Ellensburg

Based on behavior of the Lower Sugarloaf Fire and air quality, the Lower Lake Wenatchee Area field trip scheduled for September 6 is now rescheduled for first Sunday, October (5th).

Retired CWU Geographer Karl Lillquist will lead a field trip to the lower Chiwawa River Valley near Plain, WA.  Plan on gathering in the vicinity of Plain at about 10am.  Quick description:  Topics will center around alpine glaciation from various sources in the Eastern Cascades near the lower Lake Wenatchee Area.  Trip will begin on the beach in the southern portion of Lake Wenatchee State Park (map).

Karl Lillquist will lead "East of Coulee City" field trip on the day after Halloween. We will meet at the Coulee City Campground at 10am.  Stops will include: 1) Coulee monocline; 2) Hartline Basin expansion bar; 3) top of Hartline Hill; 4) mid-slope Hartline Hill; and 5) Hartline Basin scablands. Quick description:  Topics will center around Ice Age flooding associated with Glacial Lake Missoula in the area east of Coulee City.  Trip will begin on the peninsula on the north end of Coulee City Community Park.    Detailed schedule and the topics to be covered:  10:00  Stop 1—Coulee City Community Park—Topics: Bedrock & structural geology; weather & climate; General patterns of Glacial Lake Missoula floods and the Okanogan Lobe of the Cordilleran Icesheet; Banks Lake.    10:45  Depart 11:00  Stop 2—Coulee Monocline —Topics:  Monoclines & homoclines; Age of Coulee Monocline and its relationship to Ice Age floods & Hartline Basin; Historical orchards, highways & railroads. 11:45  Depart 12:00  Stop 3—Hartline Basin Expansion Bar—Topics: Bretz in the Hartline Basin; Expansion bars; Soils atop expansion bar. 12:45  Depart 1:00     Stop 4—Top of “Hartline Hill”—Topics: Maximum flood limit; Loess-based soil characteristics, origins & age; Water erosion & loess; 1:45     Depart 2:00     Stop 5—Mid-slope on “Hartline Hill”—Topics: Unnamed canyon & fan; Possible floodwaters over “Hartline Hill”. 2:45     Depart 3:00     Stop 6—Hartline Basin Scablands—Topics: Scablands & Bretz;  Floods, erosion & scablands; Giant pendant bars;  Other possible floodwater sources in Hartline Basin 4:00     Depart for home Logistics: This trip is free and open to the public.  There is no need to register. After Stop 1, we will drive on a mix of paved and good quality gravel roads.  Passenger cars should be fine on these roads. I encourage you to consider carpooling.  This will reduce the time it takes to get us all together at each stop plus will reduce our carbon footprint.    We will take short walks at Stops 2, 3 and 6.  By short, I mean 0.25 mi or less at each stop.  There will be a bit of somewhat steep, uneven terrain at each of the stops.  We will also need to cross a barbed wire fence at Stops 2 and 6. No restroom or picnic facilities are available along our field trip route after Stop 1.  Therefore, you will need to use the great outdoors if you need to go.  Plan on eating lunch/snacks on the road or at the stops.  There will not be a formal lunch stop. Dogs and kids are fine to bring as long as they are well-behaved. Dress for the weather.  November weather here can be sunny and mild to rainy, windy & chilly.  Our first two stops will be especially exposed to a possible north wind.  A field guide is posted on my CWU website at https://www.cwu.edu/academics/geography/_documents/karl-lillquist.php.  Scroll down the page to “Field Guides”.  You will find it under “East of Coulee City”.  Feel free to download and bring it on the field trip in digital format or print it out. The Ellensburg Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will also provide ~40 hard copies of the field guide for the trip.  There is no cost for the field guides.  However, if you are not a member of the Ellensburg Chapter, please consider making a donation to the chapter to help cover the costs of the field guides (each cost ~$15/each).  Field Trip Liability Form Please print and fill out the attached field trip liability release form, and give it to one of the Ellensburg Chapter IAFI officers at the field trip.  We will also have hardcopies of the liability release form if you need them.  Thank you! Questions? Email me at lillquis@cwu.edu or leave a phone message at 509 963-1184.  Emails are best as I only check that phone a couple of times each week.  A heads up: I may be away from phone  & email between 29 October to 1 November.    I hope to see you Saturday 1 November! Karl L.

