Field Trip East of Coulee City, WA – Updated
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.