Trip Report: Tracking Ice Age Floods - April 19, 2008

[soggymountain]

ANOTHER BACKROAD DRIVERS NORTHWEST TOUR
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/BackroadDrivers/






TRACKING ICE AGE FLOODS
April 19, 2008

The land of Indians, Hudson's Bay Company fur traders, settlers, farmers and ranchers, but it wasn't always that way. It was once a living hell of volcanic basalt flows and a million years later it cooled enough to support prairies of lush grass, and then came the ice age…and the floods.

We had six vehicles and nine people on our tour. Eric came over the night before from Boring, Oregon (near Portland) driving his Jeep Rubicon Unlimited and Mick & Joey drove up from Fairview, Oregon (also near Portland) last night in their Toyota 4Runner. Steve from Edgewood, Washington (near Puyallup) drove his Toyota Land Cruiser over the pass this morning, as did Alan from Seattle in his Toyota Tacoma. Closer to home Jim & Marilyn drove down from East Wenatchee in their Honda CRV, Marv did the same from Wenatchee in his Ford F-150; and we, Jerry & Evelyn, left Yakima this morning in our Ford Escape.

We had a pretty decent turnout considering a predicted threat of rain and snow. Alan and Steve hit some snow on Snoqualmie, but when members of Backroad Drivers Northwest and the Ice Age Floods Institute met for breakfast in Moses Lake, Washington it was under sunny skies. I might add that many of the participants of this tour belonged to both groups, the two being quite complimentary to each another.

We were fortunate to have Marv McCamey with us this morning. Marv is a board member of the Ice Age Floods Institute and with his wealth of knowledge did an exceptional job of acting as our guide.

Our plan was to drive to the Columbia River at Grand Coulee Dam where we would begin tracking the flow of ice age floods through Grand Coulee. We all had C.B. radios and as we drove north of Moses Lake Marv pointed out flood debris and geologic landmarks, such as Black Butte that was used by Hudson's Bay Company trappers and miners and coyboys following the Caribou Trail. We cruised through the historic community of Stratford and drove over Pinto Ridge enjoying a fantastic view of scablands and part of the Lower Grand Coulee. We enjoyed Marv's commentary as we continued toward Grand Coulee Dam. Our first rest stop was at the Coulee City Community Park on the south end of Banks Lake where Marv took a few minutes to acquaint us with the Missoula Floods phenomena.

From Coulee City we climbed out of the Grand Coulee as we headed to the community of Hartline. From there we drove county roads through the wheat fields in the hills to the east of Banks Lake where at the highest point Marv pointed out an ancient flood channel and more debris. It was absolutely amazing to us neophytes that floodwaters had reached such high elevations.

We connected with a road that paralleled the south shoreline of Roosevelt Lake, the backwaters of Grand Coulee Dam, and pulled into a parking/rest area where Marv pointed out several recession lines in the cliffs above the lake. We sure enjoyed his accounts of early day settlers and other stories as well as facts about the Missoula and Columbia Floods.

Next we drove to the town of Grand Coulee, passing the dam and through the town of Coulee Dam before we crossed the river to get a better view of the mighty structure. Marv told us about the origins of the town of Coulee Dam and pointed out some interesting facts about the construction of the dam itself. Are you confused yet with all the "Coulee" names? Well, there is another town in the mix that we drove through as we began following the path of ancient floodwaters…Electric City (whew, it ain't much of a town, but at least it's an original name).

Floodwaters totally engulfed all of the Columbia River channel and the hillsides above, carving what was level ground into flood channels and small valleys into huge coulees; ripping basalt columns from the rocky walls and smashing them into mini-boulders that were carried away like pebbles. I wish I could recreate Marv's narrative, but I cannot. You had to have been there, you had to have heard it first hand. His account was just too good to be described by any words I could put down. And may I suggest you check out the Ice Age Floods Institute at: Ice Age Floods Institute: Welcome Click on the IAGI Store and you will find several books on the subject.



Our caravan followed the shoreline of Banks Lake to the town of Coulee City and from there to the overlook above Dry Falls. Dry Falls is an ancient waterfall, huge in comparison to Niagara Falls, and surrounded by scablands and vertical basalt cliffs in the Lower Grand Coulee. After a rest stop and a bite of lunch at the overlook we drove down the hill and entered Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park. A short road took us past small lakes, once plunge pools for the ancient waterfall. When we gathered for discussion we noticed the absence of wind and a much warmer temperature in the bottom of the coulee. Above us, on the canyon rim stood the overlook where we had lunch and on the lakes around us was a good turnout of fishermen. We still had nice weather, a bit cloudy, but nice.