Field Trip Leader: Karl Lillquist, Emeritus Professor, Geography Department, CWU  What’s so cool about lower Crab Creek?  Crab Creek is a perennial stream with headwaters not far from Spokane!  It flows over 160 miles through semiarid eastern and central Washington to join the Columbia River just south of Beverly.  Lower Crab Creek lies in a broad coulee adjacent to the towering faulted and folded Saddle Mountains.  Ice Age floods from two directions scoured the coulee walls.  More recent rockfall and landslide deposits veneer the coulee walls, and sand dunes and salt flats blanket the coulee floor.  Native Americans have long frequented the river and shrub steppe environments of the area.  In the past 150 years, the landscape has been altered by the coming of the railroad and by large scale irrigation.  Currently, the area is a mecca for outdoor-minded folks included hunters, fishers, nature lovers, cyclists, and off road vehicle enthusiasts. Over the day,  we will explore: 1) the tectonic  origins of Crab Creek “Coulee” and the Saddle Mountains; 2) impacts of Ice Age flooding on the area; 3) formation of prominent rockfall and landslides from the Saddle Mountains; and 4) how geology, weather and climate, and human activity have shaped sand dunes and salt flats in the area. The trip will conclude around 3pm giving participants plenty of time to get back to Ellensburg for Nick Zentner’s lecture.   What’s the plan for the day? 10:00am           Stop 1—Beverly—geology and geography overview; Ice Age floods 11:00                   Depart 11:15                  Stop 2—Beverly Sand Dunes—weather, dunes, ORV’s, salt flats & Crab Creek 12:00 pm          Depart 12:15                  Stop 3—Smyrna Ice Cave—faulting, talus, cold air drainage & human uses of talus 1:00                     Depart 1:15                     Stop 4—West of Smyrna—landslides 2:00                     Depart 2:15                     Stop 5—Red Rock Coulee—Ice Age floods 3:00                     Depart Where to meet and park?   We will meet on the east end of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific railroad bridge in Beverly at 10:00am.  The bridge and the old railroad right of way are now part of the Palouse to Cascades Trail.  This trail forms the northern boundary of the town of Beverly and is our first stop.  Beverly is located about 10 miles south of Vantage along the Columbia River.  To get there from WA 243, take a left and head east on Lower Crab Creek Road for just under 0.2 mi.  Turn left onto Seattle Street and drive north for ~0.2 mi to a trailhead just south of the Palouse to Cascade Trail.  Park here or along Seattle Street, 1st Avenue SW, or Main Street.  Make sure to pull off the streets as far as possible and don’t block resident’s driveways. What are the trip logistics and costs?  All Ellensburg IAFI field trips are free of charge and involve participants driving their own vehicles to the various stops.  Most trips involve several short walks or hikes.  We may cross barbed wire fences, and walk over uneven terrain and through dryland vegetation.  There are limited restrooms scattered along our route.  There’s no need to reserve a place on the field trip—just show up!  We provide a free digital copy of the field guide for you to download or print out (see “Field Guides” near the bottom of my CWU website => https://www.cwu.edu/academics/geography/_documents/karl-lillquist.php).  I will post the Lower Crab Creek field guide on my website on about Monday 6 April.  Due to budget constraints, hardcopies of the field guide will now only be available by prior request and subsequent donation (suggested $15).  If you want a full color, hardcopy of the ~40 page field guide, email me at lillquis@cwu.edu to let me know how many copies you would like.  I will place my order for hardcopies by 8:00am Monday 6 April so if you want a hardcopy, please get your request in before that day.  Pick up your copy and make your donation to IAFI at Stop 1 on the field trip. Hope you can join us!