and cool off in the lake. We camped out here and did a little paddle-boarding before heading off the next day. New Units Visited: 1
Lake Roosevelt NRA Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 20 Total Units: 29
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