If you know where to hike in Missoula, Montana, you’ll occasionally find yourself standing over several markers which indicate the high-water level of what was one Glacial Lake Missoula. Standing on top of Missoula’s peaks, it’s hard to imagine that once upon a time you would be standing on an island and everything you see below used to be underwater, but it’s true. Glacial Lake Missoula was a prehistoric lake at existed periodically at the end of the last ice age and held approximately half the volume of Lake Michigan.
Where am I going with this, you ask? On numerous occasions throughout the years, the ice dam responsible for creating the lake failed. The resulting floods - known most commonly as the Missoula Floods, are responsible for much of the Columbia River Gorge we see today. Historians and scientists estimate that over the course of 2,000 years, cataclysmic floods swept over Idaho, Washington and Oregon at least 40 times.
I found it particularly fascinating to hear about the floods. I had previously known that Glacial Lake Missoula once existed but (call me crazy), I had always assumed it disappeared through a much more normal means: evaporation.
As we sailed up the Columbia River, our guides would point to narrow canyons and jagged rock formations and remind us that such features were formed by a rush and wall of water so great that rock was quite literally carved away. Though the sight would have been terrible to behold (not that you would have beheld it for long), the ending result is truly GORGE-ous (yes, I went there).
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
3 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
4 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
6 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.