At the end of the last ice age, water from Glacial Lake Missoula found it’s way to the sea by bursting through the Cascade mountain range at the point we now know as the Columbia River Gorge. Who knew?!
Again, I learn through my travels and I found this insight fascinating. No wonder rivers plunge hundreds of feet forming world-famous waterfalls. No wonder the gorge walls can climb as high as 4,000 feet straight up. No wonder this river-to-the-sea is so mighty. It’s all due to the residual impact of floods from a melting glacial lake over 12,000 years ago!
Just look at the majesty of the eastern entrance to the gorge … glorious.
Before the melting flood broke through, this canyon didn’t exist. We would have just seen more mountain here with rivers and streams sliding downhill. When the path of that water suddenly found newly-formed cliffs instead then waterfalls resulted. The southern walls of this gorge have some of the tallest and many of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world For instance, Multnomah Falls cascades 620 feet and is the tallest waterfall in Oregon.
Columbia River Gorge and Falls
When the walls holding back Glacial Lake Missoula would break, a flood of ice and water would rush toward the sea bursting through the Cascade Mountains and forming the Columbia River Gorge. These pictures were taken during my prior trip last April.
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