We continued down the lower coulee, following the path of countless giant floods, each wreaking havoc with what Mother Nature had taken millions of years to build. Marv continued doing a great job of pointing out lava flows and flood debris. We passed Lake Lenore, a popular vacation spot, and soon reached Soap Lake, once considered a health spa now polluted by chemicals and algae. Time had gone by fast, too fast, and we were running behind as usual.

It was after Three-O-Clock when we reached a convenient intersection for Marv as well as Jim & Marilyn to break off for home. After saying goodbye to the Wenatchee gang the rest of us headed back to Moses Lake with the intention of driving through the Drumheller Channels (Pot Holes). While we were gassing up in Moses Lake the predicted weather had finally caught up with us. Rain clouds were all around, but we were still spared, at least for the time being.

Continuing south of Moses Lake we were busy chatting on the C.B. radio and the next thing we knew we were on the outskirts of Othello. I just plain missed the turn to O'Sullivan Dam and the Pot Holes. If I didn't apologize then, I do now - profusely! We would have to backtrack to the Drumheller Channels. It was Four-O-Clock, black clouds were rolling in and Steve and Alan had a long trek home. We took a vote and decided to call it a day.

Mick & Joey headed to Tri-Cities where they were going to do some more exploring the next day, Alan and Steve were headed for Western Washington via Snoqualmie Pass and Evelyn and I were taking secondary highways back to Yakima.

It was a really good day, good people; a great theme, wonderful scenery and I would enjoy doing it again. Thanks, everybody.

Jerry & Evelyn

PS In case anybody was wondering Evelyn and I didn't hit rain until we drove up the street where we live. Never turned on the wipers all day. Now THAT’S the kind of rain and snowstorm I like!

________________________________
BACKROAD DRIVERS NORTHWEST

[hutchman]

Sounds like a great trip....!

[RidgeRunner]

Jerry, (Soggymountain) asked us to add some information regarding the Ice Age Floods trip highlighting our personal experiences.

First of all, we had a truly great time. I’d like to again thank Jerry for his experience and time in putting together a great trip.

We had the privilege of meeting a Board member of the Ice Age Floods Institute, Marv McCamey. Marv was very well versed in geology, the history of the floods and just history in general. His stories entertained us all day. Marv was constantly communicating with us as we drove along, mentioning important facts most of us would not have noticed or known.

We viewed and learned about many different parts of the floods. Since it was all interesting it’s difficult to pick out particular highlights but three of the most important things for us were the high water level lines of Ancient Lake Columbia, which backed up behind the ice dam that blocked the Columbia River a few miles east of present day Grand Coulee Dam.

It was also interesting to us to learn that Banks Lake, which fills the Grand Coulee was carved by the floods but then dried up. There was no water in it except when one of the floods occurred. The reason there is water in Banks Lake today is because the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers pumps water up to the lake from Grand Coulee Dam. Therefore, Banks Lake became a 26 mile long reservoir holding tank to help irrigate the mid-Columbia Basin.

Of course Dry Falls is an awe inspiring scene. But something that really surprised most of us was the sight just south of the town of Soap Lake when Marv told us to watch for boulder strewn fields. There were many thousands of huge boulders on both sides of the road for several miles. As the flood waters rushed south, these boulders fell out of the flood waters as the coulee widened and the water slowed down. It was quite a sight and allows you to imagine what may have occurred during those floods.

If there is enough interest, we plan to do more trips into this region and the Columbia Gorge to view more flood areas. Here is a link to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles which has many interesting historical exhibits including ice age floods.

On our way home from the Tri Cities on Sunday we decided not to go out to Palouse Falls on this trip as we originally planned because when we do go out there we want to spend more time and not be rushed to get home. So instead, we drove up on Horse Heaven Hills and drove westbound along the spine all the way west to the Glade Summit and then on to Bickleton and Cleveland.

We descended into Rock Creek Canyon then followed the gravel county road southbound about six miles to Hwy 14 and the Columbia again.

The first pic is the remains of basalt ravaged by floodwaters at the foot of Dry Falls, the second is the Cleveland Pioneer Cemetery between Bickleton and Cleveland.

Mick

[Steve]

As usual, another great trip. Excellent write ups.

I posted the pictures that I shot at Tracking the Ice Age Floods. They haven't been tagged yet but hopefully I get them done in the next week.

Steve

[soggymountain]

Great pictures, Steve. You really caught the essence of the tour. I like them all except for the one showing the big fat guy
Jerry