The Channeled Scablands

If you love rocks, you have to love water. Water sweeps in, scouring the earth, revealing its bones. 12-15000 years ago, a riot of water known as the Missoula Flood swept through Washington state. What it left behind is called the Channeled Scablands. The past two days I did more exploring in the southeastern part of that state. I discovered many small towns, some thriving, some just collapsing buildings. On the edges of these towns and the farms they support I found a wide variety of rock formations. The first picture, is on a farm road near Dayton (Washington). This second photo is of Benge, an eerie village. When I jumped out to get a photo of the abandon Simca, a nearly church bell started tolling. Coincidence? Perhaps, but it still creeped me out.

Ten miles to the east is Winona where I took this photo. It is haying season, so massive trucks roar along these roads and the hillsides are adorned with curving patterns from the mowing.

If you love geology, you needed to take the drive from St. John to Harrington. The formations are life affirming if you love rocks as I do. This next picture is just a sample of what can be found along state highway 23.

At Harrington, I caught state highway 28 going west. It's funny, how eastern Washington was terraformed by the Grand Coulee dam in the 1930s. In this state, they call harsh ravines coulees which is from the French couler, to flow. The Grand Coulee and the canals that took from its lake turned eastern Washington into uneasy farmlands. You drive down 28, you see how the farms do not belong. The land is very dry; on one side of the highway you see nature so arid it would not be out of place in Nevada, on the other a field of bright green. But you also see incredible formations, like this last picture.

This is my last major trip of the year but I already am planning other parts of the Channeled Scablands to explore in 2026.