ROCKS
Reds and blacks and browns
columns of cooled million-year old lava
shining walls beneath the clear blue sky
sparkling with lichens
yellow and green
glowing in the beaming sun
hundreds of feet high
sky-scrapers of basalt,
a protective castle
standing strong
in the middle
of the
lake.
Steamboat Rock State Park
Steamboat Rock State Park is surrounded by Banks Lake, which is actually a reservoir funneled up from the Columbia River by Grand Coulee Dam so the water irrigates the arid lands of Eastern Washington. The side benefit is the 30 mile long fishing, boating, swimming, wildlife paradise we enjoy.
In my art work, I show the two granite rocks at the north end of Steamboat Rock whose hardness caused the glacial flood to split around it to leave the basalt of Steamboat Rock.
Geology of Steamboat Rock:
Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail [pdf]
Beauty in March:
Share the beauty of your favorite place!
Photos and art by Sheri
This post is part of the 2018 Summer #WriteOut in places, parks, poetry, and doodles with #Clmooc. Learn more at CLmooc blog and National Writing Project / National Park Service WriteOut
March Lake View Photo and the Poem added to CLmooc Padlet
Steamboat Rock Art on Flickr