Field Trip

The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will host a field trip that covers the Vantage Highway corridor between Ellensburg and Vantage on Saturday 18 May 2024. We will meet at Wildhorse Wind and Solar Facility and Renewable Energy Center parking lot at 11:00am on the 18th. The trip will include stops at: 1) Renewable Energy Center for a big picture view of geology and physical geography of the area; 2) Pumphouse Road to see impacts of past and current erosion (including that from the 2022 Vantage Highway Fire); 3) Ginkgo State Park Trees of Stone Interpretive Trail for ancient Ginkgo trees and the upper limit of Ice Age flooding in the area; and 4) Ginkgo State Park Interpretive Center for a more complete view of the petrified forest plus  impacts of Ice Age flooding along the present-day Columbia River channel. Given that we will be field tripping on the 44th anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, that story will also be woven into several field trip stops.  And if the weather stays somewhat cool and wet into May, we should see plenty of wildflowers in the shrub steppe. We will have several short (<0.5 mile) hikes on this trip.  Make sure to wear sturdy hiking shoes or boots, dress for the weather, and bring plenty of drinks. As on past Ellensburg IAFI trips, this is an automobile trip.  We will provide a hardcopy field guide for the trip at Stop 1.  I will also send out a pdf of the field guide several days before the trip.  If you have questions, feel free to contact Karl Lillquist at lillquis@cwu.edu. Hope you can join us!

The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will host a field trip that covers the Vantage Highway corridor between the Wild Horse Wind & Solar Facility & Renewable Energy Center (east of Ellensburg) and Vantage on Saturday 18 May 2024. We will meet at Wildhorse Wind and Solar Facility and Renewable Energy Center parking lot at 11:00am on the 18th.  The trip will include stops at: Ginkgo Petrified Forest Renewable Energy Center for a big picture view of geology and physical geography of the area; Pumphouse Road to see impacts of past and current erosion (including that from the 2022 Vantage Highway Fire); Ginkgo State Park Trees of Stone Interpretive Trail for the upper limit of Ice Age flooding in the area; and Ginkgo State Park Interpretive Center for discussion on the petrified forest plus  impacts of Ice Age flooding along the present-day Columbia River channel. Given that we will be field tripping on the 44th anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, that story will also be woven into several field trip stops.  And if the weather stays somewhat cool and wet into May, we should see plenty of wildflowers in the shrub steppe. The weather prediction for Vantage on Saturday is sunny with a high of 75°F.  We will have several short (<0.75 mile) hikes over uneven ground on this trip.  Make sure to wear sturdy hiking shoes or boots, dress for the weather, wear a shade hat, slather on sun screen, and bring plenty of drinks.  You might want to bring hiking sticks if uneven ground poses problems for you.  I will wear long pants as we will be walking through weedy areas (esp. cheat grass) at Stop 2 and Stop 3. As on past Ellensburg IAFI trips, this is an automobile trip.  No need to sign up—just show up!  You will need a Discover Pass to park at three of the sites.  I will bring a limited number of hardcopy field guides.  You can also download or print out the field guide at https://www.cwu.edu/academics/geography/directory/_documents/east-of-ellensburg-field-trip.pdf.   If you have questions, feel free to contact Karl Lillquist at lillquis@cwu.edu.   Hope you can join us!