Sharing the Fascinating Ice Age Floods Story Since 1995
Due to the high fire danger and air quality concerns, the IAFI Cheney-Spokane Chapter has decided to postpone the Saturday, August 29 field trip to north Idaho until late spring or early summer of 2027. We would welcome your input on which Saturdays in the upcoming May and June that you would most likely consider at this time. Send your input to us at cheneyspokane@iafi.org.
Given the Three Queens, King, and Goat fires in the upper Cle Elum drainage, we are cancelling our September 26 field trip to that area. The end of those fires is not in sight, and we can't even get up into the area to preview a trip. So...lets look to 2027 and we will try to figure out a way to dodge fires, likely by offering our field trips earlier in the year—e.g., April, May, June and July. Mike Horner, Tom Ring, and Karl Lillquist had planned to 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!
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!).