IAFI Upcoming Events Calendar

How do geologists know when the ice age floods actually occurred in the Spokane area? One method is to date the large flood-rafted erratic boulders. We explore the ages of the floods and the methods used to determine their dates and present newly gathered dates from the Spokane region revealing when the floods happened.  Presented by Glenn Cruickshank, vice president of the Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI), Cheney-Spokane Chapter No registration required. Call Librarian Tiffany Berg with any questions at 208-687-1029.

(This will be the same presentation as June 27.) Giant Current Dunes or MegaRipple Marks – One of the most important pieces of evidence for catastrophic flooding was the “giant current dunes.” These large-scale bedforms appeared as patterns of parallel ridges and swales on many aerial photographs in the flood channels in the scabland of Washington, but had escaped recognition from the ground because of their size.  Giant Current Dunes are visible west of Clark Fork near Castle Rock; however, the most prominent and visible Giant Current Dunes are located several miles east of Spirit Lake along Hwy 54 where the highway cuts through the dunes showing their undulating profile. The location of many of the telephone poles on the crest of these dunes accentuates these landforms. The dunes form transverse to the current direction, and form cusps that are convex upstream, with arms that point downstream. Furthermore, the size of the cusps appears to decrease in the direction of lower velocity. Internally, the dunes consist of gravel and pebble foresets. Giant current dunes exhibit an asymmetrical profile with the downstream (lee) slope steeper than the upstream slope. Crests range from 20 to 200m apart and heights range from 1 to 15m (Baker and Nummedal, 1978) and are among the largest measured throughout the Floods area. The Spirit Lake current dunes can also be easily recognized from the air by their characteristic pattern, accentuated by vegetation. This dune field is immediately in the path of the breakout from Lake Pend Oreille, and experienced some of the highest energy flows. Presented by Dr. Linda McCollum, president of the Ice Age Floods Institute (IAFI), Cheney-Spokane Chapter No registration required. Call Librarian Nicole Ferris with any questions at 208-623-5353. PDF Resource Materials Waitt, R.B. 2016 Megafloods and Clovis cache at Wenatchee, Washington Baker, V.R. 2023 J Harlen Bretz & the cataclysmic Late Pleistocene mega-flooding origin of the Channeled Scabland Romano, M. 2015 Reviewing the term uniformitarianism in modern Earth sciences Baker, V.R. Sept. 1995 Joseph Thomas Pardee and the Spokane Flood Controversy

Sun Lakes Dry Falls State Park The Ice Age Floods Fest is happening Saturday July 25th , 2026 – 10 AM – 3 PM  Even though the Dry Falls Visitor Center is under construction/renovations, the event has been moved for this year to the Amphitheater, Sun Lakes Dry Falls State Park. It will be a nice casual gathering of “ologist” types, who enjoy sharing their knowledge, history, and expertise.  Cold drinks and snacks will be available! Dale Lehman, Ice Age Floods Institute – Puget Lobe Chapter President, and an EXCELLENT Earth Science teacher is leading a hike at the Umatilla Rock trailhead to Green Lake.  The hike is an easy 3 miles that will highlight the amazing features of Ice Age Flood geology, geomorphology, and Shrub Steppe ecosystems. There will be booths manned by IAFI and local agencies, maybe a stream table as well as information related to the floods story. Each participant will have their own picnic table, folding table, and canopy.  We are setting up on the lawn directly behind the Mobile Office in the Amphitheater parking lot. For more information contact Ranger David McWalter (david.mcwalter@parks.wa.gov) at 509-634-9993

The Lake Lewis Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will host a chapter meeting and guest lecture with Bob Carson on September 1st, 2026. This presentation will continue the 2026 lecture theme as we explore flood stories along the path from ancient Lake Missoula to the Pacific Ocean. This lecture will feature discussions on our own local feature - Wallula Gap! This event will be hosted at the REACH Museum in Richland, Washington and is free to the public. No registration required. This event will also be broadcast live. This event will be updated with instructions for joining online. Chapter Meeting: 6:30 - 7:00 PM (PST) Guest Lecture w/ Bob Carson: 7:00 - 8:00 PM (PST) Questions may be emailed to lakelewis@iafi.org

Mark your calendars!  Mike Horner, Tom Ring, and Karl Lillquist will lead a field trip to the Lake Cle Elum on Saturday 26 September 2026.  Plan on ~10am-4pm.   They are still working out the details of the trip but it will likely include discussion of: 1) glaciation’s role in shaping the Cle Elum River Valley; 2) Cle Elum River flows pre- and post-dam construction; 3) restoration of the Cle Elum River floodplain; 4) impacts of raising pool level on Lake Cle Elum shorelines; and 5) improving fish passage at Cle Elum Dam.   This trip will especially tap into the expertise of Tom who has years of experience working on water issues in the Yakima River Basin (including Lake Cle Elum) and Mike whose M.S. thesis focused on potential shoreline issues associated with a higher Lake Cle Elum.  They will provide more details as they solidify the plan.  Hope you can join us!  

The Lake Lewis Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will host a chapter meeting and guest lecture with Jim O’Connor, U.S. Geological Survey - Portland, Oregon on November 3rd, 2026. This presentation will round out the 2026 lecture theme as we explore flood stories along the path from ancient Lake Missoula to the Pacific Ocean.  Starting with J Harlen Bretz and Ira Williams in 1915, geologists have been on the trail of the Missoula floods in the Columbia River Gorge. This work continues, addressing lingering and new questions, such as how many, how big, when, from where, and what did they do? Jim will summarize the current state of understanding, as well as other Columbia River Gorge stories being worked on by the USGS mapping group. This event will be hosted at the REACH Museum in Richland, Washington and is free to the public. No registration required. This event will also be broadcast live. This event will be updated with instructions for joining online. Chapter Meeting: 6:30 – 7:00 PM (PST) Guest Lecture w/ Jim O'Connor: 7:00 – 8:00 PM (PST) Questions may be emailed to lakelewis@iafi.org

Update on 5/21/26: Sorry, but due to a heavy summer schedule we've had to postpone this event until next year to give us more time to plan. Our Cheney-Spokane chapter is planning a special late‑summer gathering on Saturday, August 28, 2027 in honor of J Harlen Bretz, whose birthday falls just a few days later (September 2). Bretz’s groundbreaking work on the Ice Age floods reshaped the scientific understanding of the Northwest—and we think that deserves a celebration. We’re still shaping the details, but expect a relaxed, community‑friendly event that highlights the Bretz legacy and the remarkable landscapes he helped the world understand. More information will be posted as plans develop.   He mapped the scablands bold and bright, Said “Floods did this!” with all his might. For thirty years they told him “No”… ’Til evidence began to flow. So join us as we celebrate The man who made the floods make sense — A pre‑birthday bash for J Harlen Bretz, Who proved the skeptics wrong (immense!